Curran

Yes please. And a kinko example at that??? Send to...

Yeah.... I've always struggled with why people buy the one with the guy looking like a drunk Dionysus.

That is an insult to Salvador Dali. I wasn't the biggest fan of his paintings until I got to study them up close at the Prado in Spain during a General Strike. With the Museum Staff at half, they pretty much just left us alone to get within 6 inches of many of his paintings. The guy was total OCD. Up close, his paintings are masterful almost pointalistic brush strokes. No idea what his inspiration for designs might have been (never read up on his life), but the better works all had an incredible attention to detail. These tsuba: not so much. Kinda feel like what we would call "coconut doll artwork"

Very nice. The 4 crest waves have more of an Etruscan or ancient Greco-Roman feel to it. Think Pompeian mosaic https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pompeii_excavations,_Napoli,_Italy_07_-_waves_motive_mozaic_on_the_floor.JPG

It was very thin across the plate, yet felt like tank armor. The mimi was a high dote mimi, all one piece. Most of the sword cut (faux) or test cut, was into the mimi and left very little mark on the main body. I believe it was signed Unshu-Ju-Yoshihisa or similar, which doesn't quite match up in Haynes. I think last year I stumbled on something in researching Saotome, Haruta, and Myochin tsuba felt like a much better fit. Never completed my notes on it, and I sometimes wish I had the confidence in my earlier years to keep something that didn't quite line up peg for peg as my western books taught then.

I remember this stunner very well. Incredible inlay. The spindle I owned long ago was ex-Jim Gilbert, passed to Mr. Orr (I question my memory), and on to Bob Haynes. Lovely piece with one of those faux sword strikes across the tsuba in an impossible location. Sort of like those bullet tested "battle aged" armors.

A marred Tanaka is a marred Tanaka. Not of interest to me, so I understand the -hard pass- However, it is a good example of a Tanaka missing something that is normally a major kantei point for Tanaka school? Why stripped out??? We won't know, but the skeletal remains of the seppa dai shape and cut are educational. I'd learn from the photo and run.

Two decades now of "Dancing Skunks". Milt Ong would make fun of these. Now that Milt has passed, I cannot look at these without mixed feelings that they are still on the market after his passing. Convincing things that has probably scared a few collectors out of the hobby. They don't look that horrible in photos, but they are a real landmine for newer collectors. AVOID.

A bit of a mix. "Edo Higo" type tsuba. Ie. Edo version of what they consider Higo design. Menuki: crab + [I forget the name of this plant]. It is an early Goto design, but this feels like a knockoff. 1700s, or 1800s? I don't know. They look decent, but not early Goto grade. F/K: More of the same. An earlier design of a more ko-kinko theme, but the execution is not at the same level. In many ways, this is what I would consider a decent Revival piece of older styles.

me too

@Rayhan Wow... Heck of a resource. That is truly incredible. Thank you 1000x

Is it 10% on the amount OVER $800, (say, a $1000 item which is $200 over will have a $20 tariff) or a flat 10% triggered at the $800 level? (say a $1000 item would have a flat tariff of $100) There is an item in Japan that I thought to recommend to a friend, but I think he'd be find with a $20 tariff on it vs $100 tariff.

I like that one. Normally, I'd consider buying it. For those of us in the USA, I think this is blunted by whatever the tariff would be. Among Issei Naruki examples, I would have recommended that one to foreign buyers. _____________________________________ -----aaannnnd. I see I am late. Looks like it sold?

According to Haynes Index, the first generation was 1550s'ish and didn't sign. That aside, I would have guessed 1625-1665 by various points. Perhaps later given how wide the hitsu-ana are from the nakago ana. Still, i like the signature being to the left in a column format similar to the way we see armor maker signature on helmets. Anyway: all good fun. This thread started about Kanayama tsuba. Apologies for the minor hijack. It would be nice if more historical record of Kanayama and Ono tsuba surfaced, but I won't hold my breath. That said, some of the other "Owari" schools have had breakthroughs in understanding the last 50 years as families and other sources have shared historical records and family records to the NBTHK.

Saotome Iesada. I'd like to think the 2nd gen fellow circa 1600-1650 who supposedly also made armor. We'll see once I have it hand. A screen grab should be attached. Given the design, I thought it might be a nice compare-contrast with the Yamakichibei.

Yep. Helps when they are signed. Sometimes the signature is faint, like on this Yamakichibei below. I was excited to finally land a signed Saotome the other week. It is probably the last thing I will buy out of Japan for a while, until the tariff and related shipping issues get minimized. Will post an image of the signed Saotome when I get it.

"Wovon". Loving the archaic German.

No takers? I'm a fan of ducks, but I prefer them Peking style. I'll leave the tsuba up for May 2025. I thought this one was a good affordable grab for somebody, but I know this tariff stuff is causing a lot of confusion.

I have to remind myself of this. Sometimes I laugh at us all with our classification systems. I have this mega meatball of a tsuba with 17 tekkotsu (pic should be attached). Some really massive tekkotsu along the mimi, and some shaved ones on the face. While siting with some friends in Chicago, I put it on their table without a price. A dealer came up and asked a price. He thought it was Kanayama. When I said the NBTHK would give it to Ono, he went from very interested to not very interested. pffffhh. Same tsuba, but what is in a name or attribution. Even I find myself guilty of this. I was interested in something I thought of as Ko-Kat, and I admit I was disappointed to see the papers were to Ko-Shoami.

That was a 3rd or early 4th gen Akasaka. Great tsuba where I thought the NBTHK papers were daft. -Irony is the current value of some Akasaka has fallen while Ono are getting more respect. Maybe its papers were ahead of its time. Like attending Stanford U. back in the day?

Small yet thick. 6.5cm round and 5.2mm thick. That is more of a Satsuma type portions, but it is a bit more elegant of flair to the waves and ducks. Thus, I think more likely Umetada. Nakago ana is large, made for a thick blade. My gut feeling is that it was probably mounted on a large and long Kanbun Shinto era blade.

Mid Edo period. Iron with gold highlights to the eyes. Copper sekigane. Clean, well carved, good condition tsuba. Outside of two main interests, but it has been pleasant to own and display for a while.

More pics.

$299 + shipping. No tariff and shipping issues. [Excluding Hong Kong and China] The theme of ducks is rare and usually one referring to a happy marriage or long compatible life. In Korea, wooden ducks are often a wedding gift and often found their place near the hearth of the house. This is a nice blue black iron. Emphasis on blue. The ducks and waves are very well carved, and gold eyes added to the nesting duck. Possibly to establish female from male? I bought a signed Saotome (Iesada) tsuba recently, so I want to let one or two small things go to balance the scales. Here is a nice tsuba that I can easily vouch is a good authentic work with some meaning behind the design. Ask questions and PM if interested. Curran