Met, Japan, SF, EGAWA
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
early 19th century
The two sides of this tsuba show the young Yoshitsune kneeling before Sojobo, the king of the tengu,who is depicted in the costume a yamabushi and accompanied by one of his tengu.
The scene takes place in a grove of cryptomeria trees in the moonlight. The scroll Yoshitsune is receiving contains secrets of military strategy, this being the completion of his training in the martial arts by the tengu of Mount Kurama. The otherwise plain russet iron tsuba is richly decorated in high relief in silver, gold, shakudo, copper and shibuichi. The tsuba is a protective guard fitted between the hilt and the blade of a sword.
Later sword guards were more often made of copper alloys, patinated to a wide range of colours and inlaid with other coloured metals.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 2
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Physical characteristics
- Dimensions
- Height 8.9 cm; Width 8.2 cm
- Materials and techniques
- Iron, decorated in high relief in silver, gold, shakudo, copper and shibuichi
Technical characteristics
- Place recorded
- Japan
Identification
- Candidate id
- vam-O75183
- Museum object number
- M.1361-1931
- Source note
- Facts transcribed from the linked single-object source. Wider type attribution and authenticity have not been independently verified.
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type and source attribution against specialist references.