Buddhist Ceremonial Alms Bowl

Nara period (710–794)

Not on view

Along with three garments, a stool, and a water strainer, the alms bowl was traditionally one of only six items that a Buddhist monk could own. While monks’ bowls were most often made of iron or wood, this bowl—cast in bronze, finished on a lathe, gilded, and supplied with a low stand—was probably placed on a Buddhist altar, where it would have been filled with offerings for a Buddhist deity. Its swelling body and the slight inward curve of its rim are typical of bowls produced in the eighth century.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

金銅鉢
Title: Buddhist Ceremonial Alms Bowl
Period: Nara period (710–794)
Culture: Japan
Medium: Gilt bronze
Dimensions: H. 5 in. (12.7 cm); Diam. 9 1/4 in. (23.5 cm); Diam. of rim 9 in. (22.9 cm)
Classification: Metalwork
Credit Line: The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975
Object Number: 1975.268.151
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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