Caption

Crossguard tsuba, Japanese, early 19th century Edo period, 1603–1868. Oval tsuba tatemaru gata with a rounded edge maru mimi, decorated on both sides with low and high relief hirabori, takabori landscapes with figures and architecture: on the obverse, sennin Bashiko sitting under a pine tree on the seashore, with a dragon above him in the clouds; on the reverse, a hut on a cliff. Legend has it that Bashiko healed a dragon, and in gratitude the dragon took him to the land of immortality. Unsigned. Materials: metal tsuba. Function: sword crossguard katana. Height 6.6 cm, width 6.0 cm, depth 0.45 cm. Subjects/icons: landscape motifs, waves, dragons, pines, rocks, sennin., A dark brown oval metal object with a rough textured surface and a triangular central opening beside an oval opening; the left side shows a decorative scene in gold tones with organic shapes resembling a tree, curved forms, and cloudlike motifs while the top and lower edges feature scattered gold highlights; the background is a smooth light gray.

Credit line

Photo12/Liszt Collection

Reference

LZT26A20_316

License type

Rights managed

Available size

103.0Mb (4.8Mb) / 20.0in x 20.0in / 6000 x 6000 (300dpi)

Keywords

Crossguard tsuba Japanese early 19th century Edo period 1603–1868 Oval tsuba tatemaru gata rounded edge maru mimi decorated sides low high relief hirabori takabori landscapes figures architecture obverse sennin Bashiko sitting under pine tree seashore dragon clouds reverse hut cliff Legend Bashiko healed gratitude land immortality Unsigned Materials metal tsuba Function sword crossguard katana Height 6.6 cm width 6.0 cm depth 0.45 cm Subjects icons landscape motifs waves dragons pines rocks sennin dark brown oval metal object rough textured surface triangular central opening beside oval opening left side decorative scene gold tones organic shapes resembling tree curved forms cloudlike motifs top lower edges feature scattered gold highlights background smooth light gray.