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

Apart from the occasional use of foreign motives or designs by various schools, there is a large class- chiefly of iron guards- which either in their shape, their technical methods, or the details of their design, betray non-Japanese influences. The term Namban (“southern barbarians”) was applied to all foreigners reaching Japan, as most of them did, from the south-west, and chiefly included (besides the Chinese) the Portuguese and Dutch, whose first contact with Japan dates respectively from the middle of the 16^th century and the beginning of the 17^th. What is known as Namban work is a curious compound of Chinese technique and Chinese or European designs. Features largely peculiar to Namban guards are the pearled border and the cartouche-shaped seppadai, the latter being often covered with wave or other patterns.

A very large proportion of them are pierced with the drill and chiselled into a maze of floral scrollwork, often completely undercut, with dragons, birds, flowers or other objects symmetrically interspersed. There may be more or less silvering or gilding in the details (nunome). During the 18^th century improvements in metalworking tools led to an increase in the delicacy of this style of work, as well as in the rapidity with which it could be produced. Its immense popularity in the early part of the 19^th century gave rise to an extensive production of very coarsely executed pieces.

Occasionally (as in [EAX.10814] [EAX.10815]) some of the main features of Portuguese and other Western sword-guards of the 18^th century are imiatated in combination with the pieced work already described.

Solid Namban work is also found; low relief, generally with gold or silver nunome enrichment, in more or less symmetrical designs, often with details frankly taken from European models.

Pierced designs, usually with undercutting, plain borders

Tsuba with dragons and karakusa, or scrolling plant pattern (EAX.10792)    Tsuba with dragons and karakusa, or scrolling plant pattern (EAX.10793)    Tsuba with dragons and karakusa, or scrolling plant pattern (EAX.10794)

Tsuba with animals amid karakusa, or scrolling plant pattern (EAX.10795)    Tsuba with two dragons amid karakusa, or scrolling plant pattern (EAX.10796)    Tsuba with dragons and pearls amid karakusa, or scrolling plant pattern (EAX.10797)

Tsuba with two dragons amid karakusa, or scrolling plant pattern (EAX.10798)    Tsuba with amariō, or rain dragon, amid flowers (EAX.10799)    Round tsuba with rinzu, or swastika-fret diaper, and mon made from kiri, or paulownia leaves (EAX.10800)

Tsuba with karakusa, or scrolling plant pattern (EAX.10801)    Tsuba with phoenix, flowers, and mon made from kiri, or paulownia leaves (EAX.10802)    Tsuba with landscape scene (EAX.10803)

Pierced designs, usually with undercutting, the borders variously “pearled”

Tsuba with scrollwork (EAX.10804)    Lenticular, aori-shaped tsuba with floral scrollwork (EAX.10805)    Tsuba with dragon amid scrollwork (EAX.10806)

Mokkō-shaped tsuba with scrollwork and fish (EAX.10807)    Tsuba with dragons and shippō diaper of interlaced circles (EAX.10808)    Tsuba with dragons amid scrollwork (EAX.10809)

Tsuba with dragons and five Precious Objects amid scrollwork (EAX.10810)    Tsuba with phoenixes amid scrollwork (EAX.10811)    Tsuba with Precious Objects and clouds (EAX.10812)

Miscellaneous Namban types

Tsuba with grape vine and squirrels (EAX.10813)    Mokkō-shaped tsuba with demon mask and dolphins (EAX.10814)    Tsuba with demon mask and scrollwork (EAX.10815)

Tsuba with dragons amid scrollwork (EAX.10816)    Tsuba with basketwork decoration (EAX.10817)    Tsuba with karakusa, or scrolling plant pattern (EAX.10818)

Tsuba with dragons and shishi, or lion dogs (EAX.10819)    Tsuba with leaves and branching tendrils (EAX.10820)    Tsuba with sailing ships (EAX.10821)

Round tsuba with animals of the Chinese zodiac amid rocks (EAX.10822)    Octagonal tsuba with phoenix, kirin, and dragon (EAX.10823)    Mokkō-shaped tsuba with two dragons (EAX.10824)