Bugyotsuji

Might be nice to have a 'wildlife in Tosogu' thread...(?)

But as we know from having this kind of discussion before, taxonomy was never so big in Japan. For example you will hear "Snakes? Safer to kill them." (Well, ok, that does happen all over the world, I agree.) Close observation and accurate rendition was an art that developed later. Just a couple of months back when I pointed out using a photograph how, depending on the sub species, some white egrets can have yellow beaks and black legs, other white egrets black beaks and yellow legs, some metalwork artisans were fascinated to see the difference. Whether rats or mice, they are nezumi, agents of Hotei and symbols of wealth in your storehouse. Many Tosogu are hard to pin down!

Edit, answer... now erased. (The forum requires a real first name and an initial of your family name.)

Budded cross, Ojimé and tsuba.

Also in the west called a Celtic cross.

Interesting! I once owned a genuine tsuba, based on a variant ‘Maru ni Nuke Jūji’ Satsuma Shimazu Mon. 丸に抜け十字 https://www.google.com/search?q=丸に抜け十字薩摩家紋&client=safari&sca_esv=2f5b823099db8bc2&sca_upv=1&hl=en-gb&udm=2&biw=390&bih=663&ei=_ljUZp39K7yK7NYPkqGF2AY&oq=丸に抜け十字薩摩家紋&gs_lp=EhNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwIh7kuLjjgavmipzjgZHljYHlrZfolqnmkanlrrbntItI_lJQ8BJY7ENwA3gAkAECmAFUoAHjBaoBAjEyuAEDyAEA-AEBmAIBoAJLwgIEEB4YCpgDAIgGAZIHATGgB4wH&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp#vhid=88ubFn_B_WDrfM&vssid=mosaic

丸に離れ二つ星 (Maru ni hanare futatsu-boshi) in Uwe's photo means 'Two separated stars within a circle'. Never seen that before, but I reckon that must be it! No.46 here: 月星（１） (biglobe.ne.jp) And various... 丸に離れ二つ星 - 検索 画像 (bing.com)

Yes, I enjoyed all the links, thank you. On the original tsuba above, posted by Dale, there is a 'zakuro' pomegranate bottom left. I was wondering why?

But what is the link with Tawara Tōta, or mukadé centipede, or Lotus Sutra, and that pomegranate?

If those kanji are correct, and I am not 100% sure, then the reading is most commonly either Yoshikiyo or Yusei. There was a famous Edo-Meiji period scholar for example, named 横山由清 Yokoyama Yoshikiyo, 1826-1879.

The word ne or nezumi covers both of the English words rat and mouse. Generally the rodents found in Japanese houses were divided into three, Dobu-nezumi, Kuma-nezumi and Hatsuka-nezumi. See illustrations: https://www.google.com/search?q=ネズミの種類日本&client=safari&sca_esv=0112f005af7dfb38&sca_upv=1&hl=en-gb&biw=390&bih=663&ei=Z57TZoa8Of6Rxc8PlM7foAU&oq=ネズミの種類日本&gs_lp=EhNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwIhjjg43jgrrjg5_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_GiAQ&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp#vhid=8ZbxWpjkmVsAcM&vssid=l

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

由清 Yoshikiyo perhaps?　（Yusei alternate reading)

If you have never seen a Japanese or Asian centipede, there is an experience waiting for you. Better to have one as a servant than as an enemy.

Takeda Shingen's troops used the centipede mark as a symbol of his faith in Bishamonten.

Yes, 菱 Hishi is water caltrops, also sometimes water chestnut, the origin of the word, the shape traditionally described as lozenge or diamond-shape. The matsukawabishi kamon shape of pine bark come from this word, i.e. matsukawa + hishi. I do agree that it seems to have melded or blended back towards incorporating elements of the original pointed/spiked caltrop shape.

Valid question, Damon. I had heard one story which fascinated me, so looking for backup confirmation I was reading a long explanation in Japanese today but it didn't mention the original one that I'd heard. So between them all, I suddenly remembered other more pressing things I had to do around the house!!! Working backwards, there is a type of diamond-shaped mochi in three colours (pink, white and green) which is part of a traditional March Girls' Day display, probably harking back to when preserved foods would tide people through the winter months. But why was it diamond-shaped? The story I heard was that in times of famine, when there was nothing to eat, people would pull diamond-shaped chunks of Kawa 皮 bark off Matsu 松 pine trees and boil them up as a sort of last-gasp soup. The pine trees now stripped of their bark would have these Hishi/bishi 菱 diamond patterns on their trunks, Matsu + kawa +hishi/bishi. Now here comes the bushi warrior angle. During the seige of a castle the defenders might eventually resort to this, (like Charlie Chaplin eating his boots) and to the dried warabi and zenmai ferns besides which were purposely placed into the mud/daub walls for just such occasions. Castles, warriors, seiges, hardship, all of this is evoked by the Matsukawa-bishi, Pine bark diamond shape. In my mind when I see the kamon my immediate association is the famous Ogasawara Daimyo family of Kokura, Hiroshima, and presumably the Ogasawara Islands.

There are many stories as to its meaning, why this mon was chosen, and why loved by so many families in so many arrangements.

Personally speaking I like the dealer's original supposition, that it could be a Christian theme. The cross would certainly look that way from a distance. If you got pulled by the authorities, though, you could accuse them of being blind, can they not see the clear Buddhist motifs along the rim and throughout? To me this is another example of built-in deniability factor. Because it treads a fine line, however, we will forever argue as to the absolute validity one way or the other. Remember we can find many Mary or Christ statues which can be reversed to become a Kannon statue, for example.

Not my area but, until others arrive… 黒茶盆　盥? Kuro chabon (?) chadarai?

Dale, I have seen examples of these in Japan. Including I seem to recall in an exhibition at the Kyoto National Museum. See　(Kei)　There seem to be two possible kanji for it, but my PC doesn't contain them...銅馨? 仏教楽器馨 - 検索 画像 (bing.com) https://aucview.aucf...om/yahoo/g198708498/ Also,

It could be based on the Chinese novel Journey to the West, where the horse is one of the set characters. (Saiyuki, the origins of Monkey Magic.) The priest on the horse has ambivalent sexuality, sometimes portrayed as female. White Dragon Horse - Wikipedia

She could stamp all over you, Bruce.

Hmmm........... this is a tough one. I'd like to agree on fundo, scale weights, but the two circles are complete and do not open out at the edges, which would be an essential feature. For this reason I temporarily reserve judgement. 丸に二曜紋 (Maru ni futa-yomon) is probably what it should be called if it existed, 'two celestial bodies in a circle', but the Yomon seem to start at three and go up to 9, i.e. (Kuyomon) 九曜文 and beyond.　(Never as low as two?) 丸に二つ星紋 might also work, if you call these bodies 'hoshi' or 'stars'. 家紋二つ星紋 - 検索 画像 (bing.com) My guess is that it's a later kamon made up following the end of the feudal era.

Colin, it’s two tsuba, a Daisho set.