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An unpublished catalogue of the A. H. Church collection of Japanese sword-guards (tsuba) by Albert James Koop.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
Tsuba depicting Yebisu and Daikoku, gods of luck
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Literature notes
Cast bronze (with a minimum of actual chasing). Openwork design of two of the Luck Gods, Yebisu and Daikoku, modelled in the round within the heavy rounded border.
Signature (apparently bogus): Yamashiro no jū ("resident of Yamashiro province") Katsuyoshi [Japanese characters] with kakihan [Japanese text]. Probaby by Kanaya Gorosaburō (19th century), made as an echo of archaic work.
Similar guards are not uncommon. -
Details
- Associated place
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Asia › Japan › Honshū › Kyōto prefecture › Kyoto (probable place of creation)
- Date
- 19th century (1801 - 1900)
- Artist/maker
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probably Gorosaburō Kanaya (active 19th century) (armourer)
- Associated people
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Katsuyoshi (active second half of the 17th century - 1st half ) (named on object)
- Material and technique
- bronze, cast, with openwork decoration
- Dimensions
- 8.3 x 8.2 x 0.6 cm (height x width x depth)
- Material index
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processed material › metal › alloy › copper alloy › bronze
- Technique index
- Object type index
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arms/armour › koshirae › kodogu › tsuba
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Bequeathed by Sir Arthur H. Church, 1915.
- Accession no.
- EAX.10186
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Further reading
Koop, Albert James, The A. H. Church Collection of Japanese Sword-Guards (Tsuba), 3 vols (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, 1929), no. 186
Glossary
tsuba
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tsuba
Japanese sword guard.
Location
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- 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)
Cast bronze (with a minimum of actual chasing). Openwork design of two of the Luck Gods, Yebisu and Daikoku, modelled in the round within the heavy rounded border.
Signature (apparently bogus): Yamashiro no jū ("resident of Yamashiro province") Katsuyoshi [Japanese characters] with kakihan [Japanese text]. Probaby by Kanaya Gorosaburō (19th century), made as an echo of archaic work.
Similar guards are not uncommon.
Notice
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