Cleveland Museum of Art

Mandala Base

Date

early 1400s

Medium

cloisonné enamel

Culture

China, Ming dynasty (1368–1644)

Department

Chinese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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. In a meditation ritual known as Offering the Universe, the disc functioned as a mandala or cosmic diagram.

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