Skip Navigation

Koma-Inu (Mouth Open); One of Pair

Asian Art

On View: Asian Galleries, Arts of Japan, 2nd floor
Many Shintō shrines have two statues of mythical lion-dogs standing at their entrance. One creature’s mouth is always open, while the other’s is closed. They serve the same purpose as images of Buddhist guardian deities: protecting the shrine from the forces of evil. This unusually early pair probably predates the practice of placing the beasts outside the door. With their wood bodies and painted surfaces (now largely worn away), they likely were made for display in a sheltered location.

These beasts are known in Japanese as koma-inu, or “Korean lions,” a name that acknowledges their foreign origins. The closest prototypes for the koma-inu are found in China, but the tradition of using lion-like figures as guardians can be traced to ancient India and Iran.
MEDIUM Hinoki (cypress wood) with traces of pigment
  • Place Made: Japan
  • DATES early 13th century
    PERIOD Kamakura Period
    DIMENSIONS 21 x 11 1/4 in. (53.3 x 28.6 cm)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS Asian Art
    ACCESSION NUMBER 85.171.1
    CREDIT LINE Purchased with funds given by Mr. and Mrs. Milton F. Rosenthal and Dr. and Mrs. Robert Feinberg, A. Augustus Healy Fund, Frank L. Babbott Fund, and Designated Purchase Fund
    EXHIBITIONS
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Asian Galleries, Arts of Japan, 2nd floor
    CAPTION Koma-Inu (Mouth Open); One of Pair, early 13th century. Hinoki (cypress wood) with traces of pigment, 21 x 11 1/4 in. (53.3 x 28.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased with funds given by Mr. and Mrs. Milton F. Rosenthal and Dr. and Mrs. Robert Feinberg, A. Augustus Healy Fund, Frank L. Babbott Fund, and Designated Purchase Fund, 85.171.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 85.171.1_85.171.2_PS9.jpg)
    IMAGE group, 85.171.1_85.171.2_PS9.jpg.
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.