Curran

These Northern mid muromachi tachi tsuba are very rare. I've only seen about 7 to 9 in my 25 years 28 years of collecting. I've only owned 1. The other 2 or 3 belonged to you. Anything else has been in Japan. As I stated once before, I always find these sell back to Japan. They are valued for their mix of Ainu and Yamato people aesthetic in a time when northern Japan was a bit more "Wild West" (American parlance) I've had this NBTHK paper for a while and thought it might be the same as yours. Close, but not the same. If someone buys your tsuba, I will send them the papers for the price of shipping the papers. Fraternal twin examples.

Apologies Piers, but the ko-kinko sheriff's badge has been purchased Pre-DTI sale: I'll be posting 6 iron ones in a few days, clearing the decks for consolidation into one of those very expensive iron ones. [Or a Someya Tomonobu if I can find one that hasn't been jacked with...]

Ah yes, I remember selling that one circa late 2014 or early 2015.

PM sent.

Hi again Alex: I'll take it. I will PM you in a bit. Curran

It was the photos from the auction. I totally understand Hamish's thoughts. The copies of iron tsuba have been getting better, warranting more caution. I saw it too and thought it a bargain when I looked at it. Price made me look cautiously to see if it was a modern. I didn't think it was, but I'm more of a tourist at this moment as I save up funds for around the time of the DTI this year. I thought of posting it on NMB that it might be a good value one, but stopped myself knowing good deeds like to get punished. Glad that someone from NMB picked it up and is pleased with it.

Wow... that is awesome. Such a rare attribution. There are a lot of common or low end Edo period kagamishi, but ones from Momoyama or earlier sometimes transcend. They look and feel different in person- often catching people off guard with their density. One of my favorite tsuba in the world is a Ko-kagamishi . It is a Nambokuchu - early Muromachi one that just makes me stop n stare. Unfortunately, I doubt it will ever be for sale. It is almost certainly published in a book or two, but I do not recall which one(s). I have one very nice Momoyama example. One of our Australian members is more of a specialist in this area. Hopefully he will see this and chime in during the next few days.

And here is a Juyo Naginata by Nobukuni. It was at auction in May of 2021 and didn't sell. I should have bought it then, but we were selling a house and moving. Cash flow issues at the time. My opinion was "nidai", but I didn't really have time to study it. Most of the books, etc were already boxed up. If I saved a copy of the Juyo papers, I have yet to find them.

Interesting. I am just adding some pics that might help. Nobukuni was my first love in Nihonto. I bought a freshly Japan polished O-tanto from a USA based dealer. And so I entered the world of Nihonto. When I submitted it for Tokubetsu Hozon, the mumei blade came back Genzaemon Nobukuni, and I would learn from the Philadelphia Club publication on Nobukuni that there were two Oei Nobukuni known as the 3rd gen.

@JPB Jake gave a better answer than me.

Yes. Thank you. Most of the time Kamiyoshi. I always forget which punch pattern is which guy. That is the value of Ito-san's books.

You have a very good point, where I see one end and you see the other. I look at the kashira and very much understand your point of view. I am very open to being wrong. I was starting to sell a Higo f/k to a friend and pricing it as a circa 1750-1825 Nishigaki work. A friend made me look closer at the fuchi and realize that it was a very well done married pair. Fuchi is nidai Hirata, and the kashira is of Nishigaki 1750-1825 era. I got too focused on the easy to kantei specifics of the kashira, and overly ignored the fuchi. With the above Hamano f/k, I think it is safe to say the f/k are original to each other. Still, -got to be cautious in age dating the set based simply on the fuchi or the kashira. In this case, the kashira is probably the more dominant determinant. The recessed tree execution is not that difficult of an homage to (or execution in) the earlier circa Shozui n students style. As you say, the realism of the Nioh definitely presents as later work.

Either you need more texts, or more experience. In time, it will become obvious to you. In general, the shapes can be similar. In specific finish, the details start to stand out. For an analogy, many a modern Audi, BMW, or Mercedes SUV look the same in terms of general shape. The more you break it down into specifics parts of the car, the more you see different design elements or finish. I'd put an asterisk* on this that Kikuoka and Yanagawa can be confusing even at the NBTHK level. I had a pair of gold kirin menuki that the NBTHK gave to Yanagawa. A few years after I sold them, I came across a published and signed identical set that was from one of the Kikuoka. Yanagawa was the conservative call, and I understood it. Only a signed Kikuoka set confirmed that some of the design element drift meant it was actually Kikuoka. BUT... Goto Shishi are goto. Get more Goto books. You will eventually be able to observe what is Goto, what is waki Goto, and what is Kyo kinko in the style of Goto. With enough experience, you will understand very well.

