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An unpublished catalogue of the A. H. Church collection of Japanese sword-guards (tsuba) by Albert James Koop.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

  • Literature notes

    Irregular, but polished surface modelled in low relief with a large sheaf of rice and an ear of the same; traces of gold overlay (nunome) on some of the stems; on the back in sunk relief a peach? spray and the invocation of the Nichiren sect of Buddhists, Namu miōhō renge kiō, "Hail to the Scripture of the wonderful Law and the Lotus."

    Signed (in swordsmiths' style): Sadayuki ([Japanese text]) saku.
  • Details

    Associated place
    Asia Japan (Kishū) (place of creation)
    Date
    19th century (1801 - 1900)
    Material and technique
    iron, carved in low and sunk relief, with polished surface (migaki-ji), and traces of gold nunome-zōgan decoration
    Dimensions
    9.3 x 8.8 cm (height x width)
    Material index
    Technique index
    formed carved,
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Bequeathed by Sir Arthur H. Church, 1915.
    Accession no.
    EAX.10067
  • Further reading

    Koop, Albert James, The A. H. Church Collection of Japanese Sword-Guards (Tsuba), 3 vols (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, 1929), no. 67

Glossary (2)

nunome-zōgan, 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.

  • 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)

    Irregular, but polished surface modelled in low relief with a large sheaf of rice and an ear of the same; traces of gold overlay (nunome) on some of the stems; on the back in sunk relief a peach? spray and the invocation of the Nichiren sect of Buddhists, Namu miōhō renge kiō, "Hail to the Scripture of the wonderful Law and the Lotus."

    Signed (in swordsmiths' style): Sadayuki ([Japanese text]) saku.
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