Images(2)

Tile with phoenix design

Date8th century

Label TextNearly identical to one excavated at the Tsubosakadera (also known as Minami Hokkeiji), a Buddhist temple established in 717 near the modern-day town of Takatori in central Nara Prefecture, Japan, this tile is likely part of the same group. Featuring a phoenix with outstretched wings standing atop banks of clouds, tiles like these are thought to have decorated the altars of early Buddhist temple halls. They are likely derived from similar earthenware tiles with soaring phoenixes decorating the halls of Buddhist temples in 6th century Korea, in the area of Buyeo, then the capital of the Baekje Kingdom.

Object number50.122

Provenance{said to have been excavated from Tsubosakadera (Minamihokkeiji), in Takatori, Nara, Japan, date unknown}; [Howard C. Hollis, Cleveland, Ohio], after 1949, sold to Stimson; Thomas D. Stimson, Seattle, Washington, 1950, given to Seattle Art Museum; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington

Photo CreditPhoto: Paul Macapia

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Deities & Demons: Supernatural in Japanese Art, October 20, 2022 – May 18, 2025 (on view December 7, 2024 – May 18, 2025).Published ReferencesHandbook, Seattle Art Museum: Selected Works from the Permanent Collections. Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1951, p. 85 (b&w). Fuller, Richard E. Japanese Art in the Seattle Art Museum: An Historical Sketch. Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1960 ("Presented in commemoration of the Hundredth Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and the United States of America"), no. 23.

Credit LineThomas D. Stimson Memorial Collection

Dimensions12 x 8 1/2 x 2 1/8 in. (30.48 x 21.59 x 5.4 cm)

MediumEarthenware