Basin with Inscribed Figures and Calligraphy
Unknown Artist
1100s–1200s
Medium
bronze
Dimensions
h. 17 cm · diameter of mouth with rim 21.7 cm
Classification
Metalwork
Department
Korean Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Accession Number
1985.112
About this artwork
This bronze basin may have been used for containing purified water. What makes this work charming is its intricate decoration done in silver inlay: the five-character, four-line poems interspersed among images of a child. The poems, which evoke the concept of nonattachment and nonduality, were written by Buddhist monks.