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Caparisoned Elephant
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
The six-tusked elephant holds the throne of Puxian (Samantabhadra), the Bodhisattva of Universal Virtue, who often appears with Wenshu (Manjusri), the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, on his lion-vehicle. This impressive gilt bronze statue is solidly cast, except for the hollow at the center of its belly. The richly ornate saddle cloth exhibits superb craftsmanship and vivid representations of dragons among clouds, echoing the worldly splendor of the Liao material culture.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineCaparisoned Elephant, c. 1000s. China, Liao dynasty (916-1125). Gilt bronze; overall: 18.5 cm (7 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund, 1980.24
