EDO PERIOD (17TH/19TH CENTURY)

Details

A TSUBA BY OKATOMO TOYOAKI AND SEVEN OTHERS
Edo period (17th/19th century)
A rounded square iron tsuba decorated in gold with views of Mount Fuji, a dragon and on the reverse waves, signed Chosu no Ju Toyoaki, 8.2cm.; an oval iron tsuba carved and pierced with Bishamon-ten, looking down on a struggling oni amid frothing waves beside a rock, dated 8th month 1837 and signed Ozaki Yoshiaki, the last name inlaid in gold seal characters, 7.95cm.; an oval iron tsuba inlaid with two quails in gold and shibuichi with a butterfly and grasses beside a stream, signed Hoei with a kao, 7.6cm.; a Hikone-bori tsuba carved and inlaid with Raiko and Watanabe no Tsuna, one with a bow and the other with a flaming torch, the reverse of the tsuba showing the web, with signature Soheishi Soten sei, 8.3cm.; a circular iron Nanban tsuba carved in low relief with two dragons on each side, 8.5cm.; an almost circular iron swordsmith's tsuba of fan-fold form with mokko graining on the edge and both sides, signed Omi no kami Tsuguhide of Musashi province, 1780-90, 7.85cm.; a circular iron Shonai Shoami tsuba inlaid on the face with a ho-o and on the reverse with kuzu [arrowroot], 8.55cm.; and an oval iron tsuba carved and inlaid with a crane standing on a pine trunk in snow, signed Heiansai Oichi?, 6.85cm. (8)

Provenance

The first and third, C. P. Peak Collection
The sixth, J.C. Hawkshaw Collection
The seventh, Bjorck Collection
The eighth, C.P. Peak, Bing and Bradford Collections

Literature

The third, Henri L. Joly and Kumasaku Tomita, Japanese Art and Handicraft, Loan Exhibition Held in Aid of the British Red Cross (London, 1916), ill. p. 388

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.

Lot Essay

Okatomo Toyoaki was the eldest son of Okatomo Tomokata, the 6th master of the main line of the Okatomo family, working in Hagi, in Choshu province in the 1st half of the 19th century.
Ozaki Yoshiaki was of the school of Hirano Tomomichi and Hitotsuyanagi Tomoyoshi III, working in Mito in the first half of the 19th century.
Banzai Tsuguhide of Musashi was a swordsmith, working in Edo. He was a student of Tsuguhira, in turn a student of Yasutsugu.

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