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Source Description
The Chinese zodiac, which is also used in Japan, assigns an animal to each year. There are twelve animals in total, six of which are depicted on this tsuba. The other six animals were probably used to decorate other sword fittings used with the tsuba. Each animal is placed within its own cartouche. On the front of the tsuba are a rat, a goat, a tiger, and a horse. On there reverse are a snake and an ox.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
36580
label
Tsuba with Animals from the Chinese Zodiac
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
3
Source metadata
id
36580
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Tsuba with Animals from the Chinese Zodiac
description
The Chinese zodiac, which is also used in Japan, assigns an animal to each year. There are twelve animals in total, six of which are depicted on this tsuba. The other six animals were probably used to decorate other sword fittings used with the tsuba. Each animal is placed within its own cartouche. On the front of the tsuba are a rat, a goat, a tiger, and a horse. On there reverse are a snake and an ox.
provenance
Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
ca. 1800-1825 (late Edo)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Arms & Armor
tsubas
sword components
imageCount
3
pageCount
3
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
6.9
height
6.4
depth
0.4
dimensionsRaw
2 11/16 x 2 1/2 x 1/8 in. (6.9 x 6.4 x 0.35 cm)
Source extras
cul
Japanese
inscriptions
[Signature] 江川俊生; [Translation] Egawa Toshio
med
nigurome (?), gold, shibuichi, shakudo, copper
creator_ids
4408
collection_ids
JMA
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
3e1662d11225bbf8
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
a0638316bebc97cc
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
503ab1ad425aef2e
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no