Steves87

Good job! I think it is very important to know what goes into making Tsuba, even the most basic of designs. When I hear people dismissing guards (mostly on the facebook), I wonder if they themselves have ever attempted to manufacture one. The time and effort required is not insignificant, and to dismiss a Tsuba that not only contains someone's skill (regardless of level), but has also lasted the element of time, is disrespectful. Attempting to make Tsuba is also highly educational within the area of recognising fake/cast Tsuba while purchasing. In experimenting with as many techniques as possible, you become aware of what hand made details should look like, and what is/isn't inlayed, but just gilded. A few of my attempts below, not exactly top quality, but all cutting, filing, carving and inlay done by hand.

Well, I generally wouldn't go against the opinion of Grey, who has probably handled thousands of guards over the years, and I also would have said cast based on those pictures, however, I believe there is a very good chance that this is not cast, and just heavily de-conditioned. There are some anomalies within the sukashi, but it isn't consistent with all of them and doesn't appear within the hitsu ana, or nakago ana (which doesn't appear to be modified through mounting). I believe this inner sukashi condition is in line with the general deconditioned state of the Tsuba and it would be odd to clean up some, but not all, at the time of manufacture. The seppa dai area does look a little off in shape, but it isn't the first time a less than perfect, off centre, or odd shaped nakago ana has popped up on a legitimate Tsuba. The odd darkish arch at the top of the seppa dai is likely a shadow from a smaller mis-shaped seppa, and I would guess that this guard has been "cleaned up" at some point, from a much worse state. I have an example of similar design and style which I am about 98% certain is not cast, and this is the main reason for my doubts on the above Tsuba (based on those photos). My example is pretty similar in execution, it does have ten zogan, but otherwise you can see that the two are based on a typical theme, with the fish and waves being similarly shaped and placed, but different enough not to be cast. My stance on the cast debate in other threads is complicated to say the least, and I wont state it, but I do believe the "cast" label is thrown about as incorrectly as the Shoami label is. There are no doubts that cast items have manufacturing faults, but SOME of these can be replicated through general de-condioning (flat surface anomalies, for example).

They do look a little withered. I realise it is not the case, but I like to think it is a message that the wearer and their sword will bring an end to the renewal and optimism that Sakura brings, to one's adversary.

That was great, thank you very much for posting the video. I got quite a lot of new information out of it. I was especially interested to hear about the carved bone souvenirs.

Oh, I remember this thread! I finally have a guard to contribute towards it

we need a "deal of the decade" section, just so this can be on top!

I was going to bid on that one (original post), seeing your bid already there put me off! Congratulations on getting it, it is a real winner. I'm not in the market right now, but I thought the forum might be interested in this guard below. The pictures are a little sub par, but it otherwise looks ok (just one dubious spoke). Hopefully a forum member can put it to a good home https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/235026837329?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-154756-20017-0&ssspo=pNiwG9EHS5i&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=OjC70kueRUa&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Nice example there, I have not seen that artwork before, thank you for sharing!

Wow, thanks Piers, I've been looking in the wrong areas by the looks of it. Thank you for the amour example, it also looks like netsuki are good items to showcase the 'oddity'

Thanks Piers, I did not know that, and any search I did (especially for Ukiyo-e prints) never gave any other examples. Would you happen to have an example of the armour with the ruffs?

Ah! Excellent, thanks Dale! That actually makes sense, and the neck ruff? Well maybe that just goes along with the theme??.... who expects a Japanese person to be wearing an Elizabethan piece of clothing? Expect the unexpected!

Hello! I am quite intrigued by this Soten tsuba, there is a character on the left which appears to be wearing a ruff collar. As per true Soten style, the reverse side of the guard depicts the back-end of the front scene, and the ruff collar is still seen. I have just assumed this may be some odd Dutch influence, but does anyone know if the adoption of a ruff was common in edo Japan? I don't know what the story is, although I thought that maybe the character on the right is Daikoku with a bag (which seems to be connected to the horseback Samurai?) I'd like to hear others opinions on this if possible?

Link works, thanks for that! I wish I could read it, and underatand it! All I could gather was they are all made out of iron, with just traces of other elements? Except the Tanaka which had a high copper value? Am I reading those results correctly?