Without even opening the book, I would say solidly Akasaka or Echizen Nobuie. I forget which one it was that liked the odder shapes and the karakusa squiggle vines. My first guess would have been Akasaka Nobuie, but I see Steve said Echizen. It feels right for one of those two.

I was thinking a generation or two after Shozui. That would be around 1800? The main reason I don't go later is that the recessed carving of the tree trunk reminds me of Shozui and Shozui student's way of doing things. Like the proverbial grape-vine, a technique is handed down but changes a little bit in the +1 gen. It changes more at +2 gen, but is still recognizable as having come from following Shozui's work or teaching. ---> My brain says "within 50 years of Shozui". That might be early, but it is what I see.

Pounding the mochi. Also a euphemism for sex. If the [Rabbit in the Moon design] is pounding the mochi = Making babies. I have no idea what the meaning would be for generally presenting that on a tsuba. Maybe a pimp's business card?

It is a roll of the dice. Nihonto Koza list this as a separate group having something to do with Kashu (Kaga)? One shinsa might say Higo and another shinsa might say Akasaka. Flip a coin.

Thank you Mario for getting to it first. I would not say Hayashi, I would lean heavily towards it being Shoami, though a nicer one. Hakogaki is to Hayashi, but it doesn't like the hakogaki and the tsuba belong to each other.

The previously discussed sort of Yagyu mimi:

Thanks Piers. Further proof that I still have a lot to learn.

Looks legit, and decent. I would say it is more the photography, -that is just my opinion, but I've been looking at crappy photos for a very long time. Chrysanthemums (or Sakura) on Water. Very old and appreciated Life n Death allegory.

Lots of good answers from various members in this thread. I'll be curious to see how this one works out.

I've been traveling a bit away from home and am checking in on this thread late. On this laptop, I thought tsuba #1 looked rather realistic and wasn't sure. The others, as @Manuel Coden has the right of it that there has been a steady stream of these for years and they have been getting better. Also, @lonely panet cited a good work and the truth that the early ones often (not always) have a nice filo dough layering in the mimi. Then in the 2nd period some do and some don't. If it is a unique seeming design that strongly represents the philosophy of the school and the iron is correct, you don't always expect the mimi to have those layers. It happens for a variety of reasons. The kodai ones are often of famous designs and yet lack the full feel of the earlier ones, or their tell tale elements. Yet the late Edo Norisuke ones are something entirely else. They are like 1st period ones on steroids, but usually under 5mm of thickness. The Norisuke ones aren't trying to be deceiving, as much as retro-revivial. They really are their own thing, and I've long hoped to find one of the signed Yagyu waveform ones. Either they aren't for sale, or the condition is poor. The good ones are almost as rare as the originals. I've previously posted a good image of the filo dough mimi from my best 1st period one. I'd bought it unpapered from a private collection, so YES sometimes real ones do pop up unpapered. Though I didn't think it needed NBTHK papers, I eventually submitted it for Hozon. Whether agent error or some confusion in our communication, it ended up going TH. I didn't want the extra expense, but -hey- I'll live. Still, good earlier period Yagyu and of either provenance or published such that they don't need papers. The first tsuba is curious. The rest are heavily -Nah... avoid-- Everyone be nice. Yagyu can be a confusing school to know what you are dealing with. I think it took 15 years before I really got into them.

That is pretty much what I was saying. It is a nice tsuba. Very nice. If it were not so spuriously signed, I would place a bid. I'm after something much bigger and should behave, but kawaii little shakudo works like this are tempting.

Largely what Tim said. This is a very core list of the good books for the hard core collector. I was looking at a fitting recently trying to kantei it to a specific maker, though it is mumei. There is one 99.95% authoritative book in this area, and it took me about 15 years to buy a copy. I may only use the book 1 or 2 times per year, but it is the binary [yes/no] book to have for kantei in that particular area. That is all I will say for now. After about 30 years, I've been able to narrow it down to about 20 books. 10 of those books are"must have or stay ignorant" tomes of knowledge.