Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Tsuba with Wu Daozi's Dragon Painting Coming to Life
(Japanese Military Armor)
This tsuba illustrates a story about the 8th-century Chinese painter Wu Daozi [Tao-tzu], who was said to have painted a picture of a dragon so realistic that it came to life. The tsuba shows the painter in the lower right surrounded by brushes and other tools. The dragon looms over the upper left of the tsuba. On the reverse is a pine tree and bamboo. Both secondary holes have been plugged and the background incising continues across the plugs.
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, Mito (Place of Origin)
Measurements
2 13/16 x 2 11/16 x 1/8 in. (7.15 x 6.88 x 0.38 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.
51.165