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Tsuba depicting the Chinese sage Bukan Zenji with his tiger familiar
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Details
- Associated place
- Date
- after 1761 - probably 19th century
- Material and technique
- obverse and reverse: shibuichi, with punched ishime surface, and katakiri engraving (oblique chisel-cuts) obverse: with iro-e zōgan (multi-metal inlay) decoration in gold, copper, and shakudō
- Dimensions
- 7 x 6.6 x 0.4 cm (height x width x depth)
- Material index
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processed material › metal › alloy › copper alloy › shibuichi,processed material › metal › alloy › silver alloy › shibuichi,processed material › metal › gold,processed material › metal › alloy › copper alloy › shakudō
- 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.10939
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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. 939
Glossary (3)
shakudō, shibuichi, tsuba
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shakudō
alloy of copper and gold, patinated to a dark blue-black colour
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shibuichi
alloy of copper and silver, patinated to a dull grey-green colour
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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
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The A. H. Church Collection of Japanese Sword-Guards (Tsuba)
On the front, in very flat modelling and incrustation of gold, copper and shakudō, stands the Chinese sage Bukan-zenji with his tiger familiar, gazing at the waterfall, which is represented in bold katakiri engraving (as are also rocks at the back); ground of coarse ishime in two patterns. Signed on the field at the back: Issandō [Japanese text] Jōi with seal Nagaharu, the latter lightly engraved on an inlaid gold plaque with shakudō border. A copy or imitation.
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