Tsuba depicting Mount Fuj, Yoshimura Ikkei (1819-1867)

Yoshimura Ikkei (1819-1867)

Edo period, 19th century

Chiseled iron with silver inlays　
Light mokkogata (lobed shape): 8.3 × 7.8 cm
Thickness: 3.2 mm
Raised edge (uchikaeshi mimi)
Signature: Yoshimura Ikkei (+kao) 吉村一啓

Literature:
Hayashi Eiroku, Tsuba – Beauty of Design and Craftsmenship (Tokyo: 2012), pag. 17

Certification: the tsuba comes with a tokubetsu hozon tosogu certificate issued by the NBTHK. 

Custom-made kiri box.

The tsuba depicts a very evocative subject: snow-capped Mt. Fuji rising through the clouds while the pine trees of the Senbon Matsubara forest along the coast known as "the beach of a thousand pines" soar in the foreground. The subject is famous for one of Hokusai's "100 Views of Mount Fuji." 

The back of the tsuba depicts the view from the shore, with the pine trees still in the foreground and two sails near the horizon. 

Originally from Saga (Hizen province), Yoshimura Ikkei moved to Kyoto where he became a pupil of Goto Ichijo in 1847 and then returned to Saga in 1857.