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David Why do collectors of Japanese sword furniture persist in the identification of imaginary Christian symbolism in any artefact that has a vaguely cruciform decoration? John L.

I fear that Fukushi sensei's 'abraded zogan' comment doesn't help very much: Abrade - to wear down or off - Latin radere to scrape. Very many tsuba have abraded zogan. John L.

Curran Although I have never previously seen one, I am fairly confident in my attribution of David’s tsuba as Namban of the Momoyama period. I do not subscribe to his Azuchi-Momoyama label since there is no justification for drawing a line at 1603 on the importation of these tsuba into Japan. My reasons for this attribution are as follows: • The dote mimi – a form seldom seen on later tsuba of this group. • The polishes surface of the mimi, which may simply be the result of many years of handling. • The very fine, delicate nature of the karakusa-moyo. • The rather bizarre and impractical form of the seppa-dai. • The unusually large size: most tsuba of this group measure 7.2 cm – 7.0 cm. • The absence of original hitsu-ana. I wonder if the inclusion of shibeyama features was a common practice on these tsuba – it was certainly very rapidly discontinued. I would like to know how many of these tsuba Fukushi sensei saw before writing his description. This is not unlike the seriously flawed one of Hancock (undated) in the Catalogue of the Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery: ‘A learned Japanese writer suggests that the earliest [Nanban tsuba] dated from the 17th century, and he recognises as early Namban only those pieces that present a certain mokkō shape, peculiar edge, hornless dragons and European characters.’ John L.

Thank you for the link Henry, but those hitsu-ana are a part of the tsuba's design, and are quite distinct from those in Haynes' two solid plate examples. John L.

Thank you, David for that. Yakitsuke (mercuric- or fire-gilding) results in a featureless, raised area of gilding that appears to be relatively resistant both to wear and to underlying rust. It is achieved by the application of heat to an amalgam of mercury and gold, and is a relatively unskilled – if extremely toxic – method of gold application. It can be distinguished from nunome-zōgan by the absence of hatching at its margins. John L.

I am re-reading Robert Haynes’ Study Collection of Japanese Sword Fittings, and I am once again intrigued by the drawings of #s 16 and 44, which show an original triangular shape to the hitsu-ana. Has any member, I wonder, ever seen a tsuba, – or an illustration of a tsuba – that demonstrates this feature? Not that I am questioning Haynes’ expertise in this matter…. John L.

David, you mention ‘remains of gold inlay’ on the rim of your new Namban tsuba, and I am anxious to know its type. Am I correct in assuming it to be nunome-zōgan or is it, by any chance, yakitsuke? John L.

David Ogawa (1987) states that ‘those tsuba that are today called Namban appear to have been produced in China or by the Dutch East India Company in India and imported from the end of the 16th century.’ Thus Momoyama, rather than Muromachi, is an appropriate period for such early Namban examples. Judging by the timing of this thread, I presume that you are the fortunate new owner of Grey Doffin’s H 283? This is a very interesting tsuba that has all the appearances of an early example of the group. These are extremely rare; I have personally never seen one, and in 1998 Kitamura Yoshiro admitted to me that there were no such examples in the collection of the Namban Bunka-kan in Osaka shi. What a pity that this tsuba is not ubu, the kōgai-hitsu being an obvious later modification. Early descriptions of such Momoyama tsuba are very unsatisfactory. Joly (1914) describes them as having ‘a purely Chinese design with symmetrical components’, thus equating them with Kantō tsuba with their origin in Eastern China. Interestingly, he illustrates one example ‘avec capsules destinées à recevoir des émaux ou des pierres’. Are the circular apertures in your tsuba intended for a similar function? A single tsuba, 695’30, is described on p.114 and illustrated on p.XXI of the City of Birmingham Catalogue. This is dated to the 17th century, and also has a dote mimi. I hope that this rather limited information is of some help. John L.

