Spartancrest

From my understanding the "Male" dragon had a "Ken" at the end of his tail, so if this is correct, the Dragon on Jason's tsuba is a male?

I think the theme is a dragon wrapped around a "Ken" - Which is not that easy to make out, especially as Ken are straight bladed swords and this is anything but straight! Artistic license gone riot but beautiful! These examples have Vajra handles - not sure about the one on the tsuba. Jake's idea of Bushu Ito sounds good to me. Chosu also possible - I struggle with the differences unless they are signed by one of the schools as they copied designs back and forth. Kinai liked dragons but something about it does not say Kinai - besides Kinai was mad about getting them signed. JMHO Whatever the school or theme it is a fantastic piece and gets us thinking!

If my friend Okan is correct [very likely ] - give that thing a big miss - try this one it is more interesting, genuine and a lot cheaper https://www.ebay.com/itm/296351643175

Sorry to say it is a paperweight souvenir, it might be as old as 1980? - not made in the Muromachi [1336 to 1573] - a time when they didn't sign tsuba as far as I know. https://www.ebay.ca/itm/186730994595 I do hope your friend did not pay very much. The seller is either ignorant or a conman.

https://varshavskyco...collection/tsu-0356/ Two from https://klefischauktionen.wordpress.com/ I am keeping my gnarly old hands out of this!

Oh I remember the late 70s !! back Kotter!!

? https://www.samurais...equipment/ts034.html https://blog.goo.ne....0d3adebfd75c6b6c1fa3 the design looks mirror reversed in this one?

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/296351643175 Is it just me or does this look like Grover kissing a mirror or two Proboscis monkeys ?

I found a "Do it yourself Futatsu" just a little work with a hammer! NAH! I don't think so.

I have sixteen images of double "Sho" woodwind instrument like a Pan pipe but I am not sure they qualify because the top and bottom indents are not the same? These are from my utsushi records - no big surprise just how many of the same designs get produced, yet each is an individual not a cast copy. I may as well throw in a Shingen from the Warsaw museum as well Make that 17 "Sho"

It is not my imagination is it, that the under board of the "drying rack" is thicker/wider for the last segments on all the abalone drying racks? Cast or hand forged this is poor workmanship IMHO.

Starting to find others - this one tilted over 90 degrees, does that count? https://www.jauce.com/auction/p1118290518 Smooth sided Myoga https://www.honto-nihonto.com/en/sue-tegai . While there are many Myoga tsuba like this design, they are more Kawari-gata because of the indents for the sides of the flowers/leaves (?) so I don't think they would count.

The left hand side of this guard looks similar? Clouds? But it could be a simplified version of this cloud dragon sukashi design? https://www.carters....ol-c1650-of-four-lo/ Tembo School, c1650, Pierced Cloud Patterns

An incidental outline shape from the Klefischauktionen collection. No information on it unfortunately. The shape seems very rare, I have looked through 3,000 tsuba images and only found two, other than yours! [So far ] This one may well be the ura of the other?

Curran your number three tsuba - I guess you have seen the ones in https://tsubakansho.com/page/2/ ? A popular design it seems.

Ring Bling https://suigenkyo.st...ing-katana-handguard $750 AUD https://www.caesars....oller=search&s=tsuba https://casiberia.co...suba-pendant/oh3036s

A paperweight a little like some of the features with Ajiro [mat background] but not the same shape. https://world.seiyud...m/product/tu-120515/ shape? As Steve has pointed out futatsu-mokko-gata could be the shape it is usually associated with Musashi Namako tsuba but they are sukashi not solid plate One reference calls the shape "Kaigu Tsuba" https://ho-sui.com/en/products/鍔-つば-武蔵 that site sells replica tsuba so I doubt the name is accurate.

Deep, deep pockets papered Yagyu tsuba https://www.jauce.com/auction/h1160862639 and a similar past auction https://www.jauce.com/auction/w1073080451 https://www.jauce.com/auction/m1160847457 Papered Yagyu but I would have guessed cast! Seams, crack or folded forge fault? Papered Ohno/Ono that sold for far less? https://www.jauce.com/auction/r1148317429 but when did Ōno suddenly become Ohno I must have missed the memo - I will stick with Sasano's spelling [ŌNO] until he tells me differently

I have to say the seller with the kettle/pot guard is having trouble making up his mind just which school he thinks it belongs to. - Ono, Yagyu, Kanayama, Owari, Akasaka, Higo. This seems to cover a lot of possibilities! https://www.bakumats...1515340973&La=J#here There are 90 Yagyu designs in this "Manuscripts of Yagyu Tsuba-gata" I am sure you can copy the page images for reference - The original book is well out of copyright and the company has sold their book copy in any case. https://www.ebay.it/itm/176628474283 I don't know if this book has many tsuba images, perhaps some of the other members could comment?

Just in time for Christmas!! https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/124539101729 2023 Lapel pin from Seikado Bunko Art Museum in the form of a tsuba by Ishiguro Koreyoshi [I probably paid too much but it is mine now https://www.jauce.com/auction/d1142329642 ] The pin design is similar to a guard in the MFAB the pheasant though faces downward in the pin and as you would expect that guard is in the Seikado Bunko Art Museum. https://collections.mfa.org/objects/27587 Other metal lapel pins

https://www.lotsearc...-38922103?perPage=80 https://www.lot-art....case-30.10.17-bonham Gold-plated copper, sold for $1,875 in 2017. Small size 2 1/8in (5.3cm). It has some historic provenance but it is just plated in gold and originally French! [I like the "odd" but the price even in 2017 is out of my range - goodness knows what it would sell for now.]

By rearranging a few words in the quote from Jake, to what it reads now. It sums me up nicely! I am able to find examples that might be of assistance - but generally I know only enough to know where to look! EX = former PERT = quite small and neat, and you think it is attractive [as in posterior]. So an EXPERT is by definition someone who used to have a nice bum but has gone a bit flabby [yes that still sums me up!]

Well many artists published their works and it would have been relatively easy to spread the designs throughout Japan from woodblock printed books, the movement of smiths away from the big cities where they were taught and by Samurai craving for the latest style in fashion. I think we are locked in on a certain rigid idea that designs from one school can only be from that school whereas a lot of copying went on - you follow the fashion trend or you go out of business.

Or Myochin? This one a papered Myochin https://nihonto.com/12-2-23/ I have a feeling this could be by a number of schools - a bit of copying went on. Hoan? https://www.tsubacollector.com/4.html A Yagyu one. from the same thread as Peter showed https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/49639-ohno-kuruma-tsuba-compared-to-kanayama/ What does that give us? Ohno/ONO , Myochin , Hoan & Yagyu I am sure we can find others.