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One of a Pair of Guardian Figures (Zuishin)
c. 1560-1625
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
Sculptors carved these two figures to look like members of the guard who protected the Japanese aristocracy in the 10th to 12th centuries. The pair belong in the roofed gate of a Shinto shrine. Their role was to embody the divine protectors of the deities, or <em>kami</em>, residing at the shrine. Their inset crystal eyes make them appear vigilant.
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Details
- Title: One of a Pair of Guardian Figures (Zuishin)
- Date Created: c. 1560-1625
- Physical Dimensions: 68.5 x 71.4 cm (26 15/16 x 28 1/8 in.); 70.2 x 70.5 cm (27 5/8 x 27 3/4 in.)
- Provenance: Catherine Gray Jackson and Chapin Jackson, Darien, CT, by descent to her niece Dorothy Gray Shinn, (Dorothy Gray Shinn and Ron Shinn, Akron, OH, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Type: Sculpture
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/2020.215.2
- Medium: Japanese cypress (hinoki) with traces of color; crystal
- Original Title: 随身像
- Fun Fact: Some Japanese sculptors used to specialize in inset crystal eyes.
- Department: Japanese Art
- Culture: Japan, Muromachi period (1392-1573) to Edo period (1615-1858)
- Credit Line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Collection: Japanese Art
- Accession Number: 2020.215.2
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