Kozuka
ca. 1800 (made)
| Place of origin |
The Japanese word for the handle of a scabbard knife is kozuka. This one is made chiefly of silver with some copper on the lower half of the front depicting a half-figure of Daruma, the founder of Zen Buddhism, yawning. The back of the kozuka is inlaid with a design on reed-plant in shakudo, an alloy of copper and gold which is generally patinated to a rich black colour, and shibuichi, an alloy of copper and silver, normally patinated to give a wide variety of colours from silver to brown as well as a range of greys.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | silver with copper, <i>shibuichi</i> and <i>shakudo</i> |
| Brief description | Handle for a scabbard-knife (kozuka), silver with copper depicting Daruma, founder of Zen Buddhism, yawning, inlaid with shakudo and shibuichi on reverse depicting reed-plant, signed Soryuken Kikuchi Tsunekatsu, aged 60, Japan, ca. 1800 |
| Physical description | Handle for a scabbard-knife (kozuka), silver with copper depicting Daruma, founder of Zen Buddhism, yawning, inlaid with shakudo and shibuichi on reverse depicting reed-plant, signed Soryuken Kikuchi Tsunekatsu, aged 60. |
| Marks and inscriptions | signed Soryuken Kikuchi Tsunekatsu, aged 60 |
| Credit line | Bequeathed by Ernest A. Brooks |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Literary reference | Depicts Daruma, founder of Zen Buddhism, yawning |
| Summary | The Japanese word for the handle of a scabbard knife is kozuka. This one is made chiefly of silver with some copper on the lower half of the front depicting a half-figure of Daruma, the founder of Zen Buddhism, yawning. The back of the kozuka is inlaid with a design on reed-plant in shakudo, an alloy of copper and gold which is generally patinated to a rich black colour, and shibuichi, an alloy of copper and silver, normally patinated to give a wide variety of colours from silver to brown as well as a range of greys. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.1318-1926 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | February 25, 2009 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest
