Kundika
Asian Art
On View: Asian Galleries, Southwest, 2nd floor
Kundika is a Sanskrit term for a long-necked water-pouring vessel. Throughout Asia these vessels were associated with wandering ascetics, who carried them like canteens. In ancient India, pouring water into the hands of another person was a way to express “your wish is granted.” Because of water’s association with wishes, purification, and nurturing, kundika often appear among the attributes of Buddhist deities such as the future Buddha Maitreya and the Bodhisattva Guanyin. In ritual, they are used to evoke those deities and to pour water for cleansing purposes.
MEDIUM
Cast bronze
DATES
12th–13th century
DYNASTY
Goryeo Dynasty
DIMENSIONS
H: 14 5/8 x W: 4 7/8 in. (37.2 x 12.4 cm)
Diameter at mouth: 3/8 in. (1 cm)
Diameter at base: 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm)
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
74.27
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Paul E. Manheim
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
From "Korean Art Collection in the Brooklyn Museum" catalogue:
The long fine slender neck and the small spout on the broad shoulder are typical characteristics of Goryeo kundika (Buddhist ritual ewer). Kundika were used to offer clean water to the altar or carried by Buddhist monks traveling for cultivation. This kundika type was popular during the Tang Dynasty and continued to be used in the northern regions of China during the Northern Song and Liao dynasties. In Goryeo, bronze kundika were especially popular. Similar examples were also made in celadon.
The shoulder of [this] kundika is decorated with incised lines, and the spout was cast separately and attached to the shoulder. The lid, which was attached to the spout by a hinge, has been lost. The particularly thin and elongated profile of the kundika suggests a date of the twelfth or thirteenth century.
CAPTION
Kundika, 12th–13th century. Cast bronze, H: 14 5/8 x W: 4 7/8 in. (37.2 x 12.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Paul E. Manheim, 74.27. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 74.27_PS11.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 74.27_PS11.jpg., 2017
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a
Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply.
Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online
application form (charges apply).
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the
United States Library of Congress,
Cornell University,
Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and
Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our
blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact
copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and
we welcome any additional information you might have.