Cover-tile of hip rafter (Excavated presumably from a temple site of Ueno, Wakayama)

Baked clay
H 21.8, 36.0x30.0
Asuka period　7th century

D003656

Cover-tile of hip rafter (Excavated presumably from a temple site of Ueno, Wakayama)_0

D009293
1995/06/20

Cover-tile of hip rafter (Excavated presumably from a temple site of Ueno, Wakayama)_1

D009295
1995/06/20

Cover-tile of hip rafter (Excavated presumably from a temple site of Ueno, Wakayama)_2

D003656
1992/11/09

Cover-tile of hip rafter (Excavated presumably from a temple site of Ueno, Wakayama)_3

A024615
1995/06/20

Cover-tile of hip rafter (Excavated presumably from a temple site of Ueno, Wakayama)_4

A024616
1995/06/20

Cover-tile of hip rafter (Excavated presumably from a temple site of Ueno, Wakayama)_5

A023983
1992/11/09

Cover-tile of hip rafter (Excavated presumably from a temple site of Ueno, Wakayama)_6

A023985

Cover-tile of hip rafter (Excavated presumably from a temple site of Ueno, Wakayama)_7

A023987

Cover-tile of hip rafter (Excavated presumably from a temple site of Ueno, Wakayama)_8

A023988

Cover-tile of hip rafter (Excavated presumably from a temple site of Ueno, Wakayama)_9

A023991

Cover-tile of hip rafter (Excavated presumably from a temple site of Ueno, Wakayama)_10

A023992

Cover-tile of hip rafter (Excavated presumably from a temple site of Ueno, Wakayama)_11

A023993

Cover-tile of hip rafter (Excavated presumably from a temple site of Ueno, Wakayama)_12

A023994

Cover-tile of hip rafter (Excavated presumably from a temple site of Ueno, Wakayama)_13

A023995

Cover-tile of hip rafter (Excavated presumably from a temple site of Ueno, Wakayama)_14

A023996

Cover-tile of hip rafter (Excavated presumably from a temple site of Ueno, Wakayama)_15

A023997

Cover-tile of hip rafter (Excavated presumably from a temple site of Ueno, Wakayama)_16

A023998

Cover-tile of hip rafter (Excavated presumably from a temple site of Ueno, Wakayama)_17

A023999

The hip-rafter corner is the beam supporting the angled corners of a building’s roof, and this is a box-shaped cover formed of eaves tiles placed at its end. It protects the wood of the hip-rafter’s corner from rot caused by wind and rain, and it also has a decorative function. The gorgeous swirling arabesque borders surrounding the fan-shaped vegetal palmette motif are truly striking.

NAKAGAWA AyaEnglish by Mary Lewine
Buddhist Art Paradise: Jewels of the Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 2021.7, p.350, no.26.

This ornamental ceramic roof tile, which consists of one top plate and three decorative side-plates, used to be fixed at the end of an angle-rafter of the eaves and cover four sides of it, except for the bottom side. Each of the side-plates is decorated with the design of a fan-shaped palmetto in a circle, which is surrounded by a symmetrical S-shaped pattern. In addition, the tails of the two long side-plates form the associated cloud patterns.
This roof tile is considered to have been excavated from the ancient site of Ueno temple (Kii-yakushi-ji temple). Other excavated objects include gilt bronze bells and old roof tiles. All the objects excavated from that site were from the late Hakuhō period. Among them the roof tile introduced in this article is a rare item. The excellent decoration and the cloud pattern of this roof tile, which seems to be related to cloud-shaped ancones of the Kondō Hall of Hōryū-ji temple, are noteworthy. Same fragments from the same type of roof tiles were found at the site during the excavations in 1967 and 1984.
Masterpieces of Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 1993, p.129, no.102.

Accession Number	924-2
Category	Archaeological Works
Provenance	Excavated presumably from a temple site of Ueno, Wakayama
Bibliography	Buddhist Art Paradise: Jewels of the Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 2021.7, 354p. Hakuhō, the First Full Flowering of Buddhist Art in Japan : Special Exhibition Celebrating the 120th Anniversary of the Nara National Museum. 2015, 298p. (Japanese) Masterpieces from the Collection of the Nara National Museum. Nara National Museum, 1997, 350p. (Japanese) Illustrated Catalogue of the Collection of Nara National Museum: Buddhist Archaeological Objects. Nara National Museum, 1993, 156p. (Japanese)