They do pop up quite a lot on ebay, mostly heavily corroded examples. But like Dale has shown, there are a lot of broken ones, too. Jean's idea about a museum is a good one, however, I would suspect most modern museum's won't take a lot of donor acquisitions these days due to space and policy reasons (like 90%). If they did take these examples, then 'weeding' or de-selecton policies would make it difficult to let them go. Donor material is especially hard as they can have certain conditions put on them at the point of acquisition... like having to be returned to the donor. If you are in Japan, are there not such examples at their antiquities markets? The last time I was in Japan, I found it hard to buy decent quality at the markets (maybe just the markets I stumbled across?) As for your yes or no question? My opinion is yes, but be cautious with which ones, maybe consult with at least two to three other collectors for agreeable suitable sacrificial candidates. And! ensure you share the knowledgeable results with the community.

Married Daisho? the red guy on your shoulder agrees.... you should probably go for it!

Here is another https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/304576006157?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-154756-20017-0&ssspo=FefyZKiYR4C&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=OjC70kueRUa&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Thanks Luca, you have no doubt seen this Web page https://varshavskycollection.com/shingen-tsuba/ but it appears some of the examples are similar to your style of Shingen. It is hard to tell, but some appear to have the lacquer on them?

Excellent, thank you for sharing. I have seen examples before with what looks like lacquer between the wires. I used to assume this was for holding the wires still, or for preventing rust from forming internally. This example you have does not appear to have this, some do, some don't. Do you think oxidisation of the iron core is possible for this construction, without the lacquer present? Was this by any chance the Shingen Tsuba from the G. Murtha collection?

For sure! I haven't tried any of the chatgtp (or whatever it's called) but I was thinking last night it might be fun to see how that program goes in finding theme meanings by description

Nice one! That appears to be a semi common theme. I don't know what story it tells, but the similar Tsuba with the same theme always appear to have two buildings with a water body to the left, and a prominent tree behind. Some have bamboo or palms also. Here is another example

I think your photos are just fine for sale, although a little dark on the first one. But I totally get your point, and I totally understand your issues with photography. I myself, am not that competent when it comes to photography, but I have found three things which improve my photos when trying to convey the correct colours, and minimise shadows. The first two are a little bit contrary to Vitaly's experience, and they are using a beige to brown background (not white or black, I just cannot get it to work) and not using natural (diffused sun) light. I found that warm/yellow light (diffused) seems to work best so far. The only way to get rid of shadows behind the Tsuba from what I can tell, is to have a semi lit background at least 1 to 2 inches away. This means you need to use either a stand or a suspended clear glass/perspex plate (if laying flat). For sun vs lights comparison, the picture below is supposed to show you a Tsuba with what I would assume is a very similar colour to your example. The two pictures at the top are pretty much the exact colour of the guard 'in hand' (according to my computer and mobile screen settings). These top pictures were done with diffused warm light on a suspended perspex plate (no shadows) with a dark beige card below. The lower two pictures were done using diffused sunlight and sitting directly onto a pressed-card plate (shadows). The lower pictures do not show the real colours, however, they do show interesting extra colour details which are seemingly not visible to the naked eye. This is where I'm at with the photography of Tsuba, plenty more to learn, I know.

great advice Chris, I would also suggest reading this Haynes Article (shibuiswords.com) (masterpieces). This has been the single most influential piece of writing for me personally, especially the last four paragraphs (para. 7 to 10)

Great post there Bazza. Amber, you seem to be getting a good grasp on terminology from what we have read so far, and I would say books and online reading is excellent for picking up the terminology. As I have in the past, you may struggle with verbalizing the words when talking to certain people (Japanese speaking mostly). The number of times I have spoken certain Japanese words to my Kenjutsu or Iaido Sensei, with the response of a baffled look, is countless. The prime example when first starting out is the pronunciation of "Tsuka".

That is a good idea, just post the pictures though, not the link. Most people here would be pretty honest with not poaching a guard, but best to be sure. Is there a particular style you like? For example sukashi (open work) or inlays (like you have already), different shapes, motifs, or themes?

Well, hopefully that will be my full time job in just over a year (digitisation in the GLAM sector). I just bought this micro scope off ebay: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/364057771123?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-154756-20017-0&ssspo=h0hs0e3etbu&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=OjC70kueRUa&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY super cheap and connects via wireless methods will be interesting to see if it works, how can it be that cheap!? Edit: With the inspiration of the previously posted article link and the "photographing Nihonto" article in the downloads section, I made a light box to try and get rid of the shadows when photographing Tsuba. It took about an hour and I think the results are acceptable, so I might have to now go through and photo the whole collection. The subject sits on top of a perspex sheet which is suspended about an inch from the base of the box. The lights are movable and it makes it so much easier to adjust the light levels.