Spartancrest

https://www.slam.org/collection/objects/8677/ - can someone close to Saint Louis lend the Museum a tape measure please. Just doing some basic image comparison the height [if indeed it is 44 mm] when compared to the width shows a difference of about the rim thickness - at a guess 3 mm? I don't see the guard being 44 mm in height to start with, it is much larger than for a tanto wouldn't you say? I don't think we can trust many of the sizes given by this museum. I look forward to seeing what the museum has to say - Dimensions 1 3/4 x 1 1/8 x 1/8 in. (4.4 x 2.9 x 0.3 cm)

These look like a modern design from sword part suppliers https://www.ebay.com/itm/256749986998 from China A little more exotic also from China. With a lot of Chinese reproductions they are often based on older genuine published designs - I haven't found the original piece yet though.

Bruno, yes some nice pieces, I discovered these when I was doing research on the Tadamasa Hayashi collection. Hayashi donated several of his pieces to the Guimet Museum back in 1894 - I am not sure what happened to the bulk of his collection, did it go to the Louvre or were they auctioned off?

Another from the same museum https://www.slam.org/collection/objects/37670/ - add this to approx. 20% of tsuba images in that museum showing the ura side only- Yes I have let them know, but will I get a reply?

Yes back again with more complaints - I just sent a message off to the Saint Louis Art Museum - I am sure it is just a typo, but can you see the problem of the dimensions given to this? https://www.slam.org/collection/objects/37636/ The Museum is also not very good at converting oz to grams.

It all looks off - that hitsu shape with the ategane is just odd - [where are my glasses? - - ] Oh that's right I don't wear any [Maybe it is time?]

https://www.jauce.com/auction/1180342028 What has happened here? It is not possible for the damage to have been caused in battle - not unless the attackers sword had cut through the sword blade itself. The tsuba must have been struck when unmounted - crazy destruction!

Piggybacking this thread with two new books just listed - both are Museum catalogues/catalogs and not scholarly works. Small collections with little information - picture books at best! https://au.blurb.com/b/12376932-tsuba-in-the-national-museum-of-norway Hard and softcover versions https://au.blurb.com/b/12376937-the-national-museum-in-warsaw-tsuba-collection Hard and softcover versions

https://paypayfleamarket.yahoo.co.jp/item/t1130313086 Not cast for $33 US. Good call on the cast Jean The hitsu should have had a file run through to clean up the overrun!

That is great idea and will no doubt be of immense merit to future collectors. As to the taxonomy I was going to try building a reference of known cast or "replica" pieces - the trouble seems to be that examples keep turning up making a comprehensive record next to impossible. For instance I started a record of Utsushi pieces that now makes up a book of 274 pages - and that is based on only about twelve basic designs! I am not talking about 274 examples but at least five times that number of individual pieces. Try the math 12 designs = at least 1,370 copies, times the number of known "common" designs and your guess is as good as mine. I still keep the book "open" adding utsushi when I find them. But it will never truly end. [a friend S.King did warn me!]

We are somewhat stuck with the definition of "Antique" = An object, often a collectible, that is at least 100 years old, prized for its age, beauty, rarity, craftsmanship, or historical significance. So we are stuck with anything over a hundred years old, but we have the choice to define what is beauty, rarity, craftsmanship or historical significance? I won't say most fakes are rare, have beauty or show any particular craftsmanship - but they may well have historical significance simply because they show a time when anything Japanese was all the rage - modern fakes are not antiques, but they may become that in another hundred years if we don't have the sense to 1. Stop the manufacture of landfill & 2. Make better use of energy and metals! Just an opinion.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/405493486504 One listed here for US $1,135.25 [The site may be legitimate] Same exact guard, same images used but - DO NOT BUY FROM THIS SITE https://shopforsale.ru/product/326326781344 Suspected scam. In fact do not buy any of these! https://www.bonhams.com/auction/18307/lot/6093/a-nagatsune-tsuba-by-minamoto-nagatsune-edo-period-19th-century/ https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/r1000252521?lang=en

Onin - Oh, the humanity! An interesting one from the Ashmolean museum image files - notice the "niku" around the nakago-ana and hitsu - was it made specifically for a boken or shinai? https://images.ashmolean.org/search/?searchQuery=EAX.5622

https://collectorsfirearms.com/112320-iron-tsuba-mgj750.html/ Brand new box - no cushions [slack quality] Is the auction house selling "half" daisho? Or do you need to bid [and pay extra fees] on the other half of the set? https://collectorsfirearms.com/20694-dai-sho-tsuba-mgj1408.html/ Daisho? Where is the other one? https://collectorsfirearms.com/20702-dai-sho-tsuba-mgj1405.html/ - Same question. Where is the other one?

