Spartancrest

Superficially the leaves look a little like Plantain or banana - but not the trunk of the plant - the trunk or stem is not found on ferns either. Not a Cycad or Sago palm - they don't have the smooth bark. Maybe a small plant or shrub? Daikon was a common theme but the leaves don't look like they fit - mystery! You might find it in this thread - big list of plants used on tosogu designs. Plantain.

I think the tragedy is Gary bought his books in bulk and then distributed them himself, [which is a great idea and stops a lot of "proxy sellers"] but once his stock is gone - it is gone forever. I wonder if his family could have his books transferred to a company that does print on demand? That way the books outlast the author. I do print on demand publishing and yes my books get "taken over" by proxy sellers who make whopping profit from no effort - however the books will remain long after I am gone. I am also setting up a system that pays any royalties from the book sales in the future, to a charity - we are not talking about big sums here, more on the average of $30 a month. A charity can make good use of $30 a month, my kids would get what? three or four cups of coffee. Just an idea worth thinking about.

Well first thing is they are not Karigane [Wild geese 雁金 ] they are Herons [Sagi サギ]. Geese and cranes don't have the feathered crests. The design is well known. There are even cast coppies getting about [not the ones featured on ebay which are iron and appear to have been mounted] I think I would agree with Thomas - a bit expensive. https://www.seiyudo.com/tu-010213.htm

A museum collection of 474 tsuba - but only useful if you are blind! https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/search/results?query=tsuba After all, why have a collection where only two have images?

There is some more information on this thread, that dealt with the same theme. https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/34549-tsuba-school-opinion-wanted/#comment-363945

Wow - just three digits away from a phone number price!

Well first impression is why is the design upside down on the tsuba but it does remind me of this "high quality tsuba" https://www.ebay.ph/itm/226167463543 which at least is the right way up - even though there is nothing "high quality" about a cast copy - https://www.jauce.com/auction/h1182949396 - yes, sorry but I could not find an exact match with the gourd in the Haori design - so stuck with two horses https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/235953631259 not really a tsuba but a commemoration of a military disaster! Japanese Police, 1976 Operation Kikusui Commemorative Medal, Hyogo Prefectural Police Chief and Superintendent, Kikusui Crest & Sword Tsuba Design.Operation Kikusui - Between April and June 1945, thousands of promising young men were sacrificed in a suicide mission commanded by incompetent military officials.The chrysanthemum flower on the medal is a tribute to the deceased.

I thought these two examples [both from raindragon designs] were interesting in that both are signed by the same maker and both have had the seppa-dai cut into and later repaired - but they are not a daisho. Notice the repair is very dark metal that almost blends into the seppa-dai colour. and an example of "highlighting" the repair. Kintsugi (金継ぎ) is the Japanese art of repairing broken items. Recognising that it is the flaws and “scars” that make you stronger,beautiful and unique.

It does look to have been mounted, the sekigane show an imprint of the blade being inserted. Also the ategane 'repair' to the hitsu would suggest the sides of the seppa-dai/hitsu have been previously cut into, to fit a koshirae with narrow fitting kogai and kozuka and the guard was later changed to fit another saya or koshirae assembly. Most repairs like this try to match the seppa-dai colour [but not always] to make the repair less visable. I will try and find some examples tomorrow my time [after midnight now for me ]

But Brian, Dan never even mentioned CAST TSUBA! From Colin's original post 'A modern reproduction of a late 19thC Japanese cast metal tsuba'. How I read this is the tsuba was based on a cast tsuba - not that this is a cast tsuba. That is, if the auctioneer knows where to place commas or has a grasp of punctuation marks [none of which are evident]! Something the millennials have come up with:

Not really relevant to the discussion but if you try a Google image search you might find four "links" - none of which are real and all end in a nonexisting site. WHY? I agree not Soten - first big thing with the majority of Soten, is they like to advertise the fact with a mei - even the fake ones. I would have said Jakushi, except for the unusual hitsu and the height/depth of the carving as well as inlay, Jakushi do "overlay" as far as I know [which is not much ]. Takada I will give it a look.

