A HARUTA SCHOOL TSUBA

Details
A HARUTA SCHOOL TSUBA
EDO PERIOD (CIRCA 1750), SIGNED UNSHU JU YOSHIKIYO

The round iron plate is carved in high relief and openwork with a dragon in clouds over a tiger on a rock in waves. There are gold damascene highlights--height and width 7.4cm., thickness at center 5.5mm., at edge 6.5mm.

Lot Essay

This artist is unrecorded. From the style and the fact that he came from Unshu (Izumo) province, he may be a member of the Haruta family of armorers. The Haruta family made occasional tsuba that were a combination of the Choshu and Oda Satsuma school styles. The present tsuba is a good example of this combination of these two influences.