Description
On the right side of this tsuba, a whale can be seen swimming through the ocean. At the upper right is a ship, which is possibly hunting the whale. The whale's realistic color is created though the use of a gold and copper alloy called shakudo. The reverse of the tsuba shows a seashore with shells.
Provenance
Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Inscriptions
[Transcription] 於忍岡之造; [Transliteration] Shinobu-no-oka ni oite kore o tsukuri; [Translation] This was made in Shinoba-no-Oka; [Transcription] 天保十二年仲春 園部芳英; [Transliteration] Tempo juni nen chushun/Sonobe Yoshihide; [Translation] Early spring of the 12th year of the Tempo era (1841)/Sonobe Yoshihide.
Credit
Acquired by Henry Walters
