Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Tsuba with a Temple Guardian Statue
(Japanese Military Armor)
The fierce figure on the right of this tsuba is one of the paired guardians ("ni-ô") who guard the main south gate at Buddhist temples in Japan. The fierce figures protect temples from evil spirits. The dove on the left side of the composition is a symbol of the Shinto deity Hachiman, the deified form of the Emperor Ôjin (died 310). The gate guardian shown here may be from the Tsurugaoka Hachiman shrine and temple complex in Kamakura. Both guardians were transferred to another site in the late 19th century when Buddhist objects were removed from Shinto shrines. On the reverse of the tsuba is a crescent 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, Tokyo (Edo) (Place of Origin)
Measurements
3 1/2 x 3 3/16 x 3/16 in. (8.9 x 8.08 x 0.49 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.
51.222