Sword with Scabbard Mounts

Japanese

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 377

Ancient Japanese swords and swords imported from Asian mainland in ancient times are classified on the basis of the interpretation of their pommels, here interpreted in the form of an archaic lion (shishikami or shikami) whose upper jaw forms the lower edge of the pommel which borders to the hilt. Most such hilts were excavated in eastern Japan, primarily in Shizuoka and Gunma Prefectures, and the fact that no such specimen have yet been discovered in western Japan and Korea suggests that we are facing here an indigenous and rather local pommel interpretation.

Sword with Scabbard Mounts, Iron, bronze, copper, gold, silver, Japanese

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Sword with Scabbard Mounts, Iron, bronze, copper, gold, silver, Japanese
Sword with Scabbard Mounts, Iron, bronze, copper, gold, silver, Japanese

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