Prayer Wheel 18th-19th century

silver, wood

3d sculpting

3d model

silver

3d printed part

sculpture

virtual 3d design

3d character model

unrealistic statue

3d shape

3d modeling

wood

structured

This 18th-19th century Prayer Wheel, made by an anonymous artist, is a significant example of Tibetan Buddhist art. The cylindrical drum is crafted from silver and brass and decorated with intricate engravings of religious texts and images. The wheel is mounted on a tall wooden stand with a distinctive design and features a pendulum that helps to spin the wheel. These objects are used in Tibetan Buddhism as a way to accumulate merit and wisdom by reciting mantras and prayers. The Prayer Wheel is a significant piece of religious art that is housed in the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

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minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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In Tibetan Buddhism, prayer wheels are akin to rosaries, imbued with a powerful belief in the meditative repetition of sacred syllables, sounds, and prayers. A prayer surrounds the silver cylinder, while inside is a long, tightly rolled paper scroll printed with prayers and invocations. As the wheel spins with the aid of a suspended weight, the printed prayers are “sent out” with each revolution. The wheel’s rotation equates to the reading or reciting of each invocation inside the cylinder. Though Tibetans of every social rank use prayer wheels, the unusually large size of this one suggests it belonged to an upper-class individual or, more likely, a monastery.