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Echizen Ju Shimosaka (越前住下坂)

To throw some fuel to the fire: six lobed Kamakura-bori tsuba I feel that those lobed tsuba originally might have been simple tosho for kazuuchi-mono, which were also exported, then they got decorate by engravers, some of these maybe outside Japan and somehow made it back through the Dutch

During last DTI i had the chance to compare my tsuba with an Akasaka piece from Edo period with similar design, i was very pleased to see that mine wasn't inferior, despite with slightly different approach on size and design

There's a pair that looks suitable on Aoi https://www.aoijapan...signed-plum-blossom/

http://www.smokingsa...ppi_Untracht2011.pdf An insight on how inlays are done

I didn't post it, i only provided the "translation"

That's a Fudo Myoo bonji

I think i saw the second tsuba (the one in the red box), i'm pretty sure is done by the same tsubashi.

I restored a badly corroded one some time ago

What if it's this guy? NORIKATSU (徳勝), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Hiroshima – “Seiryūshi Minamoto Norikatsu kore o kinsaku” (青龍子源徳勝謹作之), “Minamoto Norikatsu” (源徳勝), real name Nakahara Tokuji (中原徳二), born October 12th 1906, gō Seiryūshi (青龍子), he was basically a self-taught smith, taking the writings of Suishinshi Masahide as a guidline, he also worked as guntō smith (it is said about 180 guntō blades until the end of World War II), ryōkō no jōi (Akihide), Fifth Seat at the 6th Shinsaku Nihontō Denrankai (新作日本刀展覧会, 1941) (see picture right)

A little correction, the tsuba won't be exhibited at the museum as there'll be only pieces that actually got prizes, so no Nyusen

The texture is the result of the copper alloy, the patina just bring that out. There's no need of punches if the nakago ana is carefully filed to accomodate a specific nakago. Despite not being a flashy or complex piece is a well made composition and execution, patina also is very nice. Don't be fooled by the simple nature of this piece, to make a tsuba like this is not that easy as it might look.

My thoughts 1. exactly the same since it's a simple sukashi 2. assuming a seppa size of 38mm the tsuba would be 75mm 3. the patina is way to uniform to be burnt, there would also be scales and the fact there's the seppa dai mark is present and clear suggest this wasn't been in the fire or been re-patinated after

NBTHK published the results today, with my big surprise there are a lot of entries in the metal engraving section (the one i was is), and many ranked below me. With Jeff Broderick, who's already a veteran of this contest, i'm the only other foreigner. Under this light i'm even more happy of my result. Here's the results in Japanese2023年度研磨・刀身彫・彫金・白鞘・刀装・柄前・白銀の部　審査結果一覧hp.pdf Here translated in English with Google Translate ENG 2023年度研磨・刀身彫・彫金・白鞘・刀装・柄前・白銀の部　審査結果一覧hp (2).pdf

Thank you, yes I do take commissions, of course my skills are limited to sukashi and simple engraving on iron and copper. I also did some restoration on iron tsuba.

Again, thank you all!

A couple more shots of the tsuba

Thank you all, the design is actually an utsushi of this Akasaka tsuba https://www.touken-w...-guard/art0000971-1/. When i saw it i immediately loved the flow of it and wanted to reproduce it. The results should be published on NBTHK website in a few days, i'll post the results here once they come out. Dimensions are 75x76 mm and 5 mm thick

Thank you Brian!

I'm proud to announce that the tsuba i sent for 2023 NBTHK contest for newly made tsuba got accepted and ranked 7th Nyusen (入選七席). Despite not being an high rank, to me, an amateur italian tsubashi with no teacher that got serious in making tsuba only few years ago, is a huge victory. My tsuba will be shown in the New Sword Exhibition in NBTHK museum, so if you'll have the chance to see it there, i'll be happy to hear it from you. This result encurages me to keep working hard to improve myself and to aim to higher ranks next years. Manuel Coden 古伝

Please move to sold archive or remove

Sold to a member of the board, thanks!

Hold pending payment

Modern tanto made by Minamoto Shigehide, real name Shibuichi Fumi (四分一二三), born September 27th 1912, he signed first with Akishige (昭重) and studied under Satō Akinori (佐藤昭則), gō Musen (夢船). The blade shows a prominent "Norishige style" hada, with predominant masame along the ha resulting in prominent sunagashi and kinsuji in the gunome hamon. The sugata is koto-like with a visible uchizori and bohi on both sides. The mei shows this was made as mamori-gatana, so most likely he put an extra effort to make it well. It's in shirasaya with solid silver habaki. Nagasa 25.2cm　Motohaba 2.36cm Kasane 6.8mm Sori uchizori Mei: 源重秀 Minamoto Shigehide Nengo: 平成二年正月 Heisei 2 the first month (January 1990) 石塚氏代々 For the future generations of Ishizuka (family) Price 1200€ plus shipping and Paypal Please note that buyers from outside EU might face extra costs cause sending blades outside Italy can be troublesome, so i'll need to ship to another EU country in order to export it.

SOLD to a member of the board, thank you