Sword-guard, Soten school, Japan, 18th-19th century
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
19th century
A SOTEN SCHOOL IRON TSUBA DEPICTING THE BATTLE OF DAN-NO-URA, GENPEI WARS Unsigned Japan, Soten school, late 18th to early 19th century, Edo period (1615-1868) The marugata iron tsuba with a kozuka hitsu-ana, the kogai hitsu-ana plugged, the nakago-ana with some sekigane, finely worked in hikone-bori to depict a fierce combat at sea between the Minamoto and Taira clans, the samurai maneuvering their boats close together for hand-to-hand combat amid the swelling waves.
HEIGHT 7.7 cm, few traces of use and light rubbing. Accompanied by a Hozon (worthy of preservation) certificate from the NBTHK attesting to the tsuba’s quality and authenticity. The NBTHK Kanteisho (certificate of appraisal and authenticity) dated to 17 September 2021 reads: HOZON – Worthy of Preservation (yellow paper) (A sword fitting Worthy of Conservation, the kanteisho issued by the Society for the Preservation of the Japan Art Sword) NBTHK certificate number: 4019280. Hozon registration number: 03202108.
Museum comparison: Compare a closely related tsuba of the Gempei wars, by the Soten school, in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, accession number EAX.10790.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- 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
- Material (listing wording)
- iron
- Dimensions or weight (listing wording)
- HEIGHT 7.7 cm; LENGTH 7.2 cm; WEIGHT 113 g
Identification
- Source note
- Auction-house description published on Invaluable; the text keeps only the listing's object facts (condition, price and sale wording removed). Attribution and measurements describe the photographed example; independent type authentication remains research required.
- Candidate id
- inv-201689372
- Auction house
- Galerie Zacke
- Listing object ID
- 201689372
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, maker and dating against a specialist reference; this entry documents one recorded example.