The online collection and picture sale

Another prodigy of description in miniature: on the obverse of this tsuba is a dragon between waves of water and clouds. The reverse shows a seascape, with a boat floating beneath a tree that stands on a rock. Waves are insinuated to the right and seagulls fly overhead. All this on a surface measuring 7 x 6.6 cm. The suggestive capacity of Japanese art is quite admirable, more so bearing in mind the limited number of decorative features. (Fernando García Gutiérrez, 2008)

Selected bibliography

• Arte japonés y japonismo [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. pp. 175, 508-511, 515-516, 520, 525, 560, n° cat. 39.
• García Gutiérrez, Fernando. "Tsuba : Japoniako zaldunen ezaugarri bat. Tsuba bilduma Bilboko Arte Eder Museoan = Un signo distintivo de los caballeros de Japón. Colección de tsuba en el Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao = The Mark of the Kinghts of Japan. The Tsuba Collection at the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum", B'07 : Buletina = Boletín = Bulletin, n° 3. 2008. pp. 101-159.
• Caeiro Izquierdo, Luis. La Cultura Samurai : armas japonesas en las colecciones españolas [tesis inédita]. Madrid, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 1991.