Kenjo or Kyo-kenjo? Like this one: https://www.lot-art.com/auction-lots/Iron-tsuba-Gold-Inlay-Kyo-Kenjo-NTHK-Origami-Japan-18th19th-century/21822197-iron_tsuba-10.11.18-catawiki https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/47750-kenjō-kyo-kenjō-tsuba-and-fittings/ The late Gary Murtha wrote a whole book on the subject. https://www.amazon.com/-/he/Japanese-Sword-Guards-History-Presentation/dp/1532314752

I think this is the first [?] thread that has garnered so much response just from the idea of shutting it down! Non posso lasciar passare questo senza commentare . . . PS. Why do people choose to write in languages that are one click away from Google translate? [You need to be more creative - how about Morse code?] .. / -.-. .- -. - / .-.. . - / - .... .. ... / .--. .- ... ... / .-- .. - .... --- ..- - / -.-. --- -- -- . -. -

https://art.thewalters.org/object/51.90/ Walters museum says Tanaka for their piece, Tanaka Kiyotoshi (1804-1876) They can't afford the lighting bill and so their images are always DARK!

A few "formulas" for rust removal here : :

Please note the cast replica Water-wheel and bridge in the lower right of image - part of a tourist quality display board. https://www.jauce.com/auction/q1189828556 or https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/q1189828556

Similar designs. http://www.nihonto.us/KIRI TOSOGU SET.htm These top two look like a before and after clean.

Two Kiri, but I am not sure if the tagane-ato are real. A river crossing on ebay https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/127185994228

Sorry Brian, can you show the other side of the Kiri one? The side we see is the back or "ura" and best guesses would be from the front or "omote" view which is usually the more elaborate design side.

I will stay away from answering that question - but if you enjoy a day reading then see this thread - https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/38416-tsuba-casting-molds/ Let's just say these cast pieces do turn up from collections at the beginning of the 20th century and that they are "antiques". But we think they were rarely used on swords other than tourist pieces or swapped over onto older blades. Your other guard I can't be sure of a school or date, but looks genuine to me. There is a solitary Kiri flower amongst the tendrils/branches [paulownia tree?] 1 o'clock position. Piers beat me to it.

Hi Brian, Welcome to the fun! Sorry to say that the first piece is a very common cast "replica" - Samurai crossing the river on horseback. There are two versions of this pattern. I would disregard any signature on it as it will be false. Your second one is more promising and would appear genuine if a little worn - not unexpected when you consider its possible age - 200 yrs? This is the other version to yours, the horses head is further under the seppa-dai This one is more like yours from the following thread. This one also has a cast in "tagane-ato" or punch mark at the bottom of the nakago-ana - both versions also can feature this little addition that was meant to "prove" it had been mounted. So two sizes, two versions.

Interesting finds - well interesting prices https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BXQ2P8WZ?tag=picclick0f-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1 A hard cover copy from Amazon Prime for less than the postage for me of my own book! $16. 90 for 408 pages https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D86MSQK5?tag=picclick0f-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1 a soft cover book - likewise cheaper than postage - but they won't ship to Australia! $18.27 for 324 pages I don't care about any "royalties" but someone should grab these two books just to confound the seller who can't actually get the books printed at those prices! Check out the book prices here : https://picclick.com/Popular/tsuba-book This one in Japanese [not one of mine] is also a bargain compared to its normal selling price https://www.ebay.com/itm/405195471617

https://www.messer-spezial.de/tsuba.html Tsuba 76 signed (Nobuhiro), abalone shell motif https://www.ricecracker.com/inventory/834_tanto_ebi/834_tanto_ebi.html "The tsuba is a version of the Kinai motif of an abalone and clam carved out of the plate. Signed “Nobuhiro saku."

Hi Laurent - like Mauro said . . Welcome! I think the first representation shows a tall handled bucket/vase like this one. Used to display flowers in "ikebana" a squat modern version. Ikebana also features on tsuba.