Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Tsuba with Kikujidô (the Chrysanthemum Boy) Writing on Leaves
(Japanese Military Armor)
Seated at the lower right is Kikujidô (the Chrysanthemum Boy). He holds a brush in his right hand, chrysanthemum leaves in his left hand, and is surrounded by blooming chrysanthemums. He would write on chrysanthemum leaves and drop them into the stream. Kikujidô was an attendant to a 10th-century BC Chinese emperor Muh Wang. Rivals forced his exile due to a minor transgression. The emperor taught him a magical sentence from the historical Buddha to protect Kikujidô from harm. He wrote this phrase on chrysanthemum leaves that floated down the river back to civilization. Water that washed the writing off the leaves became an elixir of everlasting youth. The stream that ran through Kikujidô's place of exile is on the back of the tsuba.
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, Kyoto (Place of Origin)
Measurements
3 x 2 11/16 x 3/16 in. (7.6 x 6.75 x 0.43 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.
51.220