Michael 101

Thanks Paul, I will follow your suggested lead up. Earlier than Jingo but your on the right track as Toyama were very early Higo workers thought to have worked for Kato Kiyomasa the Daimyo of Higo province before the Hosokawa. Their work tends to be very austere in accordance with Kiyomasa’s tastes. many thanks Michael

Thanks Florian, I was thinking that might be the case but not having a price ( as far as I can tell ) and marked as page 31 made me hope that it’s a book. Let see if anyone else recognises the format. kindest regards Michael

Dear Members, I recently acquired the attached Higo Toyama school tsuba online - with it came a picture showing the same tsuba illustrated in a Japanese book but unfortunately no reference to the name of book. Does anyone recognise the tsuba in a publication they own who could share more details? id greatly appreciate members help on this as Id like to include the details in my collection notes and record a little extra detail on its history. kindest regards Michael

Hello Darren, sorry to say that this is definitely a modern cast copy. if it was sold to you as original or it was expensive then I would see if you could get a refund. the main giveaway points are its crudeness, signatures carved in soft metal ( eg copper brass etc ) would be much more crisp than your pictured show. worth reading some of the articles you will find here on cast copies so that you can get your eye in. by the way we have all bought these at the start so take it as a lesson ( hopefully not an expensive one ) kindest regards Michael

Hello Steve, thank you for your feedback. I relieved to read Im not the only one that had been struggling and scratching their head over this one. Its nicely written as you say, fingers crossed another member can point us both in the right direction. This is the associated tsuba for others to see. kindest regards Michael

Dear members, does anyone recognise the signature of the author of the attached hakogaki ? I dont wish to trouble anyone over the full translation just looking to find out who wrote it. its not a familiar one to me and Im unable to work out the signature - hoping someone will be able to assist? kindest regards Michael

Please mark as sold and remove listing. contribution will be sent to board on receipt of payment. kindest regards and thanks Michael

i have now added this tsuba to ebay but the price offer to members still stands to those who buy direct rathe than via ebay. I will also now include post of postage on the members direct buy price. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255545695016 kindest regards Michael

Further pictures

Dear members, i offer the attached signed Jingo tsuba for sale. design of the water dragon to the front and simply carved reverse with light silver inlay. the style of the dragon and signature is typical of the last two Jingo generations ( 4th and 5th master ) as is the shape of the nakago ana. size 8.05cm x 7.52cm x 0.42cm x 0.35cm SOLD

Here is an example by the 5th Jingo master.

I just see absolutely stunning examples of the work of the first two Hayashi masters - No 5 I think I would consider doing anything short of murder to obtain. No3 is a rare signed Shigemitsu ( 2nd Hayashi ) which is I am pretty certain Juyo rated ( as is no 5 for certain ) the pictures do no justice to the iron quality but do serve the purpose for design comparison. very interesting post kindest regards Michael

I rather like this one - and for its original owner to bother adding a shakudo insert to one of the hitsuana I think he did too. the carving is slightly naive but I think it gives it more charm than more precise work. From its carving style and the seppa dai shape I would think Hizen. nice find ! Michael

Many thanks Michael