Zwei Drachen im selben Sturm

Kyo-Kinko · Tsuba · Shibuichi · Mittlere Edo-Zeit · NBTHK Hozon

Two Dragons in Waves, Kyo-Kinko

Round shibuichi tsuba covered in finely cut waves: a coiled gold dragon at the top, a small gold jewel floating in the waves beside it.

A round shibuichi tsuba with a dragon on either side, both faces covered with finely cut waves. On one face a compact dragon in gold coils in the water, its head turned to the left. A gold jewel floats in the waves beside it. On the other face a longer dragon curves across the plate, its head turned to the right.

Dragon and jewel belong together. The Metropolitan Museum of Art keeps a Nanban guard on which two dragons pursue a single gem. Here the gem floats on one face only, and the second dragon turns toward it from the other side of the plate. Both dragons share one sea, and the jewel stays between them.

The NBTHK attributes the guard to Kyo-kinko, the soft-metal workers of Kyoto, and names no maker. An earlier version of this page reported the guard as still under examination. The paper has since come back.

The other face: a longer gold dragon curving through the waves around the central opening.

Tsuba. Mumei, Kyo-Kinko. Shibuichi, Wellen in kebori, Drachen in kin-iroe-takazogan. Maru-gata. Zwei Drachen mit Juwel in Wellen. Mittlere Edo-Zeit. NBTHK Hozon. Privatsammlung, erworben in Europa, zuvor in einer europäischen Sammlung.

In the collection

Type
Tosogu › Tsuba
School
Kyo-Kinko
Period
Edo-Zeit › Mittlere Edo-Zeit
Material
Shibuichi
Motif
Drachen und Fabelwesen

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