Jesta

90 degrees is interesting, and I would say that it counts for this taxonomy… Twin lobes, mirrored. The Myoga tsuba is really nice. I remain in awe of your sleuthing abilities…

Thanks for looking so hard. I couldn’t find any. Those are beautiful.

Thanks, you are always a reliable source of knowledge and references. The only ones I have been able to find with the top and bottom indents are the sukashi type, until your tanto tsuba.

I picked this one up on a whim, mostly because I liked the unusual shape, and the the autumn theme. Can anyone shed any light on the school or origins of this type of design? I can’t seem to find many that have this symmetrical ryo mokko gata design.

I can’t help on the school, but the design is really nice. Looks like sun rays piercing the clouds…

Hi, 2 cents from me One possible solution would be to find a modern smith who still practices casting techniques that are the same as those used in the past. There are a number of people, such as Tod’s Workshop (see YouTube), who are into making weapons and armour the old way, and then stress-testing it. They might have some advice on how to replicate cast pieces, or be able to create one for you. If the form is not important, then just get a piece for experimentation. Now you have a modern piece sanded down you could compare that with the one from the older practice to see if there are significant differences. On a related note: You could get a modern cast tsuba and see if you could sand it to make it appear closer to a genuine Edot one…

Looks like a good way to showcase your collection. Funnily enough, I was starting to think of doing something similar… Thank you for the inspiration.

I fell in love with these… starting thinking about how I have two kidneys… :D

I wonder if that is meant as a crucifix or if it just a part of the ship. If it is meant as a crucifix, then it is super sneaky…

Pine trees (Higo)

Birds and pine trees. One of my few blinged out pieces…

Paulowinas in open work

In the trend of recent posts sharing tsuba with themes: Please share your favourite tsuba with the theme of plants and flowers. I’ll start: Yo-sukashi design showing a blooming plum tree. Signed Bushu (ju) Masahisa

I think that what defines a symbol as “religious” would be the intention. Many symbols are common across cultures and and not intended as anything except geometric or good-looking decorations. It becomes religious when the creator or wearer intends for it to be a representation of their faith. So, interlocking triangles are not “Jewish” unless they are intended to be that way. I woudl say that a Jewish person might well buy one and use it as a symbol of their faith, in which case it would become religious. When I created this thread I was thinking about whether the craftsmen who made the tsuba were deliberately creating tosogu with religious symbols for people to declare their faith, or as talismans etc. I do like the way the thread has evolved though… It is nice to see such a wide-ranging discussion.

I found this recently… Seems like this is what it should look like: https://www.aoijapan...mumeiunsigned-crane/

It looks cast to me. Probably from an impression in a sand mould. No seams doesn’t mean that it wasn’t cast. The front bears the look of something cast in an open mould (see here for an example: https://youtu.be/_HFeWb_bAJU). The back would be smooth because it was sanded down and polished.

I think that one of the ways to tell would be to see if the nanako line up or if they are alternating (if you see what I mean): OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO or OOOOO OOOOO OOOOO The large punch would have them all in lines, whereas a single punch (in Ford’s video) would have them alternating. You can see that in Andi’s example they are alternating on the kogai, so maybe it would be related to the quality of the work. I can imagine that Goto would insist on the very highest quality craftsmanship…

Recently there was a comment that the shape of the nanako on one of my tsuba was square. I am wondering what shapes there could be for nanako. As best as I can tell, the bumps are always round (hence the name), but the punch could have a square or round exterior, changing the shape of the surround to the nanako. I have put close-ups of two of my tsuba below. Are either/both of them round or square? How would one determine that this the case (they both look round to me)? (edit: I blew up the first one more - see new pic) and it does look more square when you get very close… Can anyone give examples of the different nanako shapes?

Just arrived… some very stylised wild geese (does anyone else think of the movie when they hear those words?).

I love the water and waves on these. Japanese waves are something of an obsession of mine.

I have a very similar theme, although your eagle and mine are hunting different prey

Thanks for highlighting this. I think that it might be a trick of the light, but I am not sure. I had not really compared the shape to others before, but now I will give it some thought. I am sure that there are others on the board who might be able to comment in more detail.

Turtles all the way down...

Thanks. Very interesting. This one, like mine, seems to be slightly asymmetrical. The seppa dai is not quite centred around the nakago ana (particularly obvious on the reverse in mine, but also a bit off in this one… I wonder if it was poor workmanship or something else.

As always… your incredibly extensive memory for where to find these things also blows my mind… I can see why nanban tsuba might have similarities with pocket watch designs - they are often intricate and very pretty. What I don’t get is why a gear… Why not a clock face? I can see why one or two people might have liked the design, but there are sooooo many… If it doesn’t have a religious connotation, or some good luck charm type thing, then I struggle to understand it. It might be a cultural thing, where it was just a fad, but I haven’t seen it explained in that way…