Naga Finial
Unknown Artist
1100s
Medium
bronze
Dimensions
29.2 × 15.2 × 15.2 cm
Classification
Metalwork
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Accession Number
1987.14.2
About this artwork
When members of the royal family or priesthood traveled in a public festival procession or to a temple to make offerings or participate in a ceremony, they would be carried in a palanquin, or a covered litter. Portable objects of veneration, such as bronze images or a sacred fire, were also carried on palanquins. The palanquins had wooden poles, hanging seats or raised platforms, and bronze fittings cast in intricate forms and gilt, lending the palanquins a sumptuous quality. The royal palanquin...