Viktor - very very interesting, I have been following these "reproductions", "fakes" or "souvenirs" for more than ten years now and you have surprised me with a "new" one. [Same tagane-ato over and over again - it is the obvious area to check and it is a wonder it hasn't been altered in a better attempt to avoid scrutiny] The signature has been REPLACED on this fellow. It stands out very obvious against the polished back area of the seppa-dai which no longer has the same texture to the rest of the surface. Unfortunately the person smoothed off the end of the sekigane, back to the base metal under the paint layer - A good try but they --

Okan , I can't find the "crying from envy" emoji I like it but I can't afford it! https://www.jauce.com/auction/r1141876125

Hi Jiri and welcome. https://www.samuraimuseum.jp/shop/product/tsuba-watch-0036/ I don't think it is Christian - certainly not "Hidden Christian" that is for sure. Nice silver fukurin which dresses up an earlier guard - I don't think Tempo/tembo had any other forms of decoration when they were first made - but fashions change I suggest this from the download section. It is very informative.

I will put my hand up and say I bought one years ago but I only paid $12 which is still more than they are worth - but a cheap enough paperweight price! Don't feel sorry for me - - I have had hours of fun bitching about the bloody things and trying to shy people away from them! One behind glass on Jauce https://www.jauce.com/auction/c1096574189 https://www.jauce.com/auction/e451593597 This could go over on the "Share the most cringeworthy tsuba you have seen" thread https://www.nipponto.co.jp/swords10/KY337224.htm Not just the tsuba but the file and scruff marks on the blade they are selling!!

The design is reasonably common, The practice of bean-throwing during Setsubun originated from a legend in the 10th century, during the reign of Emperor Uda, that a monk on Mt. Kurama escaped misfortune by blinding oni with roasted beans. The Japanese word for bean, 豆, is pronounced mame, which can be written as 'devil's eye' (魔目), and some believe that the pronunciation is similar to that of mametsu (魔滅), meaning 'to destroy the devil', which is why people began throwing beans during Setsubun. I am a little worried about the tagane-ato marks in the nakago-ana - - have they shifted any metal or are they just for show? https://www.slam.org/search/423%3A1949/ Perhaps Steven King can show some more similar designs, he has an example himself. Going on some other stock from the same seller - https://www.trocadero.com/stores/ConservatoireSakura/items/1465170/Iron-tsuba-Soten-style-gold-inlay I know this one is mass produced and not worth anywhere near the money they are asking!

But please don't fall for this "Hamano" mass production! https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/286451162808 or https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/286451162659 or https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/365486205999 or https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/387824172249 well I guess you get the idea! I don't even trust this one with papers - https://www.seiyudo.com/tu-050320.htm I have seen half a dozen with iroe that look just as good at first glance. https://www.bonhams.com/auction/18980/lot/15/a-bakumatsu-shakudo-tsuba-late-19thearly-20th-century/

https://art.thewalters.org/object/51.111/ The Walters like many Museum collections have rather dark images - maybe the lighting bills are high? The Walters has seven examples of Ichinomiya Nagatsune's work https://art.thewalters.org/browse/creator/ichinomiya-nagatsune/

One test will determine if it is cast or forged - have you got a concrete floor extreme test . . that there is no coming back from!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/156674455343

Definitely Northern Territory Aboriginal tsuba motif of the "Wandjina" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wandjina

There are a few more Tanuki in the Chōsen Gafu book - One looks like a Kashira design you will have to look out for? https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/24642 I also did a cleaned up copy of the book 154 pages of tosogu designs. https://www.amazon.com.au/Album-Designs-Metal-Carving-Chōsen/dp/1034179020 - Amazon and others want way too much, I can get soft cover copies for around $40