Artwork Details
17-1/4 x 9 x 18 in. (overall)
PeriodMr. and Mrs. Theodore P. Van Vorhees Art Fund
CopyrightAsian Art (Japanese and Korean)
Color Palette狛犬
Komainu are lion-like guardian dogs usually placed at the entrances to temples and shrines. Koma is the Japanese name for Koguryo, an ancient Korean kingdom, and inu means dog. This indicates that the motif may have come to Japan from China via Korea. Technically, only an animal with the horned head and closed mouth is called komainu; the animal with the open mouth is a lion (shishi). This distinction was lost over time.
Content Disclaimer and Usage Rights
Metadata about the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s collection comes from Newfields’ records and research. In some cases, information may be incomplete and research is ongoing. Newfields’ goal is to have as up-to-date metadata as possible, therefore, this information is subject to change. Newfields collections’ metadata is available under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) waiver, which allows for re-use without legal restrictions.
Artworks that appear in the image file(s) above may be in copyright or have other legal and/or cultural restrictions to their use. For clarity, Newfields does not claim copyright to the image files created by Newfields of artworks in the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s collection. Newfields makes every effort to ascertain the copyright status of artworks in the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s collection. Please refer to the RightsStatements.org statement above for information about the current copyright status of the artwork. Additionally, some artworks may include Local Context’s Notices or Labels that attribute cultural authority of the artwork’s heritage and data.
Additional information about Newfields’ reproduction guidelines can be found in the Licensing Resources.