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Source Description
This tsuba illustrates the 12th-century story of the oil monk from Yasuka shrine in Kyoto. On a stormy night, reports circulated in the city of a fire-breathing monster. Taira no Tadamori went out to capture the monster and discovered that it was actually a poor monk walking to Yasuka shrine. He was carrying an oil lamp that emitted flames when he blew on it. The monk is on the right side of tsuba, carrying the lamp and an umbrella. Two trees are on the left. The rain is indicated by ridges in the small dots that cover the background. The reverse of the tsuba shows a lantern, which might be one at Yasuka shrine, and a tree. The rain here is highlighted in gold.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
869
label
Tsuba with the Oil Monk
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
2
Source metadata
id
869
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Tsuba with the Oil Monk
description
This tsuba illustrates the 12th-century story of the oil monk from Yasuka shrine in Kyoto. On a stormy night, reports circulated in the city of a fire-breathing monster. Taira no Tadamori went out to capture the monster and discovered that it was actually a poor monk walking to Yasuka shrine. He was carrying an oil lamp that emitted flames when he blew on it. The monk is on the right side of tsuba, carrying the lamp and an umbrella. Two trees are on the left. The rain is indicated by ridges in the small dots that cover the background. The reverse of the tsuba shows a lantern, which might be one at Yasuka shrine, and a tree. The rain here is highlighted in gold.
provenance
Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
19th century
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Arms & Armor
tsuba
sword components
imageCount
2
pageCount
2
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
6.8
height
6.2
depth
0.7
dimensionsRaw
H: 2 11/16 ×W: 2 7/16 × D: 1/4 in. (6.8 × 6.2 × 0.7 cm)
Source extras
cul
Japanese
inscriptions
none
med
shakudo (gold-copper alloy), gold, silver, copper
creator_ids
6194
collection_ids
JMA
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
bc4ba52e1dcf3f43
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
a70cd05eb5981d3f
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no