Jesta

This is typically the case with antiques. They go through popular periods when the prices are high, and lulls where you can’t sell them… Take brown furniture right now, beautiful Georgian pieces are going for a song at auction houses in the UK, whereas 20 years ago there was strong demand. I find that the best thing to do is to focus on items that you really love, decide what you want to pay for them, and don’t go past that. If you are a dealer trying to make a profit it must be stressful, but as a collector who just wants to enjoy the pieces I buy then I am more relaxed about whether they hold their resale value.

“Worth” is an interesting question… Something is only worth what someone will pay for it, so in this case it was worth it to someone. I am not sure that I would be prepared to pay that amount (particularly for something off Jauce), but it is a very nice piece.

Wear points… (see below) I have seen rippled nanako like this before. I was wondering if it might be an applied layer. It is not great nanako, but looks like it was applied by hand.

Agreed on this.

I would agree on the wear pattern making it likely that this is old. A reverse image search doesn’t throw up any other identical pieces, so with that and the wear pattern, I am not convinced that it is new. If it is a fake, then I would expect to see more of them, and no wear on the gilding. IMHO: Edo period (probably late), and of reasonable quality.

I don’t get modern vibes from this one. I would agree that it is not inlay, but gilding. You can see places where the gilding has not quite gone to the edge of the pattern, and other places where the gilding has worn through. My first thought on seeing the nanako was Nagoya-mono, but the colour is better than you normally get with that, so I am not sure.

Welcome to the forum. I am not sure that it has to have a story (although others may chime in). It looks like a whimsical collection of common themes: Wave across the bottom, a gourd, a cup, and a pine tree(?). They are all represented across schools, and time in various ways. Given the execution of the tsuba it could well be an early apprentice piece, something that he was learning on, and the various items are practice in carving techniques.

Thanks for that. Yup, Dale is right. These look like bookends, nice ones, but not a tsuba. Looking at the size it would need a monster sword to fit them on

That makes a lot of sense given the pictures. I think that you have nailed it.

They don’t look like actual tsuba from the photos. Firstly, a daisho pair would be one big, one small. Secondly, it looks like they are some kind of clasp or brooch, with the hinged back. They would not be able to fit on a sword with that. I don’t think I have seen anything like these before. Could you post more photos of them from the side?

Thanks Dale, as always. The shape almost moves the tsuba into the realm of a cross guard.

Thanks Florian. Very interesting, and your suggestion makes a lot of sense. I was also wondering about the design of the tsuba itself. The shape is also unusual.

I recently saw this one on Jauce (here: https://www.jauce.com/auction/p1236809576 ) Does anyone know if this design was common? A reverse image search doesn’t turn up any examples that I can see, and it is the first one that I have come across.

This is a first, and a strange one at that… Swapping the fuchi and habaki is a strange, and counter-intuitive way to do things.

This was my first thought too. Seems like a common theme. The things behind it could be stylised stirrups.