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Source Description
In the center of the kozuka is a ceremonial two bladed sword called a "ken." The handle is a "vajra," which was originally a weapon and ritual object in India. It was incorporated into Buddhist rituals. At the end is a functioning compass. The four central characters indicate the four directions, with north at the bottom. The twelve surrounding characters are the animals of the Chinese zodiac, who were also assigned to directions and times.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
26791
label
Kozuka with a Ceremonial Sword and Compass
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
2
Source metadata
id
26791
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Kozuka with a Ceremonial Sword and Compass
description
In the center of the kozuka is a ceremonial two bladed sword called a "ken." The handle is a "vajra," which was originally a weapon and ritual object in India. It was incorporated into Buddhist rituals. At the end is a functioning compass. The four central characters indicate the four directions, with north at the bottom. The twelve surrounding characters are the animals of the Chinese zodiac, who were also assigned to directions and times.
provenance
Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
n.d.
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Arms & Armor
kozuka
sword components
handles
imageCount
2
pageCount
2
source
import
dimensionsRaw
3 3/4 in. (9.6 cm) (l.)
Source extras
cul
Japanese
inscriptions
[Number] On sticker edged with a blue trellis pattern in Japanese characters: 39
med
shakudo, gold
creator_ids
6194
collection_ids
JMA
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
17f0f3f0e86a15b8
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
75459d500fa2a95f
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no