Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Tsuba with a Gate Guardian at Todaiji
(Japanese Military Armor)
The large figure on the right of the tsuba is one of the paired guardians ("ni-ô") who guard the main south gate at Buddhist temples in Japan. These fierce looking figures protect temples from evil spirits. In front of the statue is a pilgirm. At the lower left is another pilgrim, with his staff and hat laying near him. On the reverse is a man crawling through a hole in a pillar. This reveals that the temple is Todaiji in Nara. The pillar is in the Great Buddha Hall and the hole is said to be the size of the nostrils of the Buddha statue. The statue itself is forty nine feet high. Those who successfully pass through the hole in the pillar are believed to gain enlightenment in their next life.
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 (Place of Origin)
Measurements
2 11/16 x 2 9/16 x 3/16 in. (6.9 x 6.58 x 0.47 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.
51.239