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12 1/2 x 14 1/2 in. (31.8 x 36.8 cm)
medium: Ink and watercolor on paper
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY 34.100.69 1934
Gift of Mrs. Robert W. de Forest, 1933
The body of a snake curves around the edge of this tsuba on the right. The snake is depicted wrapping its body around a rotting tree trunk. The head and tail can be seen on the front, while the middle section of the snake is on the back. The hole for the utility knife is designed to look like a section of the tree has rotten away.
Japanese
3 3/16 x 2 7/8 x 3/16 in. (8.08 x 7.38 x 0.42 cm)
medium: copper, silver, gold, shibuichi (?)
style: Hamano School
culture: Japanese
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Each of the four gospels in this book opens on a page with brilliantly illuminated borders depicting the author of the text as well as birds—principally peacocks, symbols of the immortality of the soul—and fountains, representing the fountain of life and the salvation of the soul. This volume consists of 428 leaves with texts in Greek. Its level of sophistication suggests that it was probably written and decorated in a monastery in Constantinople.
Byzantium, Constantinople
ink, tempera, and gold on vellum; leather binding
Sheet: 28 x 23 cm (11 x 9 1/16 in.)
Did you know...
Gospel books were carried in procession through Byzantine churches.
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
This amulet is the head of a jackal. He holds a whip and crook, and is kneeling with snakes before his knees. He has the tail of a bird.
Egyptian
H: 2 7/16 x W: 7/8 x D: 2 1/16 in. (6.2 x 2.27 x 5.3 cm)
medium: bronze cast
culture: Egyptian
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
This is an example of "famille verte" porcelain; this particular piece is the center of a broken dish featuring Shou Lao, the God of Longevity and was made for the emperor's birthday in 1713.
Chinese
5 7/16 in. (13.8 cm)
medium: porcelain with overglaze enamels and silver
style: famille verte
culture: Chinese
dynasty: Qing [Ch'ing] Dynasty
reign: Kangxi [K'ang-hsi] (1661-1722)
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
The elaborate design, superior craftsmanship, and inscription carved into the red cinnabar lacquer proclaim the imperial pedigree of this scroll box. On either end appears a five-clawed dragon, a design reserved only for an emperor. More dragons twist and wind through swirling clouds and waves along the length of the box’s sides and top. The carving is intricate and vigorous, while the design is controlled and regular. This box originally housed the handscroll, <a href="https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1969.31">CMA 1969.31</a>, private portraits of the Emperor Qianlong, his empress, and 11 other favorites among his presumed 40 or more wives during his 60-year reign.
China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong reign (1736–95)
cinnabar carved lacquer on wood
Overall: 14 x 14.7 x 59 cm (5 1/2 x 5 13/16 x 23 1/4 in.)
Did you know...
This is the original box for the handscroll <em>Portraits of the Qianlong Emperor and His Twelve Consorts</em>, <a href="https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1969.31">CMA 1969.31</a>.
John L. Severance Fund