Eaves Tile with Arabesques in Green Glaze from the Imperial Palace of Ancient Kyoto 平安京大内裏瓦 緑釉唐草文軒平瓦ヘイアンキョウダイダイリカワラ リョクユウカラクサモンノキヒラガワラ
Description
<i>Ryokuyû</i> is a type of glaze, which contains lead and turns green when fired at low temperatures. At Heijôkyô, the imperial palace of ancient Nara, <i>ryokuyû</i> tiles were used for the first time to cover the roofs of the palace, halls, and pagodas. At Heiankyô, the imperial palace of ancient Kyoto, the roofs of the main buildings, including Daigokuden (Great Hall), and the halls and pagodas of Tôji and Saiji Temples were also covered with <i>ryokuyû</i> tiles. These tiles were made not to cover the entire roof, but to decorate the eaves, the main ridge, and descending ridges of the roof.
Data source
ColBase
"ColBase: Integrated Collections Database of the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan" is a service that enables a multi-database search of the collections in the four national museums (To...
Contents holder/Provider
Aggregator
National Institutes for Cultural Heritage
The National Institutes for Cultural Heritage (NICH) comprise four National Museums (Tokyo National Museum, Kyoto National Museum, Nara National Museum, and Kyushu National Museum) and two National Research Institutes for Cultural Properties (Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, and Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties), as well as the International Research Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (IRCI) in Sakai City, for a total of seven institutions.
Last updated
September 14, 2026