A KYO-SHOAMI TSUBA

Details
A KYO-SHOAMI TSUBA
EDO PERIOD (CIRCA 1688-1704)

The round iron plate is pierced with a design of a ho-o bird. The head and body is decorated in line (kebori) carving and the remainder of the surface is decorated in gold damascene (nunome) in presentation (kenjo) style. The edge is undecorated. There is some wear to the damascene--height and width 8cm., thickness 6mm.
Provenance
Hotel Drouot, Paris, May 1, 1968, lot 361, illustrated.

Lot Essay

Kyo-Shoami tsuba of this type are often classified as Daigoro tsuba. In fact the merchant Daimonji Gorobei from whom the name Daigoro is derived lived circa 1800, much later than the date of this example. Based on the style of the nunome inlay, we can attribute this tsuba to the Genroku era (1688-1704).