Dan tsuba

I agree wth Geraint, The tsuba appear to be sanmai construction. They seem to look O.K. to me for sanmai. But I am probably wrong, once again!

A little off topic here. But just because a copper type tsuba has a series of tagane-ato punch marks in a specific type of pattern (or close to that pattern) it does not mean it is (what has been called on this thread) a Mr. Suzuki tsuba. I refer you to the below listed thread on one of my first tsuba purchases about 6 years ago. I remember paying about 70 dollars for this tsuba. If it had all its patina and gold coloring on the leaves, it would be worth several thousand dollars. But the craftsmanship of the nanako and the motif remains the same, even if it had been overcleaned when I purchased it. https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/28108-brass-tsuba/#comment-283873

Thanks Colin, A fun exercise and a good learning experience. Maybe some more stuff like this would help those of us who still have much to learn! Posting pictures of tsuba, having members make a choice and then you explaining the correct choice that should be made.

O.K., I will bite! I would have to see more pictures with different views of the tsuba. But I would say the middle tsuba, it appears to have motif on the mimi and the motif appears to be more well executed. Do I win a cookie?

Interesting thread. My rectangular shape hitsu-ana tsuba.

Edward, Welcome to this great forum! Your tanto tsuba looks nice. Putting a date on a tsuba is very difficult, even if there is a mei (signature) on the tusba. Deals can still be had on ebay. Read some tsuba beginner books and look at pictures of tsuba on various sites. Also, refer to some threads here that refer to ebay and tsuba purchasing. The majority of tsuba I have purchased are from ebay. I have about 150 tsuba and have got bitten (purchased a repro or a fake tsuba) maybe 5 times. I don’t spend over $150 on a tsuba, so if I make a mistake I don’t lose a lot of money. Myself and other members on this forum will be more than happy to help you out. Before you purchase another tsuba from ebay, maybe you can ask for assistance from members of this forum. If you don’t want to post a picture or the price that the tsuba is selling for (because other members may try and snipe it from you) you can always PM (Personal Message) me. Just trying to help and assist you.

So, here is a tsuba on ebay described as Edo period (pictures attached). I don’t know if it is Edo period or not, but the point here is this is an obviously cast iron tsuba because of the way it is broken (with part of the mimi missing) that has a mei on it (that looks better done than other mei on some cast iron tsuba) and small (not deep like on a hand forged tsuba) tagane-ato punch marks around the nakago-ana. The wave pattern motif and the tsuba itself, if the tsuba was not broken and obviously made from cast iron, could probably look like it had been hand forged. Just another example of how well these cast iron tsuba could have been made. I think something like this (if it wasn’t broken) would even confuse some of the more knowledgeable tsuba collectors. Just my opinion.

martialarts- I just bought my first tsuba of the year on ebay. I spent 90 bucks for it with shipping. I think I did O.K., and didn't mess up! If I can do it, you can probably do it after reading books and looking at pictures.

lekatsu, What did you not understand in my last post? State references or show pictures so others can learn from your vast knowledge. Otherwise, you are just stating opinions.

Very well lekatsu, But this tsuba does raise some questions. Refer to the initial post and pictures on this thread. How did the nunome zogan appear in the file marks if it was not painted on? Everyone is just stating opinions. Show me pictures or state references how this was done. Otherwise, everyone is just guessing once again! I do not want to start or continue another downvote post for me! Either state your references or show pictures. I guess that is too much to ask! Once again, I guess people just can't back up their opinions. And once again, I will be out of here for a while!

Hey Dereks, Yes, here we go again! It appears to me that they did not file down the mimi of the tsuba as well as they filed down the hitsu and nakago-ana. The appearance of the mimi looks to have the small pebble type features of casting. You have your opinion, and I have mine. Then again, my opinion is based on photographic evidence. What is your opinion based on?

Hello patrice, I base my opinion about this tsuba being cast iron primarily on the mimi view of the tsuba (shown below) from the ebay link shown above. But I could very well be wrong, once again!

Hello John C. So difficult to tell. Hand forged or cast? It looks like zogan has been applied to the leaves. The gold paint looks fairly recent? If it is cast, it was well done with the casting marks being filed off. There are no seppa marks on the seppa-dia, and there is no sekigane in the nakago-ana. The tagane-ato punch marks are not deep. So I would tend to think that this tsuba has never been mounted on a blade tang. Where is a cheap non-invasive metallurgical test for cast iron when you need it? I don’t know, but my best guess is cast with an unknown period of manufacture (possibly very late Edo period or after).

