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An unpublished catalogue of the A. H. Church collection of Japanese sword-guards (tsuba) by Albert James Koop.
Lacquerwork
This group illustrates the use of lacquer for the decoration of guards. Some of the work thus treated may be regarded as a frank imitation of actual metalwork. We have already, in the previous group, seen the reverse process- the imitation of lacquer in purely metalworking techniques. In other groups, also, scattered examples are to be found of metalwork masquerading for the nonce as a piece of brocade or of stamped leather, and the like.
Most, if not all, of the numerous lacquer processes practised in Japan were laid under contribution for sword-furniture. The chief group of lacquerers working in this line were Yamada [Japanese text], founded by Jōka (or Jōkasai) at the end of the 17th century. He had several followers, all assigning the same name; the last was still working at the age of 68 in 1879.
Tsuba with shippō diaper of interlaced circles (EAX.11194)
Tsuba with chrysanthemoid florets and sword-blades (EAX.11195)
Lenticular tsuba with petals and leaves (EAX.11196)
Tsuba depicting Raiden, the Thunder God, with bamboo and a rain storm on the reverse (EAX.11197)
Lenticular tsuba with butterflies and transverse mokkō (EAX.11198)
Curious techniques
Tsuba with dragon (EAX.11199)
Octagonal tsuba with square piercings (EAX.11200)
Various etched work
Tsuba with Genjimon and mon made from kiri, or paulownia leaves (EAX.11201)
Tsuba with horses and a willow tree (EAX.11202)
Tsuba with ware-ōgi, or broken folding fans (EAX.11203)
Tsuba with Hotta-mokkō mon (EAX.11204)
Tsuba with crabs by a steam (EAX.11205)
Miscellaneous guards in grained iron
Octagonal tsuba with openwork (EAX.11206)
Octagonal tsuba with the hakke, or Eight Trigrams (EAX.11207)
Octagonal tsuba with raised edge (EAX.11208)
Mokkō-shaped tsuba with raised edge (EAX.11209)
Tsuba depicting five flying birds (EAX.11210)
Mokkō-shaped tsuba (EAX.11211)
Round tsuba with L-shapes (EAX.11212)
Tsuba with ryōhitsu in the form of yukiwa, or snow heaps (EAX.11213)
Tsuba with aster blossoms (EAX.11214)
Various surface treatments
Mokkō-shaped tsuba with cherry blosoms and leaves (EAX.11215)
Tsuba with basket plait design (EAX.11216)
Mokkō-shaped tsuba with Amida-yasurime, or radial striations (EAX.11217)
Mokkō-shaped tsuba with mon formed of a clematis flower in a circle (EAX.11218)
Unclassified guards in soft metals
Tsuba with dragonfly (EAX.11219)
Tsuba in the form of a coiled snake (EAX.11220)
Tsuba in the form of a coiled snake (EAX.11221)
Tsuba with peony bush (EAX.11222)
Tsuba with cricket, grasshopper, reeds, and grasses (EAX.11223)
Mokkō-shaped tsuba with water lilies and a tree frog (EAX.11224)
Tsuba in the form of a mulberry leaf (EAX.11225)
Tsuba with waves (EAX.11226)
Tsuba with an inrō, tobacco pouch, netsuke, ojime, and fan (EAX.11227)
Mokkō-shaped tsuba with camellia bush and plum tree (EAX.11228)
Tsuba with hawk flying above a plum tree (EAX.11229)
Lenticular tsuba with gingko leaves (EAX.11230)
Unclassified iron guards
Tsuba depicting a a wild boar sleeping in a landscape (EAX.11231)
Octagonal tsuba depicting a wild boar sleeping in a landscape (EAX.11232)
Tsuba with cherry blossoms (EAX.11233)
Mokkō-shaped tsuba with clematis flowers and karakusa, or scrolling plant pattern (EAX.11234)
Tsuba in the form of leaves and berries (EAX.11235)
Mokkō-shaped tsuba depicting a dove sitting on a cryptomeria tree (EAX.11236)
Mokkō-shaped tsuba with rats and New Year straw rope (EAX.11237)
Tsuba with mitsudomoye and mitsudomoye-kuyō mon (EAX.11238)
Tsuba with cherry blossom and a fūchō, or bird of paradise (EAX.11239)
Tsuba with floral medallions (EAX.11240)
Tsuba depicting a warrior's helmet and plum branch (EAX.11241)
Tsuba with ears of rice (EAX.11242)
Mokkō-shaped tsuba with chess pieces (EAX.11243)
Tsuba with swallows and a willow tree (EAX.11244)
Mokkō-shaped tsuba with maple leaves (EAX.11245)
Tsuba with loquat leaves, fruit, and a wasp (EAX.11246)
Tsuba in the form of a Buddhist temple bell (EAX.11247)
Tsuba in the form of gosan-no-kiri, or paulownia leaves (EAX.11248)
Mokkō-shaped tsuba with five Sparrow Dancers (EAX.11249)
Tsuba with maple leaf, pine needles, and butterflies (EAX.11250)
Tsuba depicting Bashikō about to perform acupuncture on a dragon (EAX.11251)
Tsuba with bottle gourd and dewdrops (EAX.11252)
Tsuba with deer and a lespedeza bush (EAX.11253)
Tsuba with cherry blossoms (EAX.11254)
Aoi-shaped tsuba with plant sprays (EAX.11255)
Aoi-shaped tsuba (EAX.11256)
Round tsuba with gingko leaves (EAX.11257)
Tsuba with dragonfly, praying mantis, wheel, and waves (EAX.11258)
Mokkō-shaped tsuba with pine tree (EAX.11259)
Mokkō-shaped tsuba with plants and a wasp (EAX.11260)
Tsuba with morning glory growing over a bamboo lattice (EAX.11261)
Tsuba with horse chestnut (EAX.11262)
Tsuba in the form of a morning glory flower (EAX.11263)
Large tsuba (EAX.11264)
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