Soshin

Hi @Robert S, Thank you for enjoying my website and taking the time to reply to my post. I have since branched off from my tsuba study roots and gain an interest through study of other Japanese swords fittings (kodōgu 小道具), Japanese swords, and other types of Japanese fine art.

Here is my personal opinion only. I don't see anything I like that would facilitate me buying the whole lot of seven rather unremarkable tsuba based upon a single rather poor-quality screenshot of a photo. One tsuba in the lot would at a minimum need to be absolutely "golden" so to speak to justify the purchase of the whole lot at $2,750 USD.

This is quite a common thing now a days on ePrey (eBay). I would not even consider biding on a Japanese sword like this on ePrey. I will down vote this post as this unsigned Japanese sword is not, I would be interested in collection especially after paying such a premium on total of the normal retail price.

Just some minor points while I wait this evening. shrines = Shinto (jinja 神社) temples = Buddhism (ji 寺) The practice you are referring to is mostly associated with pouring fresh water over the head of Jizo Bosatsu using a wooden ladle typically in the temple courtyard outside of the main temple hall. Sweet tea is also poured using a smaller wooden ladle over the head of a statue of the standing Bady Buddha around the time of historical Buddha birthday which celebrated in April in Japan.

@Iaido dude Steve, did more checking here a tsuba that was once in my collection and later sold in December 2016 via the Internet that I attributed to Kanayama that have the rectangular shaped hitsu-ana. I do remember it having very noticeable iron bones along the rim. I hope this example is a bit more helpful to your study.

To summarize (Ko-Kinkō 古金工) attribution of my menuki means the NBTHK though that my menuki was made by an early (sometime before the Edo Period) goldsmith (kinkō 金工) of unknown linage. From what I can see in your two photos provided I don't see anything that makes me think they are modern cast reproductions. I have seen many of these modern cast reproductions before in hand on martial arts training swords and look at their backside it becomes fairly noticeable, they are cast reproductions. To me your menuki look like Edo Period examples that are smaller and likely mounted on a wakazashi or similar sized sword's handle.

Here is an example that is a bit different than the examples you already have. The tsuba is no longer in my collection. I listed it in my write-up as being the work of an unknown school. It measures are: 7.7 cm X 7.8 cm 4.0 mm at seppa-dai, 4.0 mm at rim. It sold quickly to another US based collector at the Chicago show back in 2019. I hope you find this example helpful to your study.

I have read and/or heard the same thing before, not sure how accurate that that statement is. I have these NBTHK papered Ko-Kinko menuki that are large (4.5 cm) show a significant amount of openwork, but the shakudō base plate is much thinner overall than your menuki. Notice the quality of my photos, this is what I think @ROKUJURO is talking about. I have had these menuki for a while in my collection (circa 2017) and my current photography skills and technology are a bit better.

@Jack Zacao Not completely sure how well the thickness of base plate correlates with the age of the menuki. Comparing the thickness of the red copper (shakudō 赤銅) base plate of your menuki with examples in my collection yours are characteristic of menuki made during the mid to late Edo Period. I have and once owned a set of apprised menuki by the NTHK with a similar thickness base plate that was dated to the late Edo Period. I currently own an NBTHK apprised pre-Edo Period (Ko-Kinko (古金工) menuki set with a very thin shakudō base plate. I have a few other sets I want to submit for appraisal down the line that have similar thin base plates made of shakudō. I enjoy collecting menuki almost as much as I enjoy collecting tsuba. I can post a few apprised examples, but I don't want to dominate this thread.

@martialarts Jacob, I would try to pace yourself in your study as @Shugyosha John J., suggests. Understand more about Japan and its language, history, and culture give you a broader and deeper context to your study of tsuba. Also check out my website here: Tsuba Otaku | Reflections of a Not So Empty Mind. It is noncommercial and full of lots of free information (no ads) about Japanese sword fittings and other types of Japanese art. I also try including a good list of other websites that you might also find helpful and some photos of my many vacations to Japan. Enjoy.

