COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
mediaCollectionId
AMICO~1~1
The AMICA Library
Collection
true
AMICA ID:
CMA_.1987.58
amicoid
CMA_.1987.58
AMICA ID
false
AMICA Library Year:
1998
aly
1998
AMICA Library Year
false
Object Type:
Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
oty
Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Object Type
false
Creator Nationality:
Asian; Far East Asian; Chinese
crc
Asian; Far East Asian; Chinese
Creator Nationality
false
Creator Dates/Places:
China
cdt
China
Creator Dates/Places
false
Creator Name-CRT:
China, Ming Dynasty
crt
China, Ming Dynasty
Creator Name-CRT
false
Title:
Ritual Disc
otn
Ritual Disc
Title
false
Title Type:
Primary
ott
Primary
Title Type
false
View:
Full View
rid
Full View
View
false
Creation Date:
early 15th Century
oct
early 15th Century
Creation Date
false
Creation Start Date:
1400
ocs
1400
Creation Start Date
false
Creation End Date:
1433
oce
1433
Creation End Date
false
Materials and Techniques:
cloisonné enamel
omd
cloisonné enamel
Materials and Techniques
false
Classification Term:
Enamel
clt
Enamel
Classification Term
false
Classification Term:
Enamel
clt
Enamel
Classification Term
false
Dimensions:
Diameter: 30.8cm
met
Diameter: 30.8cm
Dimensions
false
AMICA Contributor:
The Cleveland Museum of Art
oon
The Cleveland Museum of Art
AMICA Contributor
false
Owner Location:
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
oop
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Owner Location
false
ID Number:
1987.58
ooa
1987.58
ID Number
false
Credit Line:
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
ooc
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Credit Line
false
Rights:
orl
<a href="http://www.clemusart.com/museum/disclaim2.html"target="_new">http://www.clemusart.com/museum/disclaim2.html</a>
Rights
false
Context:
Cloisonn enameling, a method of applying varicolored decoration to the surface of metal objects, was developed in western Asia and introduced to China during the Yuan dynasty when the Pax Mongolica facilitated cultural and artistic exchanges across thecontinent. Choosing to decorate cast bronzes, Chinese artisans created their patterns with applied copper or bronze strips that served as enclosures, called cloisons, for colored glass pastes derived from various metallic oxides. The pastes, applied withabrush, filled the cloisons, and were fused and fixed to the metal through firing. This technique allowed entire objects to be encased in a colorful decorative skin and thus differed from traditional Chinese methods of metal inlay involving sheets or metallic powders applied only to selected portions of objects. Developed at the same time as cobalt blue underglaze painting on porcelains, cloisonn enamels frequently exhibit patterns like those found on contemporary ceramics. Thus, this richly decorated disc is covered in a sweeping lotus scroll similar to those on late fourteenth- and early fifteenth-century porcelains. Typical of the ceramic and metal objects required for Buddhist ritual, the lotus design is enhanced by the Eight Symbols of the faith, with the inner circle of blossoms supporting the fish, canopy, mystical knot, wheel, conch shell, umbrella, jar, and lotus. Like many other Buddhist cloisonn enamels, this disc was created for a specific Tantric rite of Tibetan Buddhism. In a meditation ritual known as Offering the Universe, the top of the disc functioned as a mandala or cosmic diagram. During the ceremony, offerings of grains of rice were placed on the disc to the accompaniment of chanted prayer, preparing initiates for more advanced meditative practices by purifying their mind of obstacles. The grains of rice placed in mounds represented Mount Sumeru (the axis mundi) and the four continents of traditional Buddhist cosmology. K.W.
cxd
Cloisonn enameling, a method of applying varicolored decoration to the surface of metal objects, was developed in western Asia and introduced to China during the Yuan dynasty when the Pax Mongolica facilitated cultural and artistic exchanges across thecontinent. Choosing to decorate cast bronzes, Chinese artisans created their patterns with applied copper or bronze strips that served as enclosures, called cloisons, for colored glass pastes derived from various metallic oxides. The pastes, applied withabrush, filled the cloisons, and were fused and fixed to the metal through firing. This technique allowed entire objects to be encased in a colorful decorative skin and thus differed from traditional Chinese methods of metal inlay involving sheets or metallic powders applied only to selected portions of objects. Developed at the same time as cobalt blue underglaze painting on porcelains, cloisonn enamels frequently exhibit patterns like those found on contemporary ceramics. Thus, this richly decorated disc is covered in a sweeping lotus scroll similar to those on late fourteenth- and early fifteenth-century porcelains. Typical of the ceramic and metal objects required for Buddhist ritual, the lotus design is enhanced by the Eight Symbols of the faith, with the inner circle of blossoms supporting the fish, canopy, mystical knot, wheel, conch shell, umbrella, jar, and lotus. Like many other Buddhist cloisonn enamels, this disc was created for a specific Tantric rite of Tibetan Buddhism. In a meditation ritual known as Offering the Universe, the top of the disc functioned as a mandala or cosmic diagram. During the ceremony, offerings of grains of rice were placed on the disc to the accompaniment of chanted prayer, preparing initiates for more advanced meditative practices by purifying their mind of obstacles. The grains of rice placed in mounds represented Mount Sumeru (the axis mundi) and the four continents of traditional Buddhist cosmology. K.W.
Context
false
Related Image Identifier Link:
CMA_.1987.58.tif
ril
CMA_.1987.58.tif
Related Image Identifier Link
false