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An unpublished catalogue of the A. H. Church collection of Japanese sword-guards (tsuba) by Albert James Koop.
Publications online: 1264 objects
Mokkō-shaped tsuba with cherry flowers and snow heaps
-
Literature notes
Bold mokkō; narrow border joined to the sides of the seppadai by two curved square bars, thus ) ( [see Fig. 12], forming four open compartments, the upper and lower each partly filled by half of a large double-cherry-flower with gold nunome centre, its petals edged with squares of foil (compare the laquer technique kirikane); in each side compartment is a representation of a snow-heap, with dots, lines and groups of radiations in gold wire nunome; border and edge with portions of linear diapers in the same.
For the design, compare a guard in the Furukawa Collection, no.103, signed by a Bushū artist. -
Details
- Associated place
- Date
- 18th century (1701 - 1800)
- Artist/maker
-
Umetada School (active 16th century - 19th century) (armourer)
- Material and technique
- iron, with cut and filed openwork decoration, gold foil, and gold and gold wire nunome-zōgan decoration; ryōhitsu plugged with soft metal, probably shakudō; tang-hole plugged with soft metal, probably copper
- Dimensions
- 8.4 x 7.8 cm (height x width)
- Material index
-
processed material › metal › iron,processed material › metal › gold,processed material › metal › alloy › copper alloy › shakudō
- Technique index
- Object type index
-
arms/armour › koshirae › kodogu › tsuba
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Bequeathed by Sir Arthur H. Church, 1915.
- Accession no.
- EAX.10236
-
Further reading
Koop, Albert James, The A. H. Church Collection of Japanese Sword-Guards (Tsuba), 3 vols (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, 1929), no. 236
Glossary (3)
nunome-zōgan, shakudō, tsuba
-
nunome-zōgan
Decorative application of metal sheeting (generally of gold or silver) where the iron ground is first cross-hatched and the metal burnished on.
-
shakudō
alloy of copper and gold, patinated to a dark blue-black colour
-
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)
Bold mokkō; narrow border joined to the sides of the seppadai by two curved square bars, thus ) ( [see Fig. 12], forming four open compartments, the upper and lower each partly filled by half of a large double-cherry-flower with gold nunome centre, its petals edged with squares of foil (compare the laquer technique kirikane); in each side compartment is a representation of a snow-heap, with dots, lines and groups of radiations in gold wire nunome; border and edge with portions of linear diapers in the same.
For the design, compare a guard in the Furukawa Collection, no.103, signed by a Bushū artist.
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