Souljah

Here is one im waiting for to arrive.

Thx, I've already seen both, but isn't the bat tsuba also Gimei if it says 19th century and kenzui died 1776? Also it's not very detailed. The very opposite of it is the second one.

Does anyone have a picture of a tsuba made by Kenzui? Really hard to find something. Does anybody have a recommendation for a book about the Hamano school?

That's an interesting point, that they sell Gimei. Didn't think about that.

Already studying the Bonhams and Zacke websites since days and there are some amazing pieces.

Thx for your kind words. It cought my eyes, because it was totally different than all the other tsuba I've seen. That's what I liked.

Yeah, I got a little too excited... Hopefully lesson learned.

I guess that the only way is to educate myself. Hopefully I'm gonna learn from my mistake. I still like the tsuba and am exited for it to arrive, but I admit being a little disappointed about it.

Hello Dale, thx for your help. I lack of knowledge and experience in comparing Mei, but If I try to, it looks like same characters, but a little difference in the strokes and their direction. So I assume it's gimei. Am I right? Are there any other hints where my tsuba came from? Any opinion on it? Thx so much.

Thx, every opinion is welcome and appreciated. Edit: Actually we have a cloudy evening, it's already dark and I've taken a photo of the moon. I think it depends on the clouds, as you can see, that the moon is fully visible through the clouds. Everything is dark and the clouds are not that thick, so the moon shines through and makes the clouds in front of it "invisible". But that's only one of your concerns... Any opinion on the Mei?

Any opinion if this is genuine hamano kenzui (2nd generation hamano) or gimei? It's too late anyway, but I would like to know.

Thx to all. Interesting to see other examples of this motif on different tsuba and the thing with his nickname. Haven't found that.

That makes more sense, because of the child being in front of Hotei. I've found this picture of hotai carrying a child through a river. And an other picture with the writing "The eye that regards the innocent child / is a friendly soul outside this soiled world"

I just won an auction of my first tsuba today and would like to know if my guessing is right. I did some research and I think that its Hotei guiding a child through darkness, but as I am totally uneducated on this kind of stuff, I would like to know if there's some other story behind it. The writing on the right says "Child with opened eyes" or "open your eyes", at least that's what Google translate says. Thx.

Here is a funny one I've found during my search.

Thx for your help and to all for all the opinions on this fuchi and kashira. I liked the Artwork and I guess the mei is not bad. Not a fail at least. I think that's probably gonna be right.

Thx so far, could be a rat... On this one it looks like a rat head, an elephant head on a Fantasy body and some kind of a bird. I don't know what the heck this is...? And this looks like a dragon and some kind of water deamon with a fish.

I don't know, the auction has just ended today and I don't have any other photos. I liked the details, the fine nanako and the theme that was different to others I've seen. I compared it to other that are listed in european shops and decided that the price is ok.

First of all I have to say a big thank you to the kind members in this forum who helped me a lot getting into the world of fittings, since I don't had a clue and of course still don't have. At least it's getting a little bit better with the vocabulary. It's an exciting and interesting world and although I wanted to wait and don't hesitate my first buy, I couldnt wait and ... won an auction. Dont hold back and tell me your opinion on my first buy especially regarding the theme and the Mei. The description said it's Nobuie from Momoyama period, which it is definitely not. Thx to a dear member I already got to know that it's for Wakizashi and that two of the characters say "Mori Yuki"

That's what I meant, thx for those hints. Thx, I'm gonna do that. I'm reading different threads in this forum already, and I think you mean Dan. I understand both of you. The whole thing depends on the time and money someone is able and willing to spend. That's the same thing with watches. I'm into watches for a long time. Some are collecting cheaper watches and like to have many of them. Some like to collect more expensive ones. Some change the watch they're wearing twice a day, some wear their watch for half a year. Some need many watches, some are happy to have one good watch. What's good enough? That differs from person to person. I like to have fewer watches with a decent quality. Through the years I found out what I need to have in a watch and now I'm actually a one watch guy, though I have more than one, but I don't change my watch since I got my last one. I'm totally new in the world of tsuba and I'm willing to learn, but my time and my money is limited. I've already realized it's possible to look through all the different auctions sites for hours... My thoughts on this, and on the watch topic is, and on all other topics by the way, everyone is different and has different preferences, different possibilities. I'm against gate keeping of all kinds. I respect the guy who likes to collect Chinese watches and the one who likes to collect a.lange. I don't have to understand why, as long as someone is having fun , it's fine. Actually it's the same with quality of watches. Someone who's new won't see a difference between a 200 and a 5000 Dollar watch. You need hints what to look for and the experience of handling different watches in person to realize the differences. Edit: I'm already browsing Bonhams and found a lot of 5 tsuba sold for 70k and another one with 4 tsuba sold for 5k. One can see a clear difference between those two lots. Thx for the tip.

Thx, could you try to explain, why it is not good quality wise?

Thx for all your help. I found another one I actually like, but it's damaged. The lower person is damaged, but the whole tsuba looks actually nice I think. How important is the condition? Can you tell me anything about the Mei or the motif? Actually I don't know if it's called Mei, because it looks like a signature, but isn't in the right place. Thx.

Ah, so the tagane ato punch marks are coming from refitting a tsuba to another blade. Thx again.

I'm gonna do that, thx. During my search for tsuba I found this one. Im not thinking about buying it, but I have a question. It looks real to me, without molding marks, but the tagane ato marks are missing. Is it still possible that it's real and hasn't been mounted on a sword?

I'm sorry if my post mislead you. Those arent mine. Justed some tsuba I found online and was thinking to bid on. Thx for your thoughts. It's like that: I see a tsuba and my thoughts go like "oh that looks nice, I like the animals, it looks interesting with the gold". But I see what you mean. From an artistic point of view some of them seam to be more interesting and some less. Didn't think about this kind of things in the first place, now I see. @Shugyosha same, thx to you too. Still, and I know it's gonna last forever even if I educate myself, it's hard for me to even guess a price range for such tsuba. Can anybody give me a hint? Just an approximate price range I can start with? Another thing is the condition... It's hard for me to see if it's damaged, just rusty or if it's patina. Sometimes it looks like the carvings have been rubbed away, and I don't know if it's maybe just dirt... I hope you get what I mean. It's hard for me to express my thoughts on a topic I'm not used to.