Five iron sukashi tsuba
Edo Period
The first a large mid 17th century Kyoto Shoami plate elegantly designed with three overlapping awabi shells clustered around each hitsu ana; the remaining tsuba all circa 1800: the second a Sunagawa school dai skillfully fashioned as a pair of geese flying through a driving rain above a meandering stream filled with water plants, all set within a circular rim and with details inlaid in gold (wear); the third an Edo Ito school style tsuba featuring a crane flying above and a minogame below, the details accented in gold inlay (wear), one hitsu filled with a shakudo plug; the fourth Toshibata style with a rope patterned rim encircling stalks of acanthus, their leaves forming the hitsu ana; and the fifth Kinai of Echizen style with realistically rendered aoi leaves and small blossoms stemming from scrolling vines that also form the rim, with remnants of gold inlaid details (wear).
2 1/2 to 3 3/16in (6.4 to 8.1cm)
