Batō (Horse-Headed) Kannon (base)
Unknown Artist
1600s–1700s
Medium
wood with lacquer, color, and gold
Dimensions
h. 110.6 cm · base: h. 28 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Japanese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1981.1.b
About this artwork
Batō Kannon, or Hayagriva Avalokiteshvara in Sanskrit, is the “horse-headed” form of the bodhisattva of compassion, who presides over the realm of animals in the Buddhist Six Realms of Transmigration (rebirth). A horse’s head appears in the hair of this sculpture to identify it. Bodhisattvas are beings who, though enlightened, choose to remain within the worlds of existence to help others. The six realms are heaven, hell, human, animal, hungry ghost, and ashura, or fierce supernatural entities.