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Buddhist Sutra Container
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This container was designed to hold sutras, or Buddhist sacred texts. The Four Heavenly Kings, one for each of the cardinal directions, are incised on the exterior of the container. Images of the Four Heavenly Kings can often be found on Korean containers for sacred relics and sutras, and are symbolic of the wish to preserve the Buddha’s teachings.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineBuddhist Sutra Container (은제불경상자 [銀製佛經匣]), 1100s–1200s. Korea, Goryeo dynasty (918–1392). Gilt silver with incised Buddhist designs; overall: 9.5 x 6 x 2.3 cm (3 3/4 x 2 3/8 x 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mitsuru Tajima, 1998.122
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