Kaguhana head from a Dandatō staff, early 14th century, 10 1/4 × 4 × 7 in. ( × × cm), Wood, lacquer, rock crystal, 14th century, 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

---

Size: 3744px × 5616px
Location:
Photo credit: © Penta Springs / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 10, 14th, born, century, collection, contemporaneous, convention, crystal, dandatō, deceased, deciding, double-headed, early, female, fierce, fukun, head, held, hell, holding, indicating, judged, kaguhana, kamakura, kings, lacquer, male, mounted, nara, pair, part, period, popularity, realm, rebirth, rock, sculpture, shown, souls, staff, taizan, temple, wood, ōdaiji