Just wanted to update this thread from last June about this sword one last time. I was finally able to do some scans of the NTHK papers I received in early December. The attribution was to "Kodai Kanemoto (後代兼元)" meaning a later generation of Kanemoto that was still working in Mino Provience around the time of the Tensho Era (1573-1592 CE). I will be adding this additional information to my write-up about the sword soon. P.S. Just notice that my scan of the oshigata of the nakago was not complete as it is long being a katana and an orikaeshi-mei. The oshigata of the nakago is complete just a bit hard to scan it with my printer.

I finally got around to creating a Japanese art gallery webpage on my website mostly focused on Japanese swords and fittings. Here is a direct link to the gallery: Japanese Art Gallery | Tsuba Otaku . It is a still work in progress and more will be added later as I have been collecting Japanese art for many years and once had a Japanese art retail business. I hope you enjoy it. Polite and respectful discussion is always welcome, thank you.

I didn't see your message until today as I get busy. I am a member of the NBTHK-AB. In the future I am planning join a local NBTHK club in Japan. My wife's family home is near the Tatara Museum in Shimane Prefecture. There is a local NBTHK club as the Tatara is run by the help of the NBTHK.

Lewis B. Nick Nakamura is one of top Japanese sword fittings collectors in the USA. I remember meeting him at the Chicago show a few years ago. I would assume that both koshirae from his collection shown in the video would have a full length sunagi in them. I have a nice full length sunagi with its own wooden habaki in my long wakizashi koshirae.

I have put the Chicago show on my calendar for next year. I hope to be able go.

I received my NTHK papers a couple of weeks ago for my swords. Micheal R thank you for reminding me I need to clean my swords as well this coming weekend.

Steve, Here is my two and half cents as an armchair Japanese historian. Ko-Shoami were produced in Kyoto from the Muromachi Period up until the end of the Azuchi-Momoyama Period. They transitioned into other provinces starting as early as the Azuchi-Momoyama Period under the rule of Oda Nobunaga and continued until the beginning of the Edo Period and were centered around castle towns. The group of artists that remained in Kyoto became the Kyo-Shoami group. I would say there was some cross pollination of designs of the Kanayama group located in Owari Providence with the ever widely distributed of different Shoami groups.

Thanks for sharing the video, Peter. I enjoyed watching it.

No DTI for me this year. In a few years if I am lucky, I will be able to attend it again. Thank you for sharing the link to this year's show catalog.

Sorry, I missed what information you wanted. I don't have the weight of the tsuba and cannot measure it as the tsuba is no longer in my collection. I did keep a record of the measurements of the tsuba and here they are 7.1 cm X 7.2 cm, 5.8 mm at rim.

More research marital for Steve @Iaido dude. I papered this tsuba to Onō by the NBTHK when it was in my collection. I purchased it from @rkg. It had many wonderful iron bones along the rim. I really miss this tsuba.

@Tim Evans Thank you for posting this example. It is helpful to see and study such an example of a late Yagyu style tsuba being made by the Akasaka School.

I remember reading the same thing in various references, I have never seen any tsuba with a Yagyu design with a signature or other design features that would point to an Edo (Musashi Province) production versus an Owari Province production. Please someone post a photo of one it would be nice to study such an example.

This is likely what happened as many if not all Yagyu tsuba were made locally in Owari Province. The oniguruma (devil's wheel) design is one of the original thirty-six core designs done by Yagyu Renyasai Yoshikane (1625-1694 CE). He was the fourth-generation headmaster of the Yagyu Shinkage Ryu mainline in Owari Provience. It is design number twenty-three and is referred to as (oniguruma 鬼車 ). I am getting some of this information from Haynes Yagyu design book per Jim Gilbert's information in a publication in 2014 for the American branch of the NBTHK.

I did not know him, but he was a first-class artist. Deepest condolences to his friends and family.