Tsuba Nagamaru-gata In Iron, Legend Of Shiba Onko, Edo Period (1603-1868).

JAPAN - Edo Period (1603-1868). Wrought iron, openwork, chased in hira bori and inlaid with iroe hira zogan of copper, gilt copper, and silver, depicting the legend of Shiba Onko breaking a jar to save a comrade from drowning, kozuka-hitsu hana, and kogai-hitsu hana. Unsigned. Minor wear and oxidation. Dimensions: 7.3 x 7 cm. Notes: This subject is a transposition of a Chinese legend about the childhood of Sima Guang, a Chinese historian and Confucian scholar of the Northern Song Dynasty. At the age of seven, while playing with other children, one of his companions climbed onto a large water jar and accidentally fell in. The other children, frightened, ran away. Guang, without panicking, grabbed a large stone and struck the jar until it broke.