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An unpublished catalogue of the A. H. Church collection of Japanese sword-guards (tsuba) by Albert James Koop.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 karakusa, or scrolling plant pattern

  • Literature notes

    A central oval panel which absorbs the seppadai and is cut into by the ryōhitsu is modelled on each face in sharp low relief with a different seal-form of the character [Japanese text] ju, "long life"; a close row of karakusa leaves in openwork separates this from the border of circular section; silver nunome covers this border, the characters and the raised edges of the panel.

    There is considerable Chinese influence about the design of this guard.
  • Details

    Associated place
    Asia Japan (place of creation)
    Date
    c. 1800
    Material and technique
    iron, with openwork decoration, and silver nunome-zōgan decoration
    Dimensions
    8.2 x 7.3 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.10818
  • Further reading

    Koop, Albert James, The A. H. Church Collection of Japanese Sword-Guards (Tsuba), 3 vols (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, 1929), no. 818

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

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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)

    A central oval panel which absorbs the seppadai and is cut into by the ryōhitsu is modelled on each face in sharp low relief with a different seal-form of the character [Japanese text] ju, "long life"; a close row of karakusa leaves in openwork separates this from the border of circular section; silver nunome covers this border, the characters and the raised edges of the panel.

    There is considerable Chinese influence about the design of this guard.
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