Tsuba cu scene evocatoare. O formă de manifestare a unei arte medalistice avant la lettre în Japonia perioadei Edo?
Tsuba with evocative scenes. An avant la lettre manifestation form of medal art in Japan

Summary/Abstract: In Edo period Japan (1603–1867), an amazing culture flourished in the strata of Japanese society. From the Confucian inspired culture supported by the country’s military rulers, the Tokugawa shoguns (the Kano school of painting, armoury schools, etc.), to the frivolous culture of the inhabitants of large cities (kabuki theater, ukiyo e graphic art), but also many others that did not belong to a specific social class (lacquer products, silk prints, ceramics, etc.), everything reached a sublime level of artistic refinement. In this paper we wish to focus on a few examples of some of the most famous products of Edo period culture, the sword guards (tsuba), which fall into the category of functional art products. Our interest in the four tsuba, which are the subject of this article, is not accidental. These tsuba were decorated with “evocative scenes” (the term belongs to us). The shape, material, theme and technique used to render the scenes bring these Japanese sword guards closer to Western medal art. Following very different evolutionary paths, the art of Japanese tsuba intersects with that of Western medal art in common points, related to material (metal), shape (flat, bifaceted), image making technique (engraving), intention (evoking places, personalities, historical moments, etc.) and even in some of its purposes (promoting themes and ideas). Thus, the answer to the question: can we consider these tsuba with “evocative scenes” a form of manifestation of an avant la lettre medalist art in Edo period Japan? becomes a positive one, having as a first possible consequence the integration of some of the Japanese tsuba into medallist studies.

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