Sword guard (Tsuba) Depicting Skanda (韋駄天図鐔)

Japanese

Not on view

This iron tsuba depicts on the obverse Skanda (Japanese: Idaten), the guardian of the teachings of Buddhism, and a Mara (天魔) demon. One of Skanda’s task was namely to explicitly protect members of Buddhist communities from Mara who were known for disturbing and tempting them. The reverse shows a swift mischievous Yaksha (夜叉) spirit, also referred to as Shōshitsuki (捷疾鬼) in Japanese, who has stolen Buddha’s relics but which were retrieved later by Skanda.

Sword guard (<i>Tsuba</i>) Depicting Skanda (韋駄天図鐔), Iron, copper, gold, copper-gold alloy (shakudō), Japanese

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Obverse

Sword guard (<i>Tsuba</i>) Depicting Skanda (韋駄天図鐔), Iron, copper, gold, copper-gold alloy (shakudō), Japanese
Sword guard (<i>Tsuba</i>) Depicting Skanda (韋駄天図鐔), Iron, copper, gold, copper-gold alloy (shakudō), Japanese

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