TWO JAPANESE PARCEL-GILT BRONZE TSUBA

TWO JAPANESE PARCEL-GILT BRONZE TSUBA

EDO OR MEIJI PERIOD, 18TH OR 19TH CENTURY

Both with a quatrelobed body, the first depicting playing cards from the hyakunin isshu uta karuta game scattered on a ground of chrysanthemum flowers, the other illustrating the story of Choryo and Kosekiko, both with details highlights in gilt, both unsigned, 6.5cm and 6.7cm. (2)

Half the cards from a hyakunin isshu uta karuta game set depict famous Japanese poets, and the other half is painted with calligraphy. The aim of the game is to associate the authors with their writings. The other tsuba depicts the story of Choryo and Kosekiko: Choryo was a hero who met an old man named Kosekiko on a bridge. The wise man began to teach him the art of war. One day, Kosekiko decided to test Choryo and threw his shoe into a river where a powerful water dragon lived. The dragon seized the shoe, but Choryo defeated it, and he gave the shoe back to Kosekiko.