Mandala Base
A ritual object of Tibetan Buddhism, this cloisonné disc is used as the base for a three-dimensional mandala composed of miniature buildings. The decoration includes the lotus flowers and the Eight Buddhist Treasures: the wheel, the conch, the umbrella, the canopy, the lotus, the paired fish, the vase, and the endless knot.
Colors in this work
Details
- Artist
- Unknown artist
- Date
- early 1400s
- Medium
- cloisonné enamel
- Dimensions
- diameter: width 0.308 m
- Department
- Chinese Art
- Holding institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Palette
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Select a color to find related artworks.
- Image provider
- cleveland-museum-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Art Genome Taxonomy
12 tags
Subject Matter
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Mythology and Religion Both · 96%
The museum identifies lotus flowers and the Eight Buddhist Treasures in the decoration; the image visibly shows repeated emblematic and floral motifs within a sacred, highly ordered design.
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Flora Both · 96%
Repeated flower and lotus-like motifs are visible across the disc, and lotus flowers are named in the museum description.
Visual Qualities
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Symmetrical Visual · 99%
The circular field is arranged with pronounced radial regularity around a central medallion.
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Patterns Visual · 99%
Repeated floral medallions, scrolling vines, leaves, and small emblematic forms create an extensive ornamental pattern across the surface.
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Bright and Vivid Colors Visual · 98%
Saturated turquoise, red, yellow, white, blue, and dark green produce a vivid polychrome appearance.
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Highly Ornamented Visual · 98%
Floral, vegetal, geometric, and emblematic decoration densely fills the disc with little undecorated ground.
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Radiating Lines Visual · 88%
The central medallion and surrounding ornament include repeated outward-pointing and circular directional elements.
Time Periods
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15th Century Art Metadata · 97%
The object is dated to the early 1400s, placing it in the fifteenth century.
Geographic Regions
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Chinese Art Metadata · 99%
The catalog records the place of origin as China and includes the work within Chinese Art.
Materials
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Enamel Metadata · 99%
The museum identifies the medium as cloisonné enamel and classifies the work as Enamel.
Cultural and Religious Styles
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Buddhist Art and Architecture Metadata · 99%
The museum describes the object as a ritual object of Tibetan Buddhism and as the base for a three-dimensional mandala.
Antiquities, Artifacts, and Religious Objects
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Ceremonial Object Metadata · 98%
The catalog explicitly identifies the disc as a Buddhist ritual object.
Source & rights
Unknown artist. Mandala Base. Cleveland Museum of Art.
High-resolution sources
- Original TIFF ↗ 6,770 × 5,735 · Cleveland Museum Of Art · Available