kotachi

Hi Everyone, I am trying to find out more about a silver fuchi with the signature Sadakiyo 貞精 I bought a while back. It has a dragon in the clouds carved in katakiri bori style. The seller said it was Yokoya school. I thought it was gimei and just liked the work/price plus that it was silver. I recently stumbled across a matching theme and signature on a tsuba on eBay. https://www.ebay.com...r=artemis&media=COPY No details and a big markup, so after searching around I found the same one on a Japanese site (on sale too!). https://ebix.pclradi...fo&products_id=20503 And using google translate it also mentions Yokoya. Looking at Sesko genealogies for this school the only name that is even close is Terkiyo 英精 of whom there were three generations. Does anyone have any info on this smith? Could this be a real Yokoya school guy? I guess I am now hopeful it could be student of Terukiyo that inherited the Kiyo character but please let me know if you think I’m going in the wrong direction. Thank you for any thoughts. Jay G.

Thank you. I was not familiar with that style of kuni kanji.

Hi Everyone, I have an interesting tsuba with a carved pattern that looks like wood grain with a bug on. I have tried translating and I think the first character is 信 shin or nobu but I can’t get the second.

Thank you for your reply Steven. That punch mark is certainly not doing anybody any favors as it is covering up a crucial part of the kanji. I would have not guessed hiro on my own.

Hi Everyone, I have been trying to research an iron tsuba I got a while ago. I think the translation would be Yoshihide 吉英 but I am unsure on the hide character. There is a swordsmith that uses these characters listed in Sesko, Horeki eria (1751-1764) that changed his name to Yoshiteru (still using same characters) but this tsuba doesn't seem to have that age in the patina. I believe when I got it the seller claimed it was a showa era piece, which seems inline with the patina and sakura blossom theme, but it seems to be a bit nicer that what I have seen from war era fittings. I also saw a mention of a Shitahara Yoshihide, who taught Suishinshi Masahide, that may have used the same yoshi and hide character as my tsuba but I cannot find any more reference on him. Any ideas as to the school/time period this tsuba could be from? I don't plan to sell it, even if it is a modern piece I think it would look good mounted on a gendaito someday. Thanks for any options you are willing to share. -Jay G.

Thank you so much Ray! I would have never gotten it on my own, google translate kept giving me a 5 for the first character. Here is the backside. I would love any opinions or extra information on this smith any member can provide. Could it be Hamano school? Thanks again.

Looking around online and I found another very similar in style. https://www.antiques...uba-ishiguro-school/ maybe it’s an ishiguro school? There was an Ishiguro Masayoshi but the Masa character looks a little different than on mine. Edit: Tsuba arrived and I was able to take my own photos of it.

Hi Everyone, I just got a new tsuba in the mail today and photographed it. I have been trying to work on the translation of the signature and am totally stuck. Not sure if this is some calligraphy style of kanji. Only one I think I know is the Shi 子 for the last one but maybe it is some type of kao. Thanks for the help, I am super excited about the carving and inlay and have no plans to sell it. -Jay G.

Yes the tsuba is magnetic. It has a very rich brown and smooth patina. It does seem very different from any other iron/steel tsuba I own. I only put the editing note in because I initially posted the words in the wrong order, it is correct now. -Jay G.

Hi Marcus, I have a tsuba signed "Choshu Hagi Ju Tomomitsu Saku" that has some sort of paint or glue on it. A previous owner has tried to scratch it off and has damaged the patina in doing so. It is an iron tsuba but from what I have read this artist was know to use acid treatments for surface finishes to create the patina. Is this something that can or should be addressed or do you think it is just a part of the tsuba now? -Jay

I have a very similar tsuba to this one signed in the same fashion. I am trying to translate the name because the listing said it was Masayoshi but the I am having a hard time matching the second character to a yoshi kanji. I also don't see a Masayoshi in the school lineage posted here. Here is the link to the similar tsuba I found online: https://www.worthpoi...uba-with-nthk-papers

I think that might be it, Seki Ju Kanetomo Saku. Here is a Kanetomo gendaito that was on sold yakiba website. The signature is pretty close but the saku looks pretty different to me. Does anyone know if he had this much variation in the signature, could it be that the yakiba one is just a fancier carving style like for a better sword maybe? I think I see some style similarities in the hamon. Thank you guys so much. http://yakiba.com/Kat_Kanetomo_Gendaito.htm

Hi everyone, I am toying with the idea of selling a gendaito but I forgot/lost translation. I think this is late 1930’s but maybe I’m mixing it up. I don’t think the Smith was in John sloughs book and I think one character could be a seki version or Kane? I need to figure it out if it’s a keeper or seller, any and all opinions welcome. Thanks for your time in advance.

This horimono kind of reminds me of a wakizashi on ebay right now, supposedly demonic themed? It was discussed in this thread I don't know about all that other stuff going on though. -Jay

Oops, guess I mixed up my nomenclature in the title of the post. Won't confuse kogatana with kozuka again.