//, Objects/Tsuba with design of melon flowers. Muromachi or Momoyama period, 16th century.

Tsuba with design of melon flowers. Muromachi or Momoyama period, 16th century.

Iron tsuba of slightly elongated round form decorated with design of melon flowers, vines, and leaves in brass flat inlay (hira-zōgan) on both sides. Slightly raised rim (mimi) carved in a way to simulate ring-shaped covering (fukurin). Kozuka hitsu-ana and kogai hitsu-ana both plugged with soft metal (tim or lead). Copper sekigane.

Heianjō or Kaga School.

Muromachi or Momoyama period, 16th century.

Iron, hira-zōgan brass inlay. Round (maru gata) form, diameter 79 mm.

Size: 80.3 x 78.4 mm; thickness at seppa-dai: 3.4 mm; at the middle: 3.8 mm; before the rim: 2.4 mm, rim: 2.8 mm.

Note on design: though this design resembles family crests with oak and mulberry leaves, I believe it’s  a melon flower [see Jeanne Allen. Designer’s guide to Samurai Patterns. Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 1990, page 114, №130 “Melon Flowers”:

Jeanne Allen. Designer’s guide to Samurai Patterns. Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 1990. Page 114, №130.

Note about the distribution of thickness (niku-oki): “this tsuba has toroid features, niku raises from the rim towards the centre but thins once more out when approaching the seppa-dai” [M. Sesko, “Handbook…”, p. 48].

SKU: TSU-0324 Categories: ,

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