AN ONO SCHOOL TSUBA

Details
AN ONO SCHOOL TSUBA
EDO PERIOD (CIRCA 1750)

The round iron plate is pierced with a design of a ship in full sail visible on both sides. The surface is carved in low relief with waves, ropes and other details of the ship. There are some small iron bones in the rim--height and width 8.4cm., thickness 4.5mm.
Provenance
Joseph U. Seo, New York

Lot Essay

This later example of the Ono school displays the influence of several other contemporary schools. The Ono school itself dates from the Heian period. By the Edo period they were working in Nagoya and made tsuba in the style of the Kanayama and Yagyu schools. The type of merchant vessel shown here ferried goods and passengers across the shallow waters of the bay of Ise.