Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Fuchi with Horses Emerging from a Gourd
(Japanese Military Armor)
A silver gourd is depicted in relief on the side of the fuchi. The side of the gourd is cut open to show three gold horses inside. Three horses are also shown having emerged from the gourd; one on the front and two on the reverse. This is an illustration of the idiom "like a horse coming out of a gourd," which is used to describe unexpected things. The saying may have developed from stories of the Chinese immortal Chokaro (Ch. Zhang Guo [Chang Kuo]) who carried his magical mule in a gourd. It is part of a set with Walters 51.971.
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.
William T. / Henry Walters Collection, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Geographies
Japan (Place of Origin)
Measurements
L: 1 9/16 in. (3.9 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by William T. or 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.
51.970
