A WOODGRAIN SOFT METAL TSUBA

Details
A WOODGRAIN SOFT METAL TSUBA
EDO PERIOD, (CIRCA 1800), SIGNED TOSHU

The octagonal plate of mixed soft metals resembles the grain of a wood board. The kozuka hitsu is plugged in shakudo--height 6.9cm., width 6.2cm., thickness 5.25mm.
Provenance
Hawkshaw collection
Glendining & Co., London, July 1965, lot 464.
Literature
Joly (1910), no. 3082, p. 237, not illustrated.

Lot Essay

The name Toshu is not recorded. This example is the only mokume tsuba of this type that bears a signature. The two metals are melted together and then hammered and rolled. The plate is then hammered flat and polished to achieve the wood grain effect.