Sword-guard, Jakushi school iron tsuba, Japan, 18th century

JAKUSHI: A JAKUSHI SCHOOL IRON TSUBA DEPICTING A LANDSCAPE SCENE By Jakushi, signed Jakushi Japan, Somon Jakushi school, Hizen province, 18th century, Edo period (1615-1868) Of naga-marugata shape, two kozuka hitsu-ana, worked in low relief with gold, copper, and silver takazogan and gold hirazogan depicting a mountainous landscape with a single monk departing his hut amid large pine trees, all beneath thin clouds.

The verso with a similar landscape. There are five artists listed in Haynes Index of Japanese Sword Fittings and Associated Artists under this name, p. 423-424 (H 02012.0-H 02016.0). The founder of the school, Somon Jakushi (1628-1707) was a Buddhist priest who studied painting under Itsunen, the abbot of Sofuku-ji in Nagasaki. His painted works consisted mostly of kachoga (birds and flowers) and landscapes. The school was passed down several generations until the late 18th century. Museum comparison: Compare a closely related iron Jakushi school tsuba depicting a landscape scene, signed Jakushi, dated 18th century, in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, accession number 17.1209.