Arrowhead (<i>Yanone</i>)
Unknown Artist
ca. 1615–1868
Medium
Steel
Dimensions
L. 9 1/8 in. (23.2 cm); L. of head 2 1/2 in. (6.4 cm); W. 1 1/4 in. (3.2 cm); Wt. 0.9 oz. (25.5 g)
Classification
Archery Equipment-Arrowheads
Culture
Japanese
Department
Arms and Armor
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
Accession Number
29.100.1386
Art Historical Context
This exquisite steel arrowhead, known as *yanone*, hails from Japan during the Edo period (ca. 1615–1868), a time of relative peace under the Tokugawa shogunate when samurai culture flourished. Measuring just 9⅛ inches long with a 2½-inch head, this lightweight yet lethal piece (0.9 oz.) exemplifies the precision engineering of Japanese archery equipment. Part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Arms and Armor collection, it entered via the renowned H. O. Havemeyer bequest in 1929. In Japanese warfare and martial arts like kyūdō (the way of the bow), *yanone* arrowheads varied in shape for pi...