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An unpublished catalogue of the A. H. Church collection of Japanese sword-guards (tsuba) by Albert James Koop.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 dragonflies and autumn plants by a stream

  • Literature notes

    Delicate modelling with incrustation and inlay of gold and silver; autumn plants and dragonflies by a trickling stream, with wreaths of haze over all; at the back is also the inscription in raised characters: [Japanese text] edge heavily hammered up. Signed: Isshō [Japanese text] Nakagawa [Japanese text] Katsuzane [Japanese text] with kakihan [Japanese text].

    The inscription may be read Heizei kuni ni muku iru no kokorozashu yoshi nanji abu wo kamu no kō and translated: "Always striving for the good of the country, your merit, [o dragonflies], is to bite the horsefly". The dragonfly is emblematic of Japan.
  • Details

    Associated place
    Asia Japan (place of creation)
    Date
    19th century (1801 - 1900)
    Material and technique
    iron, with hammered-up edge, and inlaid with gold and silver
    Dimensions
    7.7 x 7.1 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.10915
  • Further reading

    Koop, Albert James, The A. H. Church Collection of Japanese Sword-Guards (Tsuba), 3 vols (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, 1929), no. 915

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)

    Delicate modelling with incrustation and inlay of gold and silver; autumn plants and dragonflies by a trickling stream, with wreaths of haze over all; at the back is also the inscription in raised characters: [Japanese text] edge heavily hammered up. Signed: Isshō [Japanese text] Nakagawa [Japanese text] Katsuzane [Japanese text] with kakihan [Japanese text].

    The inscription may be read Heizei kuni ni muku iru no kokorozashu yoshi nanji abu wo kamu no kō and translated: "Always striving for the good of the country, your merit, [o dragonflies], is to bite the horsefly". The dragonfly is emblematic of Japan.
Notice

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