Creative Commons License
Tsuba with Dancers Celebrating New Year
(Japanese Military Armor)
The pine tree and bamboo decorations on the right side of the tsuba are part of traditional New Year's decorations. Both pine and bamboo are considered felicitous. Behind the pine, a rope decorated with hanging straw pendants wraps around the edge of the tsuba to the reverse side. At the lower left on the front are two small figures performing a manzai dance to celebrate the New Year. One beats a small drum, while the other dances with a fan. Both wear masks. The back shows the reverse side of the decorations which appear on the front. Note the unusual basket weave design on the metal plugging the hole for the hair pick on the right.
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
2 1/2 x 2 5/16 x 1/8 in. (6.4 x 5.8 x 0.36 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.
51.241