Tsuba with Shinno (Ch. Shen Nong)
(Japanese Military Armor)
The Chinese sage Shinnô (Ch. Shen Nong) sits by a tree near a stream chewing on grass. Shinnô wears a coat of leaves and has two small horns on his head. He is one of the legendary rulers of China, so he is often called an emperor. Shinnô is credited with inventing the plow and the harp. He also expanded the number of ideograms for the written language from eight to sixty-four. On the reverse of the tsuba is a waterfall.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Geographies
Japan (Place of Origin)
Measurements
3 1/8 x 2 15/16 x 1/4 in. (7.9 x 7.4 x 0.65 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.
51.192