Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Tsuba with the Dragon King's Gifts to Hidesato
(Japanese Military Armor)
This tsuba shows attendants of the Dragon King carrying gifts of gratitude to Fujiwara no Hidesato. The Dragon King asked Hidesato to kill the giant centipede of Mount Mikami, who was poisoning the Dragon King's underwater kingdom. Hidesato shot the centipede with an arrow, killing it. In gratitude, the Dragon King gave him a bronze bell, a never-ending bolt of silk, a pot that cooked food without fire, and a limitless bag of rice. Because of the rice, Hidesato is also known as Tawara Toda (Lord of the Rice Bag). The bell and the bag of rice can be seen in the waves on the front of this tsuba. The back of the tsuba shows waves and rocks.
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
3 1/8 x 2 7/8 x 1/8 in. (7.9 x 7.3 x 0.35 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.
51.149