Tsuba with Hollyhock Crests ("Aoi mon")

Description Cut into the body of this tsuba in an openwork design are five hollyhock crests. The hollyhock crest was used by the Tokugawa family, who ruled Japan and three of its provinces from 1615 to 1867. Interspersed among the crests are five moths.

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

Inscriptions [Transcription] 紀州住　坦然堂銕斎製; [Transliteration] kii shu ju/tanzendo tessai sei; [Translation] Residing in Kii province/work of Tanzendo Tessai.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters