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Mokkō-shaped tsuba with an elephant, chrysanthemum, and tama, or sacred jewels
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Details
- Associated place
- Date
- 18th century (1701 - 1800)
- Material and technique
- obverse and reverse: iron, with gold nunome-zōgan decoration; tang-hole plugged with soft metal, probably copper obverse: silvered
- Dimensions
- 8.3 x 7.3 x 0.5 cm (height x width x depth)
- Material index
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processed material › metal › iron,processed material › metal › gold,
- Technique index
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covered › metallized › silvered,
- 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.10944
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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. 944
Glossary (2)
nunome-zōgan, tsuba
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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.
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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)
Mokkō; modelled in low relief with an elephant almost filling the field; its body is silvered, its housing, with kikumon and flaming tama, gilt in nunome; at the back, on a ground of gold nunome cloud forms, is a large square tablet engraved with an inscription recording that during the Kiōhō era (1716-1735) an elephant came from China to Japan as an Imperial gift; narrow raised border resembling a rim. Signed: Yasuchika.
This is a well known Yasuchika type. A similar example, of oval shape, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and others are known.
© 2013 University of Oxford - Ashmolean Museum