Shonai School Suaka Tsuba with Sliding Doors

Edo period (1615-1868) 

Of marugata form, with a gilt metal lined kozuka and kogai hitsu ana, the mimi (edge) lined in a gilt metal, finely decorated in gold, silver and iro-e hirazogan each side featuring two fabric coated sliding doors and a shoji (sliding door with translucent panes), one of which shows a small intentional tear made by the artist.

DIAMETER 7.1 cm
WEIGHT 144.1 g

Auction comparison
Compare a related Shonai school tsuba, dated 1853, at Bonhams, The Edward Wrangham Collection of Japanese Art Part VI, 10 November 2015, London, lot 17 (sold for GBP 6,000).

Provenance: Galerie Zacke Auction June 2024

Origins
Shonai is a province in the northernmost part of the main island of Japan. The relative isolation from the rest of Japan, at that time, allowed for a more reflective and elegant style to to evolve. This branch of the Shoami family school was founded by Shoami Matahachiro, as a retainer of the Sakai family, in Kambun 4 (1644).

Sources: 
https://www.ncjsc.org/photo-gallery/shonai-shoami-tsuba
https://shibuiswords.com/shoami.htm