An elaborate shakudo tsuba

Description:

Japan, signed Seiryôken Katsuhira ken, Meiji period, end of 19th c.
9,5 x 8,8 x 0,3 cm (0,4 cm mimi)
Mokko-gata. Shakudo, on migaki ground iroe-taka-zogan in shibuichi, copper, silver and gold, ten-zogan. On the front depiction Daikoku with a sack and a hammer, running towards the oni sprawled out amidst peas, on the reverse a Samurai with peas, exorcising the oni. Uchi-gaeshi-mimi.
From an old German private collection, published in: Günther Heckmann, ‘Tsuba’. H.U.B Verlag, Nürtingen, 1995, T 143
On the second day of February the evil spirits ("Oni") are expelled from houses by a samurai ("toshi otoke"). The samurai invokes the evil spirits by saying "devils avaunt, luck enter", while throwing roasted black peas towards them. At the same time he throws away a paper, which had previously been rubbed on the body, in order to get rid of deseases of all kinds. This ceremony is called "oni yarai" or "tsuina", and from this a celebration developed, the setsubun. The portrayal of the Daikoku signifies the luck that shall be