thutson

Hello, I recently acquired this lovely kinko tsuba from Grey Doffin. The front depicts a chase in the clouds between a Samurai and a Demon that has stolen a treasure and the back the Samurai has caught the Demon and taken the treasure back. I was wondering if anyone has information about the folk tale depicted and any ideas which school it might be from? Tom

Beautiful koshirae, certainly worth restoring! That lacquer work is something else

Echoing Roberts thoughts, I’d like to thank everyone for your invaluable thoughts and advice, being fairly new to collecting tosogu it’s certainly opened my eyes, but I’d be lying if hasn’t also made me feel sad and concerned about the extent that people go to fake pieces and its certainly made me hesitant to buy pieces without papers or from non-reputable dealers. I do have a couple of cloud dragon tsuba that I feel are “original” but this has certainly cast some doubt in my mind. It’s also left me wondering what the meaning of “original” really is, I’ve realised tsuba are rarely one of a kind but my understanding was that there are good quality Edo period reproductions or "utsushi" that are hand-made or at least hand-finished and therefore better than the more modern reproduction making them worth collecting. However l now think I need to do more research and studying! Best, Tom

Interesting point, for instance what do you think of this piece? https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/k479021929 It comes with papers but to me the carvings look poorer in quality than the initial tsuba I posted here...

Some nice detective work George, I'm not used to looking at sprue marks, it certainly looks a lot less prominent than the marks on the other tsuba but I'd have to agree the extra gold under the tail of the cloud looks odd when all the rest look nicely carved, I hadn't noticed that either. You're right Bob it is a bit scary if they can make modern casting that look this good. Higher resolution images might make things clearer but from these it certainly looked very good to me as well. Thanks for all your inputs! Tom

Thanks for your opinions, to me the quality in the carving of the dragon and the rim of the initial tsuba appears much better with a lot more fine detail and the mark on the top left seppa-dia is in a similar location but appears different. If it is indeed a modern casting, which I'm not yet convinced of, I think this highlights just how difficult it can be to identify a quality piece.

Thanks Yas, it's good to see them side by side, I agree the patterns appear pretty much identical but there are still differences such as the rim and in the quality and in the detail of the carvings. There seems to be a sliding scale of very good to very poor within the reproductions which are all based on an original. Perhaps the left one is a hand finished early reproduction, which explains the price it went for or as you say just a newcomer with a big wallet, I guess its hard to know. Thanks for your input. Tom

Yes I initially thought Goto school Sebastien but I agree there are also some good machi-bori pieces without signatures as well. Some interesting points on your twitter threads Yas and you're right it can be difficult to judge the quality of the metal and carving on a monitor. I've attached a couple of images of tsuba with the same cloud dragon design, one is obviously a very poor casting but the other, although still obviously poorer than the tsuba I first posted, is a better quality casting with nanako. These reproductions and castings are based on an original piece and some Edo period utsushi can still be of a very good quality, but do they put doubt onto the original piece I posted? It seems very tricky to be sure. Tom

Hello Yas, Thanks for the posting the link, I tried to find it again but couldn't. I wasn't the highest bidder, I was also watching it and liked the piece but was surprised at how much it went for. This made me wonder if this was due to it being higher quality. As someone who is fairly new to collecting tsuba, unless you only purchase from respected dealers I feel it can be a minefield. Very poor castings and reproductions can be easy to spot but I assume there is a range in the quality of utsushi which makes it more tricky. Tom

Hello, I was wondering what people's opinions are on this tsuba, I've seen some poor reproductions of this design but to my (untrained) eye this one actually looks pretty decent and has some nice detail. I know it may be risky to purchase a design that has been copied a lot but there must also be some good utsushi out there as well. Thanks, Tom

I've actually just found a great match, a lovely detailed menuki of the boy Kintaro that legends say befriended and wrestled bears.

I never thought about a beehive or honey pot but you're right I think that would be a great match! I'll keep my eyes open for one.

Hello, I would love to find a match for this guy. Best, Tom

Great covid collection, I have to agree the the plum blossom pieces are lovely, I also really like the piece with the carp swimming against the water.

Thanks for your comments. After having a look I think Nara looks like a very good fit. It's certainly a bit rough around the edges but I don't agree that the bamboo leaves and waterfalls are all exactly the same and the scene appeals to my eye. It's good we don't all have the same taste otherwise it would all be a bit boring. Best, Tom

Thanks for your replies, the back does look like it might have rusted sometime in the past. I'll check out Choshu tsuba's, thanks for the lead.

Hello, This is the second tsuba I've bought. The design really appealed to me, it gives a sense of a dynamic scene with the lions hair and tail swaying, bamboo bushes, falling waterfalls, and even water droplets. What are other people opinion on it? I don't really have any information about it, if someone could point me in the right direction so I could research a bit that would be great. Best regards, Tom Hutson

I think this is a great idea. I only just watched the videos on Ford's YouTube channel and his work is astonishing, he's an incredibility talented and skilled craftsman.

Thank you for the advice, I do feel a bit apprehensive about using bone or ivory on this tsuba, especially without at least practicing on something else first. I would hate to damage it but at the same time I'm concerned that the active rust is slowly corroding the piece. Do you think just applying some chogi oil onto the active rust areas will help protect it from further corrosion? Or do you think using a professional restorer would be a better option? Or is it just best to leave it as it is.

Thank you for the replies, I'm looking forward to examining the all detail first hand and it looks like I've got quite the project on my hands to slowly and steadily remove the active rust and clean it up. I'll see if I can get my hands on an old piano key but if not tool you made from cow bone looks perfect. On the back of the tuba one of the samurai faces has turned green through oxidation, would you recommend trying to remove this? I've also been reading up on Yoshitsune, Benkei and the battle of Ichi-No-Tani, it's very cool if it's depicting this famous battle, I'm even more chuffed with my first tsuba!

Hello, After visiting Japan last year I became very interested in Japanese culture and history. Since then I have been trying to learn and understand more about Japanese tsuba and the beautiful workmanship that goes into making them and this forum is an excellent source of information. I recently took the plunge and bought this piece that appealed to me. The pictures aren’t the best and I’m not sure when I’ll get my hands on it with the current postal situation. However I was wondering if I could ask for peoples opinion on the piece. I believe it’s a Sōten tsuba and that the Mei reads Gōshū Hikone jū Sōheishi Nyūdō Sōten sei. I’ve read that are lot of gimei Sōten style tsuba so I’d be interested to know what people think of this one. I’d also appreciate any advice on the best ways to clean and preserve it. I’ve read that using soapy warm water and a soft brush seems like a common method. Best regards, Tom Hutson