Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Ashmolean − Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Japanese Decorative Arts of the Meiji Period

A catalogue of the Ashmolean’s Japanese decorative arts from the Meiji period (1868-1912), by Oliver Impey and Joyce Seaman (published Oxford, 2005).

Japanese Decorative Arts of the Meiji Period 1868-1912 by Oliver Impey and Joyce Seaman

Publications online: 54 objects

Reference URL

Actions

Send e-mail

Contact us about this object

Send e-mail

Send to a friend

Tsuba with swimming carp

  • Literature notes

    Sword-guard (tsuba) of tapered rectangular shape in iron and soft metal with relief decoration of three carp, one leaping the other two swimming, on the reverse, a fourth carp swimming. Engraved signature: Natsuo with kakihan.

    Kanō Natsuo (1828-1898) is usually acknowledged as the finest of the Meiji metalworkers, and, indeed one of the finest metalworkers of Japan of any period. He studied the making of sword-fittings, and later studied painting under the Shijō painter Nakajima Raishō (1796-1871).

    Winner of almost every prize available to metalworkers in the National Industrial Expositions, he was also a judge at the Second, Third and Fourth Expositions. He worked for the National Mint, and in 1890 was created an Imperial Artist.

    In all probability this tsuba, with its Shijō-derived design of carp, only just falls in our period; sword fittings were made to special order by several metalworkers even after the banning of the wearing of swords in 1876. Natsuo had been commissioned to make (or to decorate) a ceremonial tachi (slung sword) in 1871 by the Imperial Household Agency.
  • Details

    Associated place
    Asia Japan (place of creation)
    Date
    late 19th century
    Meiji Period (1868 - 1912)
    Artist/maker
    Kanō Natsuo (1828 - 1898) (armourer)
    Material and technique
    iron, inlaid with soft metal, and with carved relief decoration; tang-hole plugged with soft metal
    Dimensions
    8.9 x 8.2 x 0.5 cm (height x width x depth)
    Material index
    Technique index
    formed carved,
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Presented by Sir Francis Oppenheimer, 1940.
    Accession no.
    EAX.3852
  • Further reading

    Impey, Oliver, and Joyce Seaman, Japanese Decorative Arts of the Meiji Period 1868-1912, Ashmolean Handbooks (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2005), no. 27 on p. 58, pp. 60 & 68, illus. pp. 58-59

    Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 24 May 2006-23 December 2008, Treasures: Antiquities, Eastern Art, Coins, and Casts: Exhibition Guide, Rune Frederiksen, ed. (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2006), no. 117 on p. 43, illus. p. 43

Glossary

tsuba

  • tsuba

    Japanese sword guard.

Location

    • currently in research collection

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

Publications online

  • Japanese Decorative Arts of the Meiji Period 1868-1912 by Oliver Impey and Joyce Seaman

    Japanese Decorative Arts of the Meiji Period

    Sword-guard (tsuba) of tapered rectangular shape in iron and soft metal with relief decoration of three carp, one leaping the other two swimming, on the reverse, a fourth carp swimming. Engraved signature: Natsuo with kakihan.

    Kanō Natsuo (1828-1898) is usually acknowledged as the finest of the Meiji metalworkers, and, indeed one of the finest metalworkers of Japan of any period. He studied the making of sword-fittings, and later studied painting under the Shijō painter Nakajima Raishō (1796-1871).

    Winner of almost every prize available to metalworkers in the National Industrial Expositions, he was also a judge at the Second, Third and Fourth Expositions. He worked for the National Mint, and in 1890 was created an Imperial Artist.

    In all probability this tsuba, with its Shijō-derived design of carp, only just falls in our period; sword fittings were made to special order by several metalworkers even after the banning of the wearing of swords in 1876. Natsuo had been commissioned to make (or to decorate) a ceremonial tachi (slung sword) in 1871 by the Imperial Household Agency.
Notice

Object information may not accurately reflect the actual contents of the original publication, since our online objects contain current information held in our collections database. Click on 'buy this publication' to purchase printed versions of our online publications, where available, or contact the Jameel Study Centre to arrange access to books on our collections that are now out of print.

© 2013 University of Oxford - Ashmolean Museum