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The front of this tsuba shows the yearly meeting of the celestial lovers the Weaving Maiden (Jp. "Orihime") and the Shepherd (Jp. "Hikoboshi"). They are the stars Vega and Altair. Because they neglected their work when they were together, the Weaving Maiden's father, the King of Heaven, decreed that they could only meet across the River of Heaven (i.e. the Milky Way) once a year. Their meeting is celebrated on the 7th day of the 7th month with a festival called Tanabata. They are depicted on the front of the tsuba within a square frame. The Weaving Maiden is shown at the upper right spinning thread. The Shepherd is shown with cattle on the lower left. On the reverse of the tsuba, rooftops of houses can be seen in the foreground and to the right of the central opening. Stalks of bamboo hung with paper strips decorate the houses for Tanabata. Mount Fuji is shown in the background at the upper right.
Japanese
3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm)
medium: shibuichi, copper, gold, silver
culture: Japanese
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
This precious book was highly prized by its owner, Charles III, King of Navarre, a French-born prince whose coat of arms is painted on 20 folios. Charles visited Paris on numerous occasions and likely acquired this volume there in 1404. Paris was the center of the European book trade at the time and attracted illuminators from many parts of Europe. This manuscript represents one of the most remarkable fusions of French and Italian taste in book illumination. Though conforming to Parisian standards, most of the book’s major miniatures are the work of the Brussels Initials Master, an Italian illuminator who previously worked in Bologna and Padua.
France, Paris
ink, tempera, and gold on vellum
Codex: 20.3 x 15.7 x 7 cm (8 x 6 3/16 x 2 3/4 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund