Detail View: The AMICA Library: Almsbowl

AMICA ID: 
MIA_.2000.87.3
AMICA Library Year: 
2002
Object Type: 
Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Creator Name: 
artist unknown
Creator Nationality: 
Asian; Far East Asian; Chinese
Creator Name-CRT: 
artist unknown
Title: 
Almsbowl
View: 
Front
Creation Date: 
about 1100
Creation Start Date: 
1080
Creation End Date: 
1120
Materials and Techniques: 
black lacquer
Dimensions: 
H.4 x Dia.8-3/16 in.
Component Measured: 
overall
Measurement Unit: 
in
AMICA Contributor: 
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Owner Location: 
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
ID Number: 
2000.87.3
Credit Line: 
Gift of Ruth and Bruce Dayton
Rights: 
Context: 

The almsbowl was one of the few essential possessions of a Buddhist monk specified in the Vinaya, the 6th century b.c. code of Buddhist monastic practice. Based on clay Indian prototypes, the use of simple monochromatic vessels like this symbolized the monk's vow of poverty. Of perfectly rounded form, with sides rising from a round base and curving inward to a wide rimless mouth, this bowl is the epitomy of refined elegance.

The oldest surviving lacquered almsbowls are 8th century examples preserved in the Shoso-in Repository in Nara, Japan. This extremely rare bowl appears to be the most refined in form and finish of all recorded examples and it has been dated by carbon-14 analysis of its wooden core to about a.d. 1100.

Related Image Identifier Link: 
MIA_.22009c.tif