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Source Description
The man standing on the boat at the right of this tsuba is Kamatari, the founder of the powerful Fujiwara family. He was a historical figure who died in 669, but this episode is from a legend. His daughter had become the empress of China and sent a boatload of treasures, including a valuable jewel, back to Japan to be used for a temple. The Dragon King of the sea stole the jewel and hid it in his temple. Kamatari retrieved it with the help of a diver girl, who sacrificed herself to ensure the jewel was returned to Kamatari. On the tsuba, he is shown with the jewel after its return.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
20811
label
Tsuba with Kamatari with the Jewel
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
2
Source metadata
id
20811
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Tsuba with Kamatari with the Jewel
description
The man standing on the boat at the right of this tsuba is Kamatari, the founder of the powerful Fujiwara family. He was a historical figure who died in 669, but this episode is from a legend. His daughter had become the empress of China and sent a boatload of treasures, including a valuable jewel, back to Japan to be used for a temple. The Dragon King of the sea stole the jewel and hid it in his temple. Kamatari retrieved it with the help of a diver girl, who sacrificed herself to ensure the jewel was returned to Kamatari. On the tsuba, he is shown with the jewel after its return.
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
tsubas
sword components
imageCount
2
pageCount
2
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
6.2
height
5
depth
0.5
dimensionsRaw
2 7/16 x 2 x 3/16 in. (6.18 x 5.04 x 0.48 cm)
Source extras
cul
Japanese
inscriptions
none
med
copper, gold details, shibuichi
creator_ids
6194
collection_ids
JMA
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
c6f04f5898953379
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
468f8b9a68edb036
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no