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An unpublished catalogue of the A. H. Church collection of Japanese sword-guards (tsuba) by Albert James Koop.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 with karigane, or flying geese
-
Literature notes
Dark shibuichi. Openwork design; a ring of 16 karigane (the heads carefully cut, with eyes and beaks), symmetrically set in addorsed pairs, unites the seppadai and kozuka-hole to the narrow bordser, the internal profile of which is cut to represent waves.
Wada quotes (p.243) a guard by Kawai [Japanese text] Masatsugu of F. in B. of the year 1665; this is clearly later than that date. Shibuichi is for some unexplained reason a very unusual material for an openwork design of this character. -
Details
- Associated place
-
Asia › Japan › Honshū › Okayama prefecture › Bizen province (Fukuyama) (place of creation)
- Date
- c. 1800
- Artist/maker
-
Masatsugu (active c. 1800) (armourer)Shōami School (active 1601 - 1909) (armourer)
- Material and technique
- shibuichi, with cut and filed openwork decoration
- Dimensions
- 7.3 x 7.5 cm (height x width)
- Material index
-
processed material › metal › alloy › silver alloy › shibuichi,
- Technique index
- Object type index
-
arms/armour › koshirae › kodogu › tsuba
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Bequeathed by Sir Arthur H. Church, 1915.
- Accession no.
- EAX.10282
-
Further reading
Koop, Albert James, The A. H. Church Collection of Japanese Sword-Guards (Tsuba), 3 vols (Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, 1929), no. 282
Glossary (2)
shibuichi, tsuba
-
shibuichi
alloy of copper and silver, patinated to a dull grey-green colour
-
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)
Dark shibuichi. Openwork design; a ring of 16 karigane (the heads carefully cut, with eyes and beaks), symmetrically set in addorsed pairs, unites the seppadai and kozuka-hole to the narrow bordser, the internal profile of which is cut to represent waves.
Wada quotes (p.243) a guard by Kawai [Japanese text] Masatsugu of F. in B. of the year 1665; this is clearly later than that date. Shibuichi is for some unexplained reason a very unusual material for an openwork design of this character.
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.
© 2013 University of Oxford - Ashmolean Museum