Thank you Pete. I too looked at that posting and was unable to find the reference. I note that this only has 133 pages - perhaps there is a second catalogue? John L.

Does any kind member have a copy of the Moslé catalogue? Haynes describes a tsuba on p. 273, #871 of this catalogue as ‘mokkō shape iron plate tsuba a centipede carved in sunken relief, signed Murakami Sumifuru and kao, and on the reverse signed Andō Naohiro…’. I should very much like a scan of this entry if you would be so kind. With thanks, John L.

Nagoya-mono, ca 1800. See attached description by Haynes: 'The type of tsuba seen in lots 17 and 18 are often misconstrued. They are early examples of Nagoya-mono tsuba. They are not Ko-Mino and date ca. 1700 to 1750. See the example in Compton, sale II, lot 125, a signed example. The plates are not true shakudo, but katsushirome, or yamagane, black lacquered to resemble shakudo, but without any gold in the alloy. Despite this dealers and collectors are willing to pay prices many times their value.' John L.

David, the tsuba is definitely not sanmai, but comprises a solid plate of heavy, high quality, raven-black shakudō. Over to you …. John L. P.S. The original attribution was that of Bob Benson. JL.

I am very happy to receive suggestions concerning my recently posted tsuba, but find it difficult to accept David’s Mino attribution. It is completely lacking in the depth and definition of the floral motifs, normally a feature of Mino work. As an aside, is the vertical nanako of any assistance in reaching an attribution? John L.

A slightly better picture of the tsuba under discussion. John L.

As a final addendum to this thread, NMB members will surely have identified the occasional occurrence of two small holes in the kogai umegane of a tsuba; such an example is illustrated on p.87, #94, of Haynes’ Catalogue #7. These are situated in a position comparable to that of the brackets which Grey describes, and must surely be intended for a similar purpose? John L.

Another, rather fine example of this unusual decorative tecnique is illustrated on the Tsuruginoya web site: http://www.tsuruginoya.com/mn1_3/b00074.html John L.

Christian, in reply to your enquiry: Bowes, James L. Notes on Shippō, Privately Printed, Liverpool, 1895. Regards, John L.

Christian, nineteenth century Yokohama work, with doro-shippō on an earlier, yamagane plate? John L.

An intriguing tsuba Christian - am I correct in thinking it to be enamel on a yamagane base? If so, the enamel is very muddy and crudely applied, while such a lack of skill does not neccessarily imply early work. But why 'Namban', Peter? John L.

… or to attach a decorative tassel to the tsuba …. Come on guys, are you not convinced by the fact that, in each example, the bracket’s position on the tsuba is such that it places it in the closest possible proximity to the kurikata? John L.

I am attaching an image of a Momoyama period, Kō-kinkō tsuba with a small, shakudō bracket affixed to the ura surface. This is in a similar position to that posted by Grey and was, surely, used to attach the sword, by a thread, to the kurikata of the saya in order to prevent its accidental withdrawal? John L.

Jimi, as I have already spelt out for you, your daisho is a nineteenth century interpretation, by an Aizu-Shoami artist, of a Soten pair of tsuba. I do not do values .... John L.

I suspect that Jimi’s daishō is an example of that small sub-group that Graham Gemmell (1991) has labelled ‘Large Figure’ Sōten. This sub-group he describes as unlike the crowded, busy image that one associates with normal Hikone-bori work, but incorporates two or three full-length figures, filling the whole extent of the tsuba. He suggests that a slightly rectangular seppa-dai is a feature of such work, and this may be present on Jimi’s tsuba, although it is lacking in the normal over-abundance of gold nunome decoration. Whence this sub-group emanates is unknown, but this daishō is probably C19 Aizu-Shōami work. John L.

David, further to your initial request for references to the Kiami school, pp.50-51, #25, of Graham Gemmell’s Tosogu: Treasure of the Samurai (1991) include an illustration of a tsuba that I have always considered typical of the work of this school. John L.