Curran

Hmm. I only own one Kanayama. It is a longtime favorite ex. Jim Gilbert. For me, one of my desired "One n Done". I will need to pull it from the tansu tomorrow and give it a serious look. Were it not my love for Ono tsuba, I probably would own a few more Kanayama. 1 Kanayama vs 3 Ono.

Ah yes. I help moderate one of those groups. When asked to do so, the head mod had warned me we would have see a lot of the "what did I buy?" posts. Most aren't that bad, but there are some... that I know will get the poster flamed out of the group if I approve it to the group.

This was a popular fake back in the day. Lots of these floating around, but they slowly floated away to be banished to many a closet or mistake drawer. It seems someone found one. Maybe someone tarting it up a bit more than the average one. https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/v1178415852 Never the less, AVOID. If you have been hitting the Jim Bean and find it pretty, bring it home to your own mistake drawer.

My personal opinion is that the Kanayama tsuba had a longer period of production. At least 75 years, but not more than 150 years. With the 25-30 year period, are you referencing a specific text or teacher. I admit that I don't know the texts very well when it comes to Kanayama.

I agree with Shonai, though @kyushukairu nailed it a lot harder than I could. I was very tempted to bid on this tsuba. *Had* to resist, but I did cave and buy another Shonai work recently. For me, the differences Shonai vs Higo are most visible in: (a) the copper [I'm avoiding the yamagane vs suaka topic] (b) patina recipe (c) design and carving style I totally get the Shonai vs Higo (mostly 3rd gen and later Nishigaki) on this sort of tsuba. Without checking the books, memory either the 2nd or 3rd gen Nishigaki had some Shonai training or a teacher who was Shonai trained ? I think that came from Markus Sesko's works.

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.