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An unpublished catalogue of the A. H. Church collection of Japanese sword-guards (tsuba) by Albert James Koop.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

  • Literature notes

    Aori shape; rough surface; the front boldly encrusted with the large figure of an eagle perched on a pine-branch; a twig with one rosette of needles appears on the back; kozuka-hole only, plugged with shakudō.

    Attributed with confidence to the hand of Shimizu Jingo the first (d. 1675).

    This guard represents a design and type without which no important collection can be considered complete. H. L. Joly considered it to be the finest example he knew. In some cases, as in the Victoria and Albert Museum example, the eagle is grasping a struggling monkey.

    Japan Society's Loan Exhibition, London, 1905, no.Q.55.
  • Details

    Associated place
    Asia Japan (Higo province) (place of creation)
    Date
    17th century (1601 - 1700)
    Artist/maker
    probably Shimizu Jingo I (born c. 1600 - died 1675) (armourer)
    Shimizu-Jingo School (possibly active 17th - 19th century) (armourer)
    Material and technique
    iron, inlaid with metal; kozuka-hole plugged with shakudō
    Dimensions
    7.8 x 7.4 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.10315
  • Further reading

    Koop, Albert James, The A. H. Church Collection of Japanese Sword-Guards (Tsuba), 3 vols (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, 1929), no. 315

Glossary (3)

kozuka, shakudō, tsuba

  • kozuka

    The handle that holds the small knife called the kogatana.

  • shakudō

    alloy of copper and gold, patinated to a dark blue-black colour

  • 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)

    Aori shape; rough surface; the front boldly encrusted with the large figure of an eagle perched on a pine-branch; a twig with one rosette of needles appears on the back; kozuka-hole only, plugged with shakudō.

    Attributed with confidence to the hand of Shimizu Jingo the first (d. 1675).

    This guard represents a design and type without which no important collection can be considered complete. H. L. Joly considered it to be the finest example he knew. In some cases, as in the Victoria and Albert Museum example, the eagle is grasping a struggling monkey.

    Japan Society's Loan Exhibition, London, 1905, no.Q.55.
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