Keywords
Art History
Crafts
Sutra cylinder. A container for the Buddhist sutras placed in the sutra mound kyōzuka 経塚: cylinders of circular, hexagonal or octagonal shape, with fitted lids either flat or cap-shaped. Various materials are used, including copper sheets, cast copper, cast iron, and pottery. Some have inlaid copper mirror bottoms. It is generally true that examples from the Heian period are larger and longer than those of the Kamakura and Muromachi periods. Kyōzutsu often bear an inscription and date on the base.