Zodiac Beaker with Lid

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Zodiac Beaker with Lid

Indonesia, Eastern Java, dated 1361
Furnishings; Serviceware
Copper alloy
5 7/8 x 5 1/4 in. (14.92 x 13.33 cm)
Anonymous gift (M.82.228a-b)
South and Southeast Asian Art
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

...
Numerous zodiac beakers (prasen) survive from Eastern Java that were made during the Majapahit Empire (1292–1527). Dated examples range from 1321 to 1430. Typically, zodiac beakers have two rows of twelve motifs. The upper row has the date of manufacture and figures representing the Javanese months and seasons. The lower row consists of the twelve signs of the Hindu sidereal zodiac (Nirayana). Zodiac beakers were used in rituals for preparing holy water (amrita; see also M.2000.163). See Mark Elliott, "Water and Starlight: Finding the Zodiac Beaker," https://www.maadigitallab.org/blog/2023/11/14/water-and-starlight-completing-the-zodiac-beaker/; J. E. van Lohuizen-de Leeuw, Indo-Javanese Metalwork (Stuttgart: Linden-Museum, 1984), p. 126, no. 92; and Pauline Lunsingh Scheurleer and Marijke J. Klokke, Divine Bronze: Ancient Indonesian Bronzes from A.D. 600 to 1600 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1988), pp. 45-46, 143, no. 91. The LACMA zodiac beaker is dated 1361. (Translation by Thomas M. Hunter, 1988.) Comparable zodiac beakers are in the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide (20022S3(a&b)); British Museum, London (1859,1228.138–.139; 1878,0210.1–.3; 1910,-.500); Linden-Museum, Stuttgart (SA 35 303 L); Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge (1884.4.1-2); Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (AK-RAK-1991-16 and MAK 275 [loan]); and Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven (2021.55.11).
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