Object Details
- Description
- Seated guardian dog with an open mouth.
- Label
- Guardian dogs carved of wood customarily are placed in the outer corrider of Shinto shrines to protect the sacred precincts. Like human guardians, one of the pair opens his mouth to cry out a warning. This (F1983.6a-c) dog’s mouth is open and the other (F1983.7a-c) dog’s mouth is closed. Together they form the syllables “a” and “un,” sounds with religious significance that are derived from Sanskrit. The sculptures retain traces of white pigment, which could have been the ground layer for other colors.
- Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art Collection
- Exhibition History
- The Way of the Kami (May 11 to November 3, 2019)
- The Historical Buddha and Friends (November 3, 2018 to May 5, 2019)
- Japanese Screens (February 11, 1983 to July 19, 1988)
- Data Source
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Date
- 1185-1333
- Period
- Kamakura period
- Credit Line
- Purchase — funds provided by the James Smithson Society
- Medium
- Cypress wood
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 53.3 x 27 x 42 cm (21 x 10 5/8 x 16 9/16 in)
- Type
- Sculpture
