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Ritual Hammer; China; Ming Dynasty, Yongle Period, (1403-1424); iron, gold, and silver; Rubin M…
Ritual Hammer
Ritual Hammer; China; Ming Dynasty, Yongle Period, (1403-1424); iron, gold, and silver; Rubin M…
Ritual Hammer; China; Ming Dynasty, Yongle Period, (1403-1424); iron, gold, and silver; Rubin Museum of Art; C2005.16.7 (HAR 65429); Photograph by Gavin Ashworth, Rubin Museum of Art, 2013

Ritual Hammer

OriginChina
Date1403-1424
Dimensions3 7/8 × 15 7/8 × 1 7/8 in. (estimated)
MediumIron, gold, and silver
Classification(s)
Credit LineRubin Museum of Art
Object numberC2005.16.7
Himalayan Art Resources Number65429
DescriptionThis hammer, finely worked in the difficult damascene technique of inlaying gold and silver decoration, draws on an archaic vocabulary of Chinese designs and an ancient seal-script style reign mark that records its creation in the workshops of the early fifteenth-century Ming-dynasty emperor Yongle. Hammers such as this are used in rituals to drive pegs, delineating the ritual space and symbolically controlling both internal and external hindrances to spiritual accomplishment.

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