Cleveland Museum of Art

Ritual Axe

Date

c. 1407–1410

Medium

iron alloy with gold and silver inlay

Culture

Sino-Tibetan, Derge School, Yongle period (1403-1427)

Department

Indian and Southeast Asian Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Ceremonial weaponry was used in tantric rituals to combat obstacles to enlightenment, such as ignorance, delusions, and selfishness. In 1407, a high-ranking Tibetan monastic patriarch visited the emperor of the Ming dynasty, known as Yongle. The Yongle emperor presented him with a number of gifts, of which this ritual axe was probably a component, since the axe bears his identifying inscription in a cartouche. Imperial Chinese workmanship is noted in the lush rendering of the lion heads from which the blades emerge, the calligraphic serpentine forms, and the cloud motifs.

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