Curran

Yes, probably one of the Mito school or many subschools. Interesting theme. I know of dragonflies on a line being used to hunt other insects, but I don't recall having seen it on fittings before.

a long time ago...

I also suspect that I saw this tsuba before. There is also something about the Issei Naruiki seppa dai that seems consistently his work to me.

For many years, I owned one of his Nobuiye utsushi before trading it to Prof. Arnold Frenzel for a different tsuba. The high sheen yet matted 'almost yakite' patina really stuck with me. For a while, a lot of his tsuba came to market. That has since dried up and price on them going up a bit. I've often debated owning another one. I wasn't that crazy about my former Nobuiye utsushi, but some of his utsushi are very pleasing.

Is this not a modern (20th & 21st Century) tsuba by Issei Naruki? I believe he has passed and his tsuba are now earning NBTHK Hozon. That one tekkotsu throws me a bit. Otherwise, this looks like his workmanship. [edit 10 minutes later: ah, now I understand. Found image source]

Interesting discussion. The topic of Christianity on tsuba in Japan is something I have always left to other collectors in the USA. I never thought about the aspect of the boats before. But why not? The Venetians certainly took their religion along as part of their merchant empire. Why not the Spaniards and Portugeuse?

It is a common enough name. And that isn't a picture of the Danny you are asking about. The last time I googled the name of a friend, the first match was to a sex offender in a nearby state. It totally skipped over my friend, though my friend worked in IT for the government and had his name up all over the place. If the internet can take you to the twisted and muck-raking, it will. I have an extremely uncommon name, but there are at least 4 of us here in the USA. 3 of which ARE NOT me.

Nice tsuba, and nice looking rig. Not all Ohno (or Ono) are great, but Ohno tsuba deserve more respect.

Thank you for the updates on this. Hackman is an example, and checking in on a bachelor uncle was once part of my own life. I am glad you guys could confirm he is okay.

Wife is Hermes level leather expert, so the leather has been well cared for the last 2 years. Koshirae has a full length tsunagi, which I will photograph later. Anything else? PM me.

NMB, Price: $450 + shipping ASK. We'll go from there. Yes, how did this end up with the Tosogu tsuba guy? It was part of a cash+trade a year or two ago. I liked it, but I don't know much about it. With recent major tsuba purchases, I'm letting go of a most anything not Higo or Owari. Ask Questions. As time and dog permit, I will post more photos this weekend. Curran

@Deez77 Yours would be a good example of what Steve's write-up refers to a later "blending in" where the symbol loses its original meaning (like the Confederate Flag). Or (joking here) yours it could be philosophically broadcasting, "Don't blame me, I'm just a samurai cog in the shogunate machine". It definitely resembles a gear or cog. Steve's on the other hand.... looks like much of the symbolism found in the few preserved bits of Japan's Christian history.

Yes. I wondered that too. It looked more Late Edo Toppei Koshirae . Not Tensho. But Aoi makes a lot of mistakes in their high volume turnover.

Rivkin's post = my own thoughts. Even studying tsuba for 25+ years, Soten is one of the schools I know less. I've seen maybe >1000 and would say this is one of the nicer ones. Even with my experience, I'd hesitate to offer an opinion on the signatures. Soethebies does only a minimum amount to vet a signature. They do try a bit... but not a lot. Take their opinion very loosely. As to value- probably take what they sold for in 2006 and discount it a small bit. Soten tsuba have not held nor raised (nor dropped) in value as much as some other schools.

PM sent.