Anne Wolf | Cherry Blossom Tsuba

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Artist: Anne Wolf

Materials: Copper, nickel, brass

Dimensions: 2 3/4"x2 3/4"x1/8"

Origin of featured materials: I fused this mokume-gane with Earl Bushey. The patterning is by me.

Story behind the piece: This tsuba is inspired by of one of the most well-known mokume- gane tsubas in history - the Yoshino River Tsuba made by Takahashi Okitsugu in the mid-late Edo period in Japan. For my version, I used different metals (copper, brass and nickel silver), and a silhouette of my own design; five-lobed rather than 8-lobed.

From my very first billets, I always wanted to create crisp, unique mokume patterns with great control. It was in Masaki Takahashi's "Textbook of Mokume Gane" book that I was first introduced to the historical work of Takahashi Okitsugu - I saw it was possible to create patterns with crisp control, so I had a goal. I did a lot of experimentation and came up with two ways to do the cherry blossom pattern, one easier than the other. I teach the easier way in my mokume gane workshops, but here I'm using the more difficult chisel method. Creating the pattern once on a test piece was one thing, but to do it on the scale of a tsuba was another thing entirely. It took a lot of math to figure out how many layers, what thickness/size, what thickness to start patterning so the pattern would be flat and finished at 3mm on a piece of metal large enough for a tsuba.

Making the actual tsuba was a change of pace, with patient sawing, filing and finishing taking the place of all the chiseling. I owe many thanks to Ford Hallam, who was a teacher and mentor for me until his untimely passing last August. Wherever you see a bright line separating two planes on my work, that's from him telling me to file that angle, to 'make the light dance.'

Artist Bio: Anne Wolf earned her MFA in Jewelry/Metals at San Diego State University in 1999, and has been teaching since 2003. Wolf has been a presenter for SNAG and taught at many schools across the US. Her mokume gane metalwork is in the permanent collection at the Metals Museum in Memphis, Tennessee and was awarded a Bronze First seat by the NBSK in Japan. Wolf studied under Japanese metalwork masters such as Ford Hallam, Hiroko Sato-Pijanowski, and James Binnion.

This piece is part of, From Wave to Shining Wave: a Celebration of Phil Baldwin and Shining Wave Metals Baldwin. The exhibition is presented in collaboration with the Seattle Metals Guild. 5% of sales will be donated to help fund an endowment at Pendland in Phillip Baldwin’s name. Learn more HERE. All work will remain on exhibit through July 20, 2025.

📂 [View the entire collection HERE ]

ℹ️ [Learn more about the exhibition HERE]

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