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This oval-shaped iron tsuba with decoration in gold, silver and copper is one of the most elaborate in the collection. A mythical story is presented in relief on both sides, involving a beautiful landscape in the moonlight, against which some mythical beings known as tengu, easily identifiable by their huge noses and red wings, are seen dressed as samurai, and are watched by another character (Minamoto Yoshitsune) who flies above in the upper part. On both sides the landscape is depicted with amazing delicacy; the plants, done in brighter colours, shine out in the muted, ubiquitous moonlit atmosphere. It is impossible to describe more in such a small space so decoratively. (Fernando García Gutiérrez, 2008)

Selected bibliography

• Caeiro Izquierdo, Luis. La Cultura Samurai : armas japonesas en las colecciones españolas [tesis inédita]. Madrid, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 1991.
• Pereda, Arantxa. La Colección Palacio : arte japonés en el Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 1998. p. 48, n° cat. 25.
• 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.
• Arte japonés y japonismo [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. pp. 155, 558, 508-511, 513, 516, 520, 523, n° cat. 19.