Minneapolis Institute of Art

Kaguhana head from a Dandatō staff

Unknown

Date

early 14th century

Medium

Wood, lacquer, rock crystal

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

The fierce head shown here likely would have been part of a pair, male and female, mounted on a staff held by one of the 10 kings of hell. The 10 kings judged deceased souls, deciding which realm of rebirth they should be born into. A contemporaneous wood sculpture from the collection of the Tōdaiji Temple in Nara shows Taizan Fukun, one of the kings of hell, holding a similar double-headed staff, indicating the popularity of this convention during the Kamakura period.

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