Chrysanthemum crane
date: label: Date
content: 17th century
notes: label: Catalogue Status
content: Research in Progress
label: Description
content: This Kyo-sukashi (Kyoto openwork) style tsuba takes the form of a tsuru maru (crane circle). At the center is the nakago-ana, an opening through which the sword passes, with traces of sekigane (plugs added to fit the tsuba to a sword) made of shakudo (a soft copper and gold alloy). The surrounding seppadai (flat oval area) forms the body of the crane; it is elegantly long and narrow, with a migaki (burnished) surface. The head of the crane has kebori (line carving). Flanking the body are ryo-hitsu, openings for the kozuka (utility knife) and the kogai (skewer tool). At right is sashi ura, the side which faces the blade, whose opening takes the hangetsu-kei (half moon) shape. Opposite is sashi omote, the side which faces the sword hilt; its tri-lobed opening is of the suhama type, and symbolically represents the coastline of Horai, the holy island of the Immortals. The surrounding openwork forms symmetrical feathers with a sense of movement.
place: label: made in
content: Japan
setName: label: See more items in
content: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Collection
label: See more items in
content: Product Design and Decorative Arts Department
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Bequest of George Cameron Stone
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 1936-4-314
objectType: label: Type
content: knotted, knitted and crocheted textiles
label: Type
content: Decorative Arts
label: Object Name
content: Tsuba
label: Type
content: Tsuba
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Iron, shakudo (a soft copper and gold alloy)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 8.5 × 83.2 × 5.2 cm (3 3/8 × 32 3/4 × 2 1/16 in.)