The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 25, 2024

Shinto Deities

Shinto Deities

900s
Overall: 50.3 x 38.1 cm (19 13/16 x 15 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Traces of pigment on the surface of these sculptures indicate they were once painted.

Description

These sculptures represent kami, the name for deities associated with the Japanese religious tradition known as Shinto. They are said to have originally been created for the Usa Hachiman shrine in Oita on the island of Kyushu. Usa Hachiman Shrine houses four main kami: Hime Okami, who assists those engaged in agriculture and sea travel; the legendary 5th-century emperor Ojin deified as the kami Hachiman; Empress Jingu; and the kami of Mount Kawara, who aids copper miners. The identities of these two figures are unknown, but they belong to a larger group containing at least three other deities.
  • (Setsu Gatoda Co., Ltd.)
  • Setsu Gatōdō 瀬津雅陶堂 and Shun Etō 衛藤駿. Shinzō. Tokyo: Setsu Gatodo Co., Ltd., 1977. Reproduced: cat. nos. 3, 4
    Yamane, Yūzō 山根有三, Shūjirō Shimada 島田修二郎, and Terukazu Akiyama 秋山光和. Zaigai Nihon no shihō [在外日本の至宝 = Japanese Art: Selections from Western Collections, vol. 8 ]. Tōkyō: Mainichi Shinbunsha, 1979. Mentioned: cat. no. 84, p. 149; Reproduced:pl. 84
    Sasaki, Kōzō 佐々木剛三 and Hideo Okumura 奧村秀雄. Shintō no bijutsu: Kasuga, Hie, Kumano 神道の美術 : 春日, 日吉, 熊野. Tōkyō: Gakushū Kenkyūsha, 1979. Reproduced: fig. 51
    Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1978.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 66, no. 1, 1979, pp. 3–47. Reproduced: no. 159, p. 36; Mentioned: pp. 4 and 47 25159613
    Zenzo Shimizu 清水善三. "Japanese Sculptures in America and Canada," Ars Buddhica 佛教藝術, no. 126 (September 1979), part I, pp. 67-88. Reproduced: fig. 19, 20
    Lee, Sherman E., Michael R. Cunningham, and Ursula Korneitchouk. One Thousand Years of Japanese Art (650-1650): From the Cleveland Museum of Art: Catalogue. New York: Japan Society, 1981. cat. no. 6
    Cunningham, Michael R., Stanislaw J. Czuma, Anne E. Wardwell, and J. Keith Wilson. Masterworks of Asian Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1998. Reproduced: pp. 184-185
    Murase, Miyeko 村瀬, 実恵子. Bridge of Dreams: The Mary Griggs Burke Collection of Japanese Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Reproduced: fig. 16, p. 44
    May, Sally Ruth, Jane Takac, and Barbara J. Bradley. Knockouts: A Pocket Guide. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Reproduced: no. 87, pp. 81-82; Mentioned p. 119
    Gabriel, Theodore P. C., and Ron Geaves. --Isms: Understanding Religion. New York, NY: Universe, 2007. p. 127
    Vilbar, Sinéad, and Kevin Gray Carr. Shinto: Discovery of the Divine in Japanese Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 152-1577, nos. 57 and 62 libmma.contentdm.oclc.org
  • Shinto: Discovering the Divine in Japanese Art 神道-日本美術における神性の発見. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 9-June 30, 2019).
    Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation - July 2017-January 2018. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 15, 2017-January 2, 2018).
    Year in Review: 1978. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 13-March 18, 1979).
    Shinzō. Setsu Gatodo Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan (1977).
    One Thousand Years of Japanese Art (650-1650) from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Japan House Gallery, New York, NY (March 19-May 17, 1981).
  • {{cite web|title=Shinto Deities|url=false|author=|year=900s|access-date=25 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1978.3