A CHOSHU TSUBA

Details
A CHOSHU TSUBA
EDO PERIOD (CIRCA 1850), SIGNED CHOHAN TOMONOBU WITH KAO

The iron diamond-shaped plate is formed of two cherry blossoms folded and facing each other. Each flower of five petals, the larger ones touch and form the outer rim of the tsuba. The three inner petals support the seppa-dai--height and width 8.1cm., thickness 7. 25mm.
Provenance
J. C. Hawkshaw
W. L. Behrens
Glendining & Co., London, July 1965, lot 99.
Literature
Joly (1910), no. 1201, p. 99, not illustrated.
Joly (1913-14), no. 2188, pl. LII, between pages 82-83, text p. 84.

Lot Essay

A number of Choshu artists employed this name. It is difficult to determine which Choshu family the maker of this guard belongs to. An additional problem in attribution is that during the late Edo period Bushu and Choshu tsuba had much in common in terms of style and design. Unsigned examples can be attributed to either school.