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

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The A. H. Church Collection of Japanese Sword-Guards (Tsuba)

An unpublished catalogue of the A. H. Church collection of Japanese sword-guards (tsuba) by Albert James Koop.

The A.H. Church Collection of Japanese Sword-Guards (Tsuba) by Albert James Koop

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Tsuba with plants and animals

  • Literature notes

    Thin, with raised double-convex border; the ryōhitsu enlarged into two cloud forms of the same shape, one pointing up, the other down; the remaining field with brass incrustation (on the front clematis flowers, leaves and tendrils, with a butterfly above a dragonfly below; on the back, clumps of bamboo-grass with a tiger below, the brass for the latter wanting; "nail-heads" (on both faces); the border smooth and delicately inlaid with brass wire (largely missing) in different diapers of crossed lines.
  • Details

    Associated place
    Asia Japan (place of creation)
    Date
    17th century (1601 - 1700)
    Material and technique
    iron, inlaid with brass and brass nail-heads in high relief (taka-zōgan); border, inlaid with brass wire; tang-hole plugged with soft metal, probably copper
    Dimensions
    8.2 x 8 x 0.4 cm (height x width x depth)
    Material index
    Technique index
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Bequeathed by Sir Arthur H. Church, 1915.
    Accession no.
    EAX.10129
  • Further reading

    Koop, Albert James, The A. H. Church Collection of Japanese Sword-Guards (Tsuba), 3 vols (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, 1929), no. 129

Glossary

tsuba

  • tsuba

    Japanese sword guard.

Location

    • currently in research collection

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Publications online

  • The A.H. Church Collection of Japanese Sword-Guards (Tsuba) by Albert James Koop

    The A. H. Church Collection of Japanese Sword-Guards (Tsuba)

    Thin, with raised double-convex border; the ryōhitsu enlarged into two cloud forms of the same shape, one pointing up, the other down; the remaining field with brass incrustation (on the front clematis flowers, leaves and tendrils, with a butterfly above a dragonfly below; on the back, clumps of bamboo-grass with a tiger below, the brass for the latter wanting; "nail-heads" (on both faces); the border smooth and delicately inlaid with brass wire (largely missing) in different diapers of crossed lines.
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