Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Tsuba with the Boat Bridge ("Funabashi") at Sano
(Japanese Military Armor)
Along the right side of the tsuba, a series of boats are tied together creating a bridge known as a "funabashi" (lit. boat bridge). A pine tree at the bottom indicates the shore. On the reverse, pine trees are shown along a river bank. A poem from the classical poetry collection the Man'yôshû (complied late 8th century) made famous the boat bridge at Sano (in modern day Gunma prefecture). The tsuba may be an allusion to the poem or to the noh play "Funabashi" that was inspired by the poem. The bridge was also depicted in a woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) in the 1820s or 1830s.
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 acquistion unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Geographies
Japan, Kyoto (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 2 5/8 in. (6.6 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.
51.406