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

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

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Tsuba in the form of an oni, or demon

Glossary (3)

oni, shakudō, tsuba

  • oni

    A Japanese demon.

  • shakudō

    alloy of copper and gold, patinated to a dark blue-black 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) by Albert James Koop

    The A. H. Church Collection of Japanese Sword-Guards (Tsuba)

    In the form of a demon (oni) sitting akimbo on his heels; his eyeballs are in shakudō, his fangs in silver; his body forms the sd., the spaces between it and his arms the rh. Signed: Nara Masayoshi (as 920 [EAX.10920], the remarks on which apply here also, there being almost a duplicate of this guard in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Salting Bequest).

    Guards of this pattern, it is amusing to note, will usually stand on edge, i.e. on the claws of the demon's feet.

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