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Half of a Temple Drum Frame

Original Language Title鼉太鼓雲形板(左方)
CultureJapanese
Date1150-1200
MediumWood with traces of lacquer, paint, and gilding
DimensionsOverall: 129 7/8 inches (329.88 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: the Edith Ehrman Memorial Fund
Object numberF81-16
On View
On view
Gallery Location
  • S21
Collections
DescriptionFrame for a bugaku drum in the form of an encircling halo of frame around a design of dragon amid clouds, wood with much of the original lacquer base, painting, and gilding intact. Carved in relief and pierced through on both sides.Exhibition History

A Bountiful Decade: Selected Acquisitions, 1977–1987, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Mo., October 14–December 6, 1987, no. 23.

Gallery Label
Can you imagine the thunderous sound made by a drum four feet in diameter? This intricately carved frame, together with a missing identical half, once suspended a large barrel-shaped taiko, a type of drum. It was played in performances of ancient Japanese music, to accompany ritual dances. These dances took place in courtyards of both palaces and Buddhist temples and featured two drums, each placed atop its own platform. Taiko drumming continues to be an important feature of Japanese culture. 
Provenance

In the possession of Kōfukuji, or Tōdaiji Temple, Nara;

With the Mutō Collection, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, until 1981;

Purchased from the Mutō Collection, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, by James Freeman, Kyoto, Japan, 1981;

Purchased from James J. Freeman by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1981

Published References

Patricia Graham, “Japanese Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art”, Orientations, vol. 16, no.8, (August, 1985): 20, fig. 10 (repro.). 

Roger Ward, ed., A Bountiful Decade: Selected Acquisitions, 1977-1987, exh. cat. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1987), no. 23 (repro.).

Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993): 355 (repro.).

Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008): 379 (repro.).

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.


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