For Esoteric Buddhist ritual prayer and incantations, a set of vajra pestles (kongōsho) and a bell (kongōrei) would be placed upon this bronze stand. The curved, leg-like supports are called “cat feet” in Japanese. The oldest known kongōban tray in Japan is believed to be the one preserved at Tōji Temple in Kyoto, which was brought back from China in the ninth century by the monk Kūkai, founder of the Shingon Buddhist sect in Japan.
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金剛盤
Title:Three-Footed Stand (Kongōban) for Buddhist Ritual Implements
Period:Kamakura period (1185–1333)
Date:13th century
Culture:Japan
Medium:Gilt bronze
Dimensions:H. 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm); W. 8 1/4 in. (21 cm); L. 11 1/4 in. (28.6 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:1975.268.171
[ Harry G. C. Packard American, Tokyo, until 1975; donated and sold to MMA].
Katonah Museum of Art. "Object as Insight: Japanese Buddhist Art and Ritual," January 14, 1996–March 17, 1996.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Object as Insight: Japanese Buddhist Art and Ritual," April 19, 1996–June 30, 1996.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Blossoms of Many Colors: A Selection from the Permanent Collection of Japanese Art," March 21–August 9, 2000.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Enlightening Pursuits," February 28–August 5, 2001.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Written Image: Japanese Calligraphy and Paintings from the Sylvan Barnet and William Burto Collection," October 1, 2002–March 2, 2003.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Birds, Flowers, and Buddhist Paradise Imagery in Japanese Art," February 14–June 13, 2004.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Mighty Kano School: Orthodoxy and Iconoclasm," December 18, 2004–June 5, 2005.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A Sensitivity to the Seasons: Spring and Summer," December 17, 2005–June 4, 2006.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Flowing Streams: Scenes from Japanese Arts and Life," December 21, 2006–June 3, 2007.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Animals, Birds, Insects, and Marine Life in Japanese Art," June 26–November 30, 2008.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Japanese Mandalas: Emanations and Avatars," June 18–November 30, 2009.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Celebrating the Arts of Japan: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection," October 20, 2015–May 14, 2017.
New York. Asia Society Museum. "Kamakura: Realism and Spirituality in the Sculpture of Japan," February 9, 2016–May 8, 2016.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Anxiety and Hope in Japanese Art," April 8, 2023–July 14, 2024.
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The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world.
