Lot Essay
A work of this quality would normally have been signed, but Ishiguro did not use brass plate. This tsuba may predate the Ishiguro school or it may be the work of a talented later student.
Details
AN ISHIGURO STYLE TSUBA
EDO PERIOD (CIRCA 1875)
The thick, oval brass plate has a polished surface and is inlaid in high relief with a hawk in shibuichi, shakudo, silver and gold, perched on the stump of a large oak tree. Two swallows, in copper and shakudo, fly away in terror, lower left. The reverse is similarly decorated with tree inlaid in shakudo, copper, gold and shibuichi. The kogai hitsu-ana is of very small size--height 8.3cm., width 7.9cm., thickness 5.0mm.
EDO PERIOD (CIRCA 1875)
The thick, oval brass plate has a polished surface and is inlaid in high relief with a hawk in shibuichi, shakudo, silver and gold, perched on the stump of a large oak tree. Two swallows, in copper and shakudo, fly away in terror, lower left. The reverse is similarly decorated with tree inlaid in shakudo, copper, gold and shibuichi. The kogai hitsu-ana is of very small size--height 8.3cm., width 7.9cm., thickness 5.0mm.
Provenance
Joseph U. Seo, New York