Interesting tsuba. So, I have some questions. KungFooey has a good eye when she stated in a previous post here- “So the supposed 'nanako' is forming a repeated wave pattern.” Which means maybe it is not supposed to be nanako at all. Also, some members say that the tsuba was made by stamping the metal. If the plate was stamped, how could they achieve the raised motif of the (what I think) is a dragon and the other animal type motif? Just asking.

Well, I don’t know where to post this so I decided to add it to this thread. Unfortunately, I walk with a cane (age bites!). I have made a couple of my own canes. I had an extra purple heart cane blank that I bought years ago. I had a reproduction tsuka that I also bought years ago. So, I mounted the tsuka on the cane using a 3/16 dowel that was pre-drilled in the purple heart cane blank and then drilled a 3/16 hole in the tsuka. I superglued everything together. There is some tiny movement in the tsuka cane handle due to the ito wrap. But it still works fine. Onward!

Okay KungFooey, Off topic here, But you seem to have a mean heart (my opinion). Now to Hokke, John C. never said anything about the mei on his tsuba. He was asking about the contruction of the tsuba (the defect). Let the hate continue, it shows me how limited your thinking is. Onward!

Seeing as John C. is a Veteran status, I would assume he knows what he is talking about. If it was a modern reproduction tsuba, I figure he would not post it for opinions. Also, I would figure he is not certain of its construction. That is why he is asking questions.

This type of tsuba construction has been discussed before. I refer you to the “An alternative way to construct a tsuba” (locked thread) and to the “Tsuba casting molds?” thread. Those threads go against the status quo thinking, and the dollar bill profit of selling tsuba today, of how tsuba could have been made. Good luck trying to figure it out. Let the downvotes come on! Onward!

Well Kung Foey, I am yodan level. If someone came to the dojo and stated what you said I would just have them sit and watch a class. Then after class I would explain the particular martial art that is taught and if they are still interested I would give them a coupple of free lessons. I have done that before (with sensei’s permission). Of course I have always been interested in Japanese art. And I have even practiced iaido. But real swords are expensive, that is why I am asking about tsuba and stayed with stamp and coins. My friend, who is also a martial artist collects some tsuba and got me interested and emailled me about the forum. Although they also can be expensive, I have seen some that are not expensive. So I think I will learn more about them, as others on the forum have stated some good information how to learn and then try my first purchase. I will wait for my friend to send me the beginner book, and I have also ordered some other books. In the meantime I will just keep training in martial arts and learn about tsuba collecting.

So back from work. A lot of nice posts, thanks. And then there was that post that looks to have a sad face on it. What is that post trying to say I will wait till I recieve the book from my friend Tsuba Collecting for the Beginner. Then maybe I will try buying my own tsuba. I will keep on reading threads here and try to learn some stuff.

KungFoey, There are many nice people on this forum. But your spirit seems different. Are you agreeing that this is a complicated hobby, and you are now going to collect stamps. Or are you saying this is a complicated hobby and I shold’t even try

Yes, GeorgeLuucas, But they are still both fruits. So maybe not that far apart. It would be a lot easier if a date was stamped on the tsuba. Like I said before a difficult hobby. And one I don’t think I will collect. Just to complicated. Thaks for the post.

Internet stuff- A stamp catalog allows you to learn about the detailed information of a stamp, including its country of origin, date of issue, design specifics, printing method, color variations, potential watermarks, perforation gauge, and estimated market value, essentially providing a comprehensive historical and technical breakdown of each stamp type. If I compare a stamp I have to a picture in the catalog I can learn all the above stuff. From the little I have read on the forum. tsuba don’t work the same way. If I have match a museum catalog of tsuba to a tsuba that I want to buy, the information in the catalog does not mean that I have that same tsuba, even if the pictures match up. I have read where it could be a fake tsuba, or even a real tsuba that was made much later, or other stuff. Maybe I will stay with stamps, much easier to figure out and not many mistakes could be made. But thanks for all the helpful posts.

Dee and Jean, Well, I won’t buy those tsuba (not tsubas – Jean) I will keep looking and if I find something I will ask for help. But I think this hobby will be to expensive and cost me to much. So maybe I will stick with coin and stamp collecting.

Bazza (Barry) thanks for the thread. I have read it, but I think it is way over my head. I saw some tsubas on EBay. The first one I like because of the weird fish type stuff. I am sure that design has some meaning. The other one looks to have birds on it. Are these something that I should think about getting.