| This tsuba depicts a powerful scene of a dragon appearing amid surging waves and billowing clouds on a polished copper ground. The dragon is rendered in richly three-dimensional takabori, while the surrounding waves and clouds are expressed with lively sukisage-bori and katakiri-kebori. The composition vividly portrays the dragon moving freely through a sea of clouds and turbulent waves. Although details about the metalworker Hidetomo are unknown, the use of a copper ground, the powerful modeling of the dragon, and the treatment of the waves and clouds suggest that he was likely active in Shōnai or elsewhere in the Tōhoku region during the late Edo period. |
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