Sword guard, iron tsuba, Japan, 1852

ISHIGURO MASAYOSHI: A FINE IRON TSUBA WITH A HAWK AND SPARROW, DATED 1852 By Ishiguro Masayoshi (1775-1862), signed Masayoshi with kakihan Japan, dated 1852, Edo period (1615-1868) Of nademarugata form, with a kozuka and kogai hitsu ana, finely worked in relief, with gold and iro-e takazogan, katakiribori, and kebori, featuring a hawk perched on a pine overgrown with vines, fiercely looking at a swallow flying below.

The reverse with a gnarled pine branch above a stream. Signed to one side, Gyonen nanajuhachi JUO MASAYOSHI with kakihan [Juo Masayoshi, at the age of 78]. WEIGHT 128.1 g HEIGHT 7.5 cm. Ishiguro Masayoshi (1775-1862) is listed in Robert E. Haynes, The Index of Japanese Sword Fittings and Associated Artists, p.1004 (H 04887.0). Masayoshi was a retainer of the Shimazu Daimyo of Satsuma and worked at their compound in Edo. He was the student of Sano Naoyoshi and the first Ishiguro Masatsune. Museum comparison: Compare a closely related iron tsuba with a hawk on a pine tree, signed Juo Ishiguro Masayoshi, first half of the 19th century, 8 cm tall, in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, accession number EAX.11030.

Compare a closely related iron tsuba featuring a hawk, signed Juosai gyonen nanajuissai Ishiguro Masayoshi saku, Edo period, 8.6 cm tall, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 29.100.1000.