Tsuba with a Spider on a Gourd Vine Trellis

Description In the upper right of this tsuba is a trellis upon which a gourd vine is depicted. One gourd hangs down from the trellis near the central opening of the tsuba. At the far right, a spider hangs from a thread. On the reverse, a spider web is at the upper left. A blossoming vine on a trellis is on the left.

Provenance Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions [Date] Keiô ni aki(?)/kore saku; [Translation] This was made in autumn of the second year of Keio (1866); [Signature] [ ][ ][ ]/Hashimoto Isshi (kao)

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters