Jake6500

Nice tsuba Mike, I'm usually not the biggest fan of open works and personally gravitate toward the solid stuff but this one has a nice design. Bridges were a major feature in mid to late Edo period art such as in Hokusai's famous ukiyo-e collection of bridges across Japan. The added fukurin is indicative not of additional structural protection or support, but of an additional aesthetic quality added to the piece. Think of it as the frame or border around an iron painting.

Interesting theme I have not encountered before. Thanks Colin, for spreading your cultural knowledge!

Looks like a boat in the reeds by the shore to me... Not sure what the overall theme might be though.

I had seen this listing before it ended and hard passed on it, not because I thought the tsuba was fake but mainly because I didn't like the style or quality enough to bid on it. As has been said already the nanako look quite good which indicates it is likely authentic. The copper in the sekigane is an interesting observation but not enough of a reason to conclude the tsuba is a modern fake. At least, not in my view.

Hi Justin, As you get deeper into the hobby you will find rats/mice are actually a fairly common design. I think the deep symbolism in this one has already been deciphered and I'm a bit late to the thread. What I will say is this is a decent pickup for a rookie collector! A nice cultural design, authentic piece from the Edo Period, the rat sticks out from the base which makes it "pop" which is a quality many collectors like. Hard to tell the school as others have said but if I was to hazard a guess, maybe Aizu-Shoami? Don't quote me on that though! I'm guessing mostly based on the 3 dimensional carving of the rat, the iron base and the contrast of metals in the carvings. Interested to see what Piers and Dale think, if they have any schools in mind.

Hi Giordy, There are a couple giveaways about this tsuba. Firstly as others have pointed out this is a commonly replicated design. Secondly, the nakago ana in the middle has been cut with an unusually square-ish shape. Finally, the space where the seppa would normally go seems unevenly shaped and does not appear to form a proper oval. These are the key points that stick out to me just at a glance.

Some fantastic examples Viktor! I agree that the differences in the kao are minimal and that your set is authentic. I never raised this earlier but the level of detail in the hands on your kashira are not the type of thing lesser artists could have pulled off. These new examples you've linked are also fantastic pieces that seem to exhibit similar features and I'm wondering if this might be an identifying point for Unno school (certainly for Unno Yoshimori) works!

Those are some incredible investigative powers as usual Dale! Collection and catalogue numbers are an important tool in tracing the provenance of antiques!

Thanks Viktor for the solid examples and the extra information! I did find another source that aligns with what you have said here, namely that this artist resided in Echigo province but a lot of this information is new to me including the connection to the Hamano school and the Matsudaira family! I do think the Shoki tsuba above shares some features with the Hamano style so in hindsight the connection makes sense. I think the mei in your examples are also a pretty close match which is also reassuring. The very minor differences as you've said can likely be attributed to the work having been produced at an earlier or later stage in the artisans career. The tsuba and fuchigashira you've posted here are both beautiful pieces! I'm not as keen on the kozuka, mostly I think because of the material but the craftmanship is still great. It seems Seisendo was big on the wave motif! Here is one more example I had found earlier when researching but forgot to post: Thanks again for the information!

So I recently acquired a pretty high quality wave fuchigashira that I wanted to get the forums opinions on. This one is papered and signed Seisendo Kashino Naonobu (Kao). I am interested in anything you can tell me about the artist or any other mei and kao examples you might be able to provide for this artisan to help me ascertain the authenticity of the signature. Whilst I believe the mei is likely authentic, I only have one other example at present to compare it to. The fact that it is certified certainly helps also. I've only just won this piece in auction and it is still over in Japan so I can't take any new photographs at the moment. Picture from the original auction listing below: Picture of a tsuba by the same artist in the Walters Art Museum: https://art.thewalters.org/object/51.292/ Anything you could tell me about the artist, or any opinions about how this new piece in my collection compares in quality to other Mito and Omori wave fuchigashira would be greatly appreciated.

The hitsu shape is the type you see in the Muromachi period, however other aspects of the tsuba lead me to think it is a more recent throwback to older styles. I agree with Jean Collin, the material and open design lead me to a late Edo attribution.

I like the dragon and phoenix theme, directional/constellation guardians. As far as the tsuba themselves though, the Buddhist lightning and karmic wheel openwork has got to be the best!

I concur, the Nanako look pretty great, quality of materials are high and most importantly the mei+kao looks like a spot on match. I think you've struck gold, congratulations Okan! I've also had a look at a few other examples of the mei on various kozuka and such and there is little doubt in my opinion.

I think it has very clearly been carved up that way for decorative effect. Tsuba seems modern to me also. No signs of mounting, looks a little too perfect. Nakago Ana also looks weirdly off-centre as well, or is it just my eyes playing tricks on me?

Thanks Justyn, I must confess it is currently the single most expensive piece I have in my collection and I was happy to have an excuse to share it here! I have started to gravitate toward the Hamano style and am a big fan of contrast pieces. The contrast between shibuichi and gold is something I find quite appealing...