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row were often depicted in combination continued to be made in Kyoto through- 201 Sword guard
with Hachiman Daibosatsu, decorating ar- out the Edo period. They are character- Kaneie (fl. late loth-early iyth
mor, sword blades, and metal fittings; al- ized by delicate openwork designs of century)
though Hachiman Daibosatsu is not natural motifs, such as floral subjects and iron with inlaid copper, silver, and
depicted on this tsuba, the design implies birds. This example is shaped like a four- gold
that motif. The color and hardness of the petalled flower; its fine openwork interior diam. 8.3(3 V 4)
iron and the design suggest that this was consists of two large mydga sprouts to the Momoyama period, early iyth century
the work of a late-Muromachi-period tsuba. right and left of the tang hole, a plum blos-
maker of Owari. HY som above and below the tang hole, other Eisei Bunko, Tokyo
motifs such as clover, a bamboo hat, and Important Cultural Property
200 Sword guard plovers. The mydga plant, an unlikely Kaneie, a tsuba maker who lived near
iron seeming decoration for armor and weap- Kyoto in Fushimi, Yamashiro Province, is
1
diam. 8.o(3 /s) ons, nevertheless appears often, since its credited as the first to make sword guards
Muromachi period, loth century name is a homonymn for words meaning with pictorial decoration. He was active
"divine protection." HY
Yamada Hitoshi Collection, Tokyo from the late Muromachi period into the
Momoyama period. Strongly influenced
From the Muromachi period, Kyôsukashi, by Muromachi-period ink paintings, he de-
or Kyoto openwork, iron tsuba were made, picted such subjects as landscapes and fig-
it is said, on the order of the sixth Ashi- ures. The designs on his relatively thin
kaga shogun, Yoshinori (1394-1441); they iron tsuba were carved in relief, shaving

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