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An unpublished catalogue of the A. H. Church collection of Japanese sword-guards (tsuba) by Albert James Koop.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

  • Literature notes

    Reserved in polished relief are two strata of clouds continued round the edge; on the back and front respectively are one and two butterflies in gold incrustation; gold-lined kodzuka-hole.

    Hawkshaw Collection, no. 3208. Similar clouds appear on an Isshō fuchi-kashira given by Sir Arthur Church to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1914, and, as the MS. Catalogue suggests, this guard is probably to be attributed to the same artist (Ichijō School, Group XXXIV).
  • Details

    Associated place
    Asia Japan (place of creation)
    Date
    19th century (1801 - 1900)
    Material and technique
    copper, with punched nanako decoration, and inlaid with gold; gold kozuka rim
    Dimensions
    7 x 6.3 cm (height x width)
    Material index
    Technique index
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Bequeathed by Sir Arthur H. Church, 1915.
    Accession no.
    EAX.11040
  • Further reading

    Koop, Albert James, The A. H. Church Collection of Japanese Sword-Guards (Tsuba), 3 vols (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, 1929), no. 1040

Glossary (2)

kozuka, tsuba

  • kozuka

    The handle that holds the small knife called the kogatana.

  • 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

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

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

    Reserved in polished relief are two strata of clouds continued round the edge; on the back and front respectively are one and two butterflies in gold incrustation; gold-lined kodzuka-hole.

    Hawkshaw Collection, no. 3208. Similar clouds appear on an Isshō fuchi-kashira given by Sir Arthur Church to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1914, and, as the MS. Catalogue suggests, this guard is probably to be attributed to the same artist (Ichijō School, Group XXXIV).
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