Iron, gilding, some silver. Japan, 18th to 19th century

Of oval form with a slightly raised and rounded rim, ryohitsu, the depiction on both sides rendered in a flat relief, decorated with flowering sakura (cherry) and a samurai resting in armor shown holding a broken arrow (probably) and a creek next to him, details highlighted in gilt nunome, strong rust patina due to age.
HEIGHT 7,55 CM
From the collection of Dr. Karl Florenz (1865-1939)

Dr. Karl Florenz was a renowned scholar, university professor and considered a pioneer of German Japanese studies. He resided in Japan from 1888 until the beginning of the First World War and then continued his lectures at the Hamburg Colonial Institute, never returning to Japan again. Famed for having translated several important Japanese books including the Nihongi, Japan’s oldest official history text, he was awarded the Japanese doctor title in literature. His extensive collection was largely destroyed by air strikes in the Second World War (which he himself did not live to witness), however, most tsuba etc. survived in relatively good condition. Dr. Florenz primarily collected tsubas dating to the 18th cent. and quite evidently made an effort to explore a wide range of motifs.