Tsuka with Gold Crests
(Japanese Military Armor)
This tsuka is made in a single piece with the fuchi and kashira incorporated into the handle. The gold menuki are also affixed to the handle. They depict crests ("mon") associated with important military families of the early modern period. In the middle are three ginger crests. This crest was used by Horio Yoshiharu (1544-1611), who was a general under the first Tokugawa shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616). Ieyasu's hollyhock crest is on the left. To the right of Yoshiharu's crest is the oak leaf crest used by the Makino clan. The rightmost crest is a hollyhock crest used by the general Honda Tadakatsu (1548-1610). Another identical crest covers the pin that originally filled the hole on the handle. This is part of a mounted set.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
William T. / Henry Walters Collection, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Geographies
Japan (Place of Origin)
Measurements
L: 7 1/16 in. (18 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by William T. or Henry Walters
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
51.1173.3