秋草に鹿図鐔 Sword Guard (Tsuba)

Fittings maker 紫原壽良画 Murasakibara Toshiyoshi Japanese

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 380

This is arguably the best among nine works by Murasakibara Toshiyoshi (紫原壽良, 1829—?) in the Museum’s collection. Over a central circular openwork, which represents the moon, this sword guard (tsuba) depicts a deer and autumnal vegetation. A drawing of this very piece is featured in Ranzan Tsuneyuki’s Album of Designs for Metal Carving (acc. no. 36.120.699). The precision of the drawing, down to the faithfully copied signature and monogram, suggests that Tsuneyuki had direct access to Toshiyoshi’s work. Additionally, slightly different drawings of this sword guard in Tsuneyuki’s sketchbook suggest that the artist was experimenting with his own designs based on Toshiyoshi’s work.

秋草に鹿図鐔 Sword Guard (<i>Tsuba</i>), 紫原壽良画 Murasakibara Toshiyoshi (Japanese, born 1829), Copper, copper-silver alloy (<i>shibuichi</i>), copper-gold alloy (<i>shakudō</i>), gold, silver, Japanese

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秋草に鹿図鐔 Sword Guard (<i>Tsuba</i>), 紫原壽良画 Murasakibara Toshiyoshi (Japanese, born 1829), Copper, copper-silver alloy (<i>shibuichi</i>), copper-gold alloy (<i>shakudō</i>), gold, silver, Japanese
秋草に鹿図鐔 Sword Guard (<i>Tsuba</i>), 紫原壽良画 Murasakibara Toshiyoshi (Japanese, born 1829), Copper, copper-silver alloy (<i>shibuichi</i>), copper-gold alloy (<i>shakudō</i>), gold, silver, Japanese

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