Bell with a vajra handle

Date12 - 13th century

Maker Japanese

Label TextBells and vajras (pronged implements—vajra in Sanskrit means “thunderbolt” and “diamond”) are often used in Buddhist liturgies. When used as a pair, the bell, symbolizing wisdom, is held in the left hand and the vajra, symbolizing compassion, is held in the right. This is an exceptional example of both bell and vajra combined. The handle is adorned with faces of demons and lotus petals. The bell’s body has three bands: the top is encircled with single-pronged vajras, the bottom with three-pronged vajras, and the center includes a crossed vajra, a three-pronged vajra, and flaming jewels.

Object number49.237

Photo CreditPhoto: Susan A. Cole

Exhibition HistoryPomona, California, Los Angeles County Fair, One World Of Art, 1951. Tacoma, Washington, Tacoma Art League, Collections of Puget Sound, 1957. San Francisco, California, M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, Treasures of Japan, 1960. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Japanese Art In The Seattle Art Museum, 1960. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, A Thousand Cranes: Treasures Of Japanese Art, Feb. 5 - July 12, 1987. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Discovering Buddhist Art - Seeking the Sublime, July 9, 2003 - June 3, 2005. Tokyo, Japan, Suntory Museum of Art, Luminous Jewels: Masterpieces of Asian Art From the Seattle Art Museum, July 25 - Sept. 6, 2009 (Kobe, Japan, Kobe City Museum, Sept. 19 - Dec. 6, 2009; Kofu, Japan, Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art, Dec. 23, 2009 - Feb. 28, 2010; Atami, Japan, MOA Museum of Art, Mar. 13 - May 9, 2010; Fukuoka, Japan, Fukuoka Art Museum, May 23 - July 19, 2010). Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Luminous: The Art of Asia, Oct. 13, 2011 - Jan. 8, 2012. Seattle, Washington, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Boundless: Stories of Asian Art, Feb. 8, 2020 - ongoing.Published ReferencesFuller, Richard E. "Japanese Art in the Seattle Art Museum: An Historical Sketch." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1960 ("Presented in commemoration of the Hundredth Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and the United States of America"), no. 66 Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, "A Thousand Cranes: Treasures Of Japanese Art", copublished by Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA, 1987, ill. p. 34 Kawai, Masatomo, Yasuhiro Nishioka, and Yukiko Sirahara, es. "Luminous Jewels: Masterpieces of Asian Art From the Seattle Art Museum", 2009, The Yomiuri Shimbun, cat. no. 7. Sheets, Hilarie M. "Reframing the question, 'What is Asian art?'" The Art Newspaper, no. 320 (February 2020): p. 25, reproduced.

Credit LineEugene Fuller Memorial Collection

Dimensions9 1/4 x 4 1/4 x 1/4in.

MediumGilded bronze