Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Sword Guard (Tsuba) with the Rabbit in the Moon
(Japanese Military Armor)
This tsuba is a depiction of the sky filled with clouds. At the upper left, the moon appears with the depiction of a rabbit pounding rice for sweet rice cakes. This is the figure that the Japanese see in the moon. This tradition may have developed in part because the word for rice cake ("mochi") can also mean "full moon."
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Geographies
Japan, Kii (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 2 13/16 × W: 2 11/16 × D: 3/16 in. (7.2 × 6.9 × 0.5 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
51.206