Sword Guard (Tsuba) Depicting Hanshan and Shide (寒山拾得図鐔)

ca. 1615–1868
Not on view
The obverse of this tsuba shows at the bottom right Hanshan (寒山, Japanese: Kanzan) and Shide (拾得, Japanese: Jittoku), popular figures in Zen painting, with their attributes scroll and broom respectively. The right part depicts a tree in openwork and the scene continues onto the reverse. The rest of the plate, except for the moon behind clouds at the top of the obverse, is polished and left undecorated.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Sword Guard (Tsuba) Depicting Hanshan and Shide (寒山拾得図鐔)
  • Date: ca. 1615–1868
  • Culture: Japanese
  • Medium: Brass, copper, gold, gold-copper alloy (shakudō)
  • Dimensions: H. 2 11/16 in. (6.8 cm); W. 2 9/16 in. (6.5 cm); thickness 1/8 in. (0.3 cm); Wt. 3.7 oz. (104.9 g)
  • Classification: Sword Furniture-Tsuba
  • Credit Line: Edward C. Moore Collection, Bequest of Edward C. Moore, 1891
  • Object Number: 91.1.765
  • Curatorial Department: Arms and Armor

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