Copper, Iron - Japan - Edo Period (1600-1868)

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ITEM:

It Comes with certificate of our shop

Iron Tsuba with Gilt Rim (fukurin) and Nunome-Zōgan Inlay: Samurai Battle on the Water

Signature: 藻柄子入道宗典 — "Sōgarashi Nyūdō Sōten, resident of Hikone, Ōmi Province (Gōshū)"

An exceptional oval-form tsuba (ita-gata), worked in iron (tetsuji) with relief and openwork carving (sukashi-bori), decorated with gold, silver, and copper nunome-zōgan inlay, and finished with a gilt perimeter rim (fukurin) worked with fine granulation — a luxurious finish that considerably elevates the piece above a plain iron tsuba. The signature is subject to authentication.

Obverse: depicts a samurai battle fought on the water. Warriors in full armor (gassan, with clearly defined shoulder plates and lamellar armor) clash at the top, on either side of the seppa-dai, while along the lower band the sea is rendered through long, undulating carved waves — the watery stage on which the battle unfolds. Two large gold oval reserves with granulated (nanako) texture flank the seppa-dai, providing strong chromatic and volumetric contrast against the darkened iron ground.

Reverse: the battle continues along the shore, organized around a pine tree (matsu) with a gnarled trunk rising directly from the surf, with clouds cut out along the top and two warriors fighting amid the waves on either side of the tree. The same two gilt oval reserves reappear flanking the nakago-ana, framing the signature.

This kind of naval combat scene — warriors fighting amid the waves, framed by a pine on the shore — points directly to the narrative cycle of the Genpei War, a recurring theme in Sōten's repertoire. Without an explicit inscription identifying the episode, the exact naval battle depicted cannot be confirmed with certainty, but the iconography is fully consistent with this historical-legendary cycle.

8,3 x 7,8 cm