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 with plum blossoms

Glossary (2)

shakudō, tsuba

  • 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)

    Daigaku shape; the front with seven, the back with three, double or single plum-blossoms in low relief; they are in various stages of development and are seen from various angles; three have gold or silver dots for the pistils; sd. and rh. of lightly cusped outline. Signed: Tada [Japanese text] Sadamasa [Japanese text] with kakihan [Japanese text], kore wo kizamu ([Japanese text], "carved this"). (Unrecorded.)

    This shape imitates the outline of the sacred cake kagami-mochi or that of our cottage loaf (with a very big head and a hollowed base). It is characteristic of the school, and other examples signed Yasuchika are known, one in the Victoria and Albert Museum (decoration of Chinese characters), one in the Wada Collection (no.191, with larger plum-blossoms),, one in the Oeder Collection (no.1072, wave), etc.

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