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Source Description
The large figure on the right of the tsuba is one of the paired guardians ("ni-ô") who guard the main south gate at Buddhist temples in Japan. These fierce looking figures protect temples from evil spirits. In front of the statue is a pilgirm. At the lower left is another pilgrim, with his staff and hat laying near him. On the reverse is a man crawling through a hole in a pillar. This reveals that the temple is Todaiji in Nara. The pillar is in the Great Buddha Hall and the hole is said to be the size of the nostrils of the Buddha statue. The statue itself is forty nine feet high. Those who successfully pass through the hole in the pillar are believed to gain enlightenment in their next life.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
34271
label
Tsuba with a Gate Guardian at Todaiji
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
3
Source metadata
id
34271
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Tsuba with a Gate Guardian at Todaiji
description
The large figure on the right of the tsuba is one of the paired guardians ("ni-ô") who guard the main south gate at Buddhist temples in Japan. These fierce looking figures protect temples from evil spirits. In front of the statue is a pilgirm. At the lower left is another pilgrim, with his staff and hat laying near him. On the reverse is a man crawling through a hole in a pillar. This reveals that the temple is Todaiji in Nara. The pillar is in the Great Buddha Hall and the hole is said to be the size of the nostrils of the Buddha statue. The statue itself is forty nine feet high. Those who successfully pass through the hole in the pillar are believed to gain enlightenment in their next life.
provenance
Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
ca. 1800 (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
6.6
depth
0.5
dimensionsRaw
2 11/16 x 2 9/16 x 3/16 in. (6.9 x 6.58 x 0.47 cm)
Source extras
cul
Japanese
inscriptions
[Signature] 忠之; [Translation] Tadayuki
med
iron, gold, silver, copper
creator_ids
5146
collection_ids
JMA
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
b6c2c23b478c3989
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
7761ff1b8f615068
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
411fdda663f6a9de
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no