Lot Essay
The artist of the penultimate tsuba in the lot, Tenzuido Hiromasa, was of the school of Uchikoshi Hironaga, working in the middle of the 19th century.
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EDO PERIOD (17TH/19TH CENTURY)
Details
A HIKONE-BORI TSUBA AND FIVE OTHERS
Edo period (17th/19th century)
A fine hikone-bori tsuba, carved in high relief in the unpierced plate and inlaid in silver, copper and two colours of gold with a Chinese emperor in a carriage on a bridge together with three attendants, stopping to speak with a weeping girl beside a waterfall, three more attendants on the reverse and temples amongst mountains in the distance, school of Soten, 8.5cm.; a Hiragiya school tsuba, carved and pierced in high relief with Benkei, challenging Ushiwaka (the young Yoshitsune) on the Gojo bridge in Kyoto, 8.7cm.; a rare circular Nanban tsuba in a truncated conical shape, the face decorated on the sloping side with massed chidori in silver nunome-zogan, the rest of the surfaces, front and back, with waves in the same technique, 8.8cm.; a smaller oval tsuba, the plate carved and pierced in relief with a figure of a foreigner with a trumpet to his lips and a quiver full of arrows at his back with a lady at his side and a shishi at their feet in a wooded landscape, signed Tetsugendo Shoraku, with a gold kao, died in the 9th year of An'ei [1780], 7.2cm.; a finely worked tsuba of charming design, carved and pierced with a horse seated beside a stream, signed Hiromasa, with a kakihan seal, 7.1cm.; and an oval iron tsuba carved and pierced in the web with massed chrysanthemum flowers and leaves, the edge decorated with star forms amid small clouds in gold nunome-zogan, signed Bushu no ju Masanaga, 7.1cm. (6)
Edo period (17th/19th century)
A fine hikone-bori tsuba, carved in high relief in the unpierced plate and inlaid in silver, copper and two colours of gold with a Chinese emperor in a carriage on a bridge together with three attendants, stopping to speak with a weeping girl beside a waterfall, three more attendants on the reverse and temples amongst mountains in the distance, school of Soten, 8.5cm.; a Hiragiya school tsuba, carved and pierced in high relief with Benkei, challenging Ushiwaka (the young Yoshitsune) on the Gojo bridge in Kyoto, 8.7cm.; a rare circular Nanban tsuba in a truncated conical shape, the face decorated on the sloping side with massed chidori in silver nunome-zogan, the rest of the surfaces, front and back, with waves in the same technique, 8.8cm.; a smaller oval tsuba, the plate carved and pierced in relief with a figure of a foreigner with a trumpet to his lips and a quiver full of arrows at his back with a lady at his side and a shishi at their feet in a wooded landscape, signed Tetsugendo Shoraku, with a gold kao, died in the 9th year of An'ei [1780], 7.2cm.; a finely worked tsuba of charming design, carved and pierced with a horse seated beside a stream, signed Hiromasa, with a kakihan seal, 7.1cm.; and an oval iron tsuba carved and pierced in the web with massed chrysanthemum flowers and leaves, the edge decorated with star forms amid small clouds in gold nunome-zogan, signed Bushu no ju Masanaga, 7.1cm. (6)
Provenance
The first, G.H. Naunton Collection
The third and fourth, W.L. Behrens Collection
The third and fourth, W.L. Behrens Collection
Literature
The first, Henri L. Joly, Japanese sword fittings, a descriptive catalogue of the collection of G. H. Naunton, Esq. (London, 1912), no. 523, pl. XXIV.
The third, Henri L. Joly, W. L. Behrens Collection, pt. III, Sword-fittings (London, 1912), no. 1523, pl. XLIII
The fourth, Henri L. Joly, W. L. Behrens Collection, pt. III, Sword-fittings (London, 1912), no. 2500, pl. LXVII
The third, Henri L. Joly, W. L. Behrens Collection, pt. III, Sword-fittings (London, 1912), no. 1523, pl. XLIII
The fourth, Henri L. Joly, W. L. Behrens Collection, pt. III, Sword-fittings (London, 1912), no. 2500, pl. LXVII
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.