Tsuba with a Pair of Folding Screens

Description This unusual tsuba shows two folding screens framing the central hole. The upper screen has a pattern of chrysanthemum flowers. The lower screen is placed with its back to the viewer. The two auxiliary holes have both been plugged. In traditional Japanese architecture, screens were used to divide spaces within larger rooms. They were both artistic and utilitarian objects.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
4/18/1962	Treatment	cleaned
11/29/1990	Treatment	cleaned; other

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

Inscriptions [Signature] 梅龍軒　清辰作; [Translation] Bairyuken/Kiyotatsu saku

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters