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Tsuba depicting Handaka Sonja, a disciple of Buddha, holding a begging bowl
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Details
- Associated place
- Date
- 19th century (1801 - 1900)
- Associated people
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Handaka Sonja (possibly active 5th century BC) (subject)
- Material and technique
- obverse and reverse: iron, with gold; copper tang-hole plugs obverse: with copper, shibuichi, and shakudō, and inlaid with gold and copper
- Dimensions
- 8 x 7.3 cm (height x width)
- Material index
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processed material › metal › iron,processed material › metal › gold,processed material › metal › alloy › copper alloy › shibuichi,processed material › metal › alloy › silver alloy › shibuichi,processed material › metal › alloy › copper alloy › shakudō
- Technique index
- 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.11071
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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. 1071
Glossary (3)
shakudō, shibuichi, tsuba
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shakudō
alloy of copper and gold, patinated to a dark blue-black colour
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shibuichi
alloy of copper and silver, patinated to a dull grey-green colour
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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)
Rounded oblong; bi-concave; on the front in low relief are clouds and part of the seated figure of the arhat (disciple of the Buddha) Handaka-sonja, holding a begging-bowl; this last is in shakudō with gold and copper inlay; the saint's head and chest are in shibuichi with gold and shakudō details (including a loose earring of two plain links of gold), and the head, almost in the round, partly masks the kōgai-hole; at the back in low relief with gold details is a "smooth" dragon with sacred pearl; specially made copper tang-hole plugs. Signed: Yoshiharu [Japanese text] tsukuru [Japanese text]. (Unrecorded.)
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