Education and Early Career
The Boston Years:
Horyusai Yoshimitsu
(Japanese)
Tsuba with design of So Toba going into exile on horseback with an attendant
Mito School (18th through 20th century)
Edo Period, mid-19th century
Main material: shibuichi; surface treatment: migaki‑ji; other metals: gold, silver, shakudo and copper; decorative technique: iroe takazogan
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Tsubas
In March of 1890 the Museum of Fine Arts celebrated the opening of new galleries devoted to Japanese paintings and decorative arts. Much of the metalwork on display was loaned by Boston collector William Sturgis Bigelow, including swords, armor, and hundreds of carefully decorated tsuba. Tsuba, metal sword guards (usually bronze and iron) were executed with extraordinary attention to detail. This display imitates how Bigelow’s tsuba were shown in 1890, exactly as the Greenes would have seen them during their many visits and classes at the MFA. Later, Charles collected tsuba himself and incorporated their shape into many of his designs.
Text courtesy of Nonie Gadsden, Carolyn and Peter Lynch Curator of Decorative Arts and Sculpture, Art of the Americas, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
