Spartancrest

Moon Bird Tsuba signed by Kofu Ju Akao Yoshitsugu - a passed eBay sale.

Your tsuba - compare to this Daisho from the Detroit Institute of Art, some of the figures are almost identical almost like they are menuki applied to the plate. They don't show the bamboo scroll/curtain but I don't have access to the other side of each guard.

I am not entirely sure what a "Horse-Faced" tsuba is? Maybe AI has some catching up to do? Title: “Tokijima on a Horse-Faced Tsuba in the Month of April” (馬面序政の月に時鳥) Translation of the main text: In April, the cuckoo bird is represented on this horse-faced tsuba (sword guard), appearing as though a cuckoo has been boldly incorporated into the design. The maker was Masatsune, a master craftsman of the Kyōwa era in Edo. Masatsune was originally a horse-gear artisan, but later began making sword fittings and produced many excellent works suited to the tastes of the time. He was especially skilled at carving horses. As shown in this piece, the cuckoo appears vividly alive, as though it might suddenly fly away from the design. This piece is made of iron. Its size is approximately 2 sun 7 bu (about 8 cm / 3.1 inches) in diameter, and the thickness is 1 bu 6 rin.

The the Genno hammer would have been my pick too! You have one very similar to the cover of "The Japanese Sword and its Fittings" from 1966 - https://library.si.edu/digital-library/book/japaneseswordits00coop Another very like this: from this thread: https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/50407-tsuba-schooltheme-identification/ and an entry from here:

Apparently I didn't overspend: https://nihonto.com/unusual-tsuba-by-nobuie-信家鐔　110222/ Of course my new acquisition doesn't have papers and nothing really by way of provenance - but I think I got a bargain! Thank you all for your thoughts and thank you Steve for pointing me in the direction of Echizen Nobuie.

True! There are plenty of hand forged guards that are broken but this particular pattern are ALL cast except the two slightly different designs on the top left. I have one of them myself, mine so far the only one signed [gimei] - a total so far of 20 of the one pattern and they are not utsushi.

Well it only arrived this afternoon - Half an hour? Lucky for me the guy selling it couldn't take the time or put in the minimal effort, it might have cost me considerably more if other bidders had seen it tidied up.

I won this Kawari-gata "Nobuie" guard for ¥ 4,100. To be fair it was pretty dirty and rusty - but a little elbow grease it has come up a treat. Anyone got any idea of which "Nobuie" might have made it?

I don't honestly think it was worth the $250 [was that dollars or euro?] But for a genuine piece you would need to pay far more [unless you can stumble on an auction piece where the seller doesn't know what he is selling] https://nihonto.art/products/tsuba-akasaka-den-tadashige one here selling for $433 USD or €380.00 - still no guarantee till it is examined in hand. A papered example here https://www.touken-matsumoto.jp/en/product/shousai/TSU-2825 but would you like to pay 200,000 yen or $1232.59 USD ? This one attributed as Kyo-sukashi.

Ashamed to admit it but this thing from the 1940s was my first tsuba - the menuki though are real Edo period. Keep your eye out for these cast "Dragon in the Clouds" there are literally thousands of them! I "moved" this thing on years ago as a gift to my nephew! [Bad uncle!]

This image is the real clincher for showing it is cast, these are not layered seams and there are even tiny nodules in the "cut out" areas. Still from the surface it looks the part and may have been re-worked to get the fine line [kebori] details on the myoga and flowers. Welcome to the forum R (?) PS. My first tsuba were much less attractive!

That design has many examples.

Colin you just beat me to it!

Sorry to agree with Mauro, there are areas that true Mino Gotō would not have made this way. Some gold overflows and the ubiquitous tagane-ato found on many Nagoya-mono

A very popular design and apparently done by both Owari and Akasaka schools- and copied. http://www.nihonto.us/OWARI SUKASHI LS050.htm https://nihonto.art/products/tsuba-akasaka-den-tadashige https://www.bonhams.com/auction/18823/lot/5/an-unusually-large-akasaka-tsuba-late-17th-century/ Please compare the tagane-ato [punch marks] on your tsuba compared to this almost identical piece suspected of being cast. Certainly damaged.

Well I congratulate your taste in the Iron tsuba you have chosen ! If that is the DARK WORLD, then I vote for turning out the lights!

Colin, I have seen similar designs in the past that look like the thicker rim has been removed - looking like this altered image of your guard. I will need to search to find a better example.

A cheap and the usual condition [nasty] on eBay now https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/307009738153 The seller usually deals in very ordinary pieces but reasonable starting prices - it is not his fault there are people who want to pay too much!

NO NO NO! Sorry Pown, these are always cast! 99% also have lost the face of the man - it was "glued" on and not truly inlaid. There are two sizes as well [The horses head is positioned slightly differently]. The difference in detail is because the moulds wear out - some were reworked but minimally Very rare "intact" version Don't feel too bad the Victoria & Albert Museum [V&A] also has one in its collection - so I guess you could say you have a "Museum Quality Tsuba" https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O466167/tsuba/ or in reality even the biggest museums have little idea of the authenticity of their pieces. Is it too late to send the thing back and ask for a refund?

Well I think Jason has it correct, the two on the right are indeed fakes - however when you look at the prices some on eBay are charging for one fake, the $400 for two "real" plus two throwaways is not that bad! https://www.ebay.com/itm/287338935344 Also found in the Cornell University Museum https://emuseum.cornell.edu/search/98.103.017 Like many museums it has several cast fakes! You are right to give the auction a miss - or you could ask if the lot can be split, unlikely as how would the owner get rid of the fakes!

You might be looking at the style the wrong way around - French Art Nouveau took its inspiration from contact with the Japanese. French Art Nouveau was profoundly influenced by Japanese art and design. This cross-cultural exchange—often referred to as Japonisme—sparked a revolution in European visual culture following the opening of Japanese trade in the mid-19th century. Art Nouveau artists broke away from rigid European traditions of perfect symmetry, favoring dynamic, off-center framing and diagonals inspired by Japanese masters. So I guess why it looks Art Nouveau is because the Japanese invented it! Perhaps the style should be called "Art Nihon"?

This thread might help !

No help with the meaning or translation, but I find the mirror symmetry very unusual. Perhaps it is just made to give the impression it is "ancient"?