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Source Description
This tsuba shows Watanabe no Tsuna, a warrior who lived in the late 10th and early 11th century. One stormy night, he lay in wait at the Rashomon Gate in Kyoto to wait for one of the last demons left in the city. Very late at night, he felt something tugging at his helmet. Striking out with his sword, he cut off the demon's arm. The demon ran away and Tsuna kept the arm locked in an iron box. On the tsuba, Tsuna and the demon face off across the sword opening. The strong diagonal decorations on both the front and the back evoke the stormy night. The Rashomon Gate is the same gate that figures in Akira Kurosawa's famous film of that name.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
19732
label
Tsuba with the Samurai Watanabe no Tsuna
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
3
Source metadata
id
19732
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Tsuba with the Samurai Watanabe no Tsuna
description
This tsuba shows Watanabe no Tsuna, a warrior who lived in the late 10th and early 11th century. One stormy night, he lay in wait at the Rashomon Gate in Kyoto to wait for one of the last demons left in the city. Very late at night, he felt something tugging at his helmet. Striking out with his sword, he cut off the demon's arm. The demon ran away and Tsuna kept the arm locked in an iron box. On the tsuba, Tsuna and the demon face off across the sword opening. The strong diagonal decorations on both the front and the back evoke the stormy night. The Rashomon Gate is the same gate that figures in Akira Kurosawa's famous film of that name.
provenance
Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
1865 (late Edo)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Arms & Armor
tsuba
sword components
imageCount
3
pageCount
3
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
8.5
height
7.6
depth
0.8
dimensionsRaw
H: 3 3/8 × W: 3 ×D: 5/16 in. (8.5 × 7.6 × 0.8 cm)
Source extras
cul
Japanese
style
Mito School
inscriptions
[Transcription] Inscribed:高嶺谷図 應需久貝公 慶應元年早春 觚泉勝親刻之; [Transliteration] takane tani no zu/oju kugai ko/keio gannen soshun/koizumi katsuchika kore o horu; [Translation] Inscribed: Designed in a high mountain valley/By special request of Lord Kugai/ First year of Keio(1865)
early spring/Koizumi Katsuchika carved this.
med
shibuichi (silver-copper alloy), shakudo (gold-copper alloy), gold, silver, copper
creator_ids
2448
collection_ids
JMA
exhibition_ids
880
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
d1b58e101e6ea61c
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
87acd7d46d9e98a7
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
e5a94fb0fb694cfd
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no