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

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

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An unpublished catalogue of the A. H. Church collection of Japanese sword-guards (tsuba) by Albert James Koop.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

Publications online: 37 objects

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Round tsuba in the form of a shippō diaper, with Luck Objects

  • Literature notes

    In the form of a unit from the interlacing circle diaper known as shippō, the usual karahana device in the centre giving way to the sd. and rh.; the small circles at the intersections are filled with lavender enamel; the top left spandrel is omitted and its outer profile represented by a length of chain (imitated); the existing spandrels all have slender raised borders and show, in low relief enriched with champlevé enamel, various of the Luck Objects on grounds of fine punctuate ishime; the inner compartment on each face has a surface of double (concentric) nanako.
  • Details

    Associated place
    Asia Japan (place of creation)
    Date
    c. 1800
    Material and technique
    sentoku, with cut and filed openwork decoration, punched nanako and ishime decoration, and champlevé enamel decoration
    Dimensions
    7.3 x 7.3 cm (height x width)
    Material index
    Technique index
    cut,
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Bequeathed by Sir Arthur H. Church, 1915.
    Accession no.
    EAX.11150
  • Further reading

    Koop, Albert James, The A. H. Church Collection of Japanese Sword-Guards (Tsuba), 3 vols (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, 1929), no. 1150

Glossary (3)

sentoku, shippō, tsuba

  • sentoku

    A kind of brass made from an alloy of copper, zinc, and tin.

  • shippō

    Lit. ‘Eight Treasures’ – cloisonné

  • 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)

    In the form of a unit from the interlacing circle diaper known as shippō, the usual karahana device in the centre giving way to the sd. and rh.; the small circles at the intersections are filled with lavender enamel; the top left spandrel is omitted and its outer profile represented by a length of chain (imitated); the existing spandrels all have slender raised borders and show, in low relief enriched with champlevé enamel, various of the Luck Objects on grounds of fine punctuate ishime; the inner compartment on each face has a surface of double (concentric) nanako.
Notice

Object information may not accurately reflect the actual contents of the original publication, since our online objects contain current information held in our collections database. Click on 'buy this publication' to purchase printed versions of our online publications, where available, or contact the Jameel Study Centre to arrange access to books on our collections that are now out of print.

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