CHINESE / HIZEN Tsuba


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Provenance:    Skip Holbrook
                             Elliott Long
$3000.00
From a Japanese family in Hizen, an heirloom. Momoyama to early Edo period.

Appears to be Chinese, modified to Japanese use as evidenced by the hitsu-ana. The nakago-ana has been modified as the original shape was rectanglar which would conform to the cross-section of a Chinese pei-dao tang. The kozuka-histu appears to have been added later, because it is delineated by a metal band inserted into the aperture cut through the design. This most likely being performed by someone trained by the Yagami school. That technique seems to be one of their specialities.

It seems that Nagasaki was the port of entry for most of these imports, and Hizen the center of "Nanban" fittings production. It seems that the market was driven by the Dutch need for diplomatic and greeting gifts, and the demand of gifts and souvenirs (miyage) by graduates of Rangaku and Chinese medical training (in Nagasaki).
6.80cm x 7.50cm x 0.40cm (seppa)
 
 

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