FlorianB

Very funny, never saw such before. Seems a collector piece, not for real use. Also nice the scene on the back. People eat obviously onions - to take part in the competition? The costumes suggest an early period, but of course the Kozuka was made around late Edo. Any idea about the signature? Best, Florian

Not a Tsuba, but I like this little character sketch! Best, Florian

Kanzan Sato was one of those who fixed after the war the traditional classification system in question here. In my eyes this comment shows that there’s someone afraid of new ideas. For me Sasanos’ Tosogu no Kigen was very enlightening. Florian

I appreciate the enthusiasm in this topic. However, what we read here are laments about and proofs for the erroneous classification system. BTW criticism which isn’t new at all and popped up from time to time. The topic is labelled „ideas that need to change“, but with all respect we read nothing about attempts or even any suggestions for a revision of the classification. Instead the discussion gets lost in details, which better should be discussed separatly. It’ s easy to tear down the walls but there must arise something new, a heap of ruins will satisfy no one. If in the past attempts have been made (and I do believe so) to establish a new system these efforts apparently failed. And as long as no alternatives will exist I’m afraid we will stick to the old classification furthermore: „We know it’s not good, but it’s the only one we have!“ Florian

Concerning the timeline I waited for this Tsuba with controversial dating to pop up but now I yield it by myself: It is owned by the Museum of Fine Art in Boston and according to Okabe Kakuya who wrote the first museum catalog in 1908 it is a Momoyama piece. Okabe interpreted the combination of gourd and kiri as a hint to Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the background pattern of snowflakes is said to have been a popular fabric design at this time, too. I think even today the museum refers to this dating (see also „Lethal Elegance“ by Joe Earle). The very same Tsuba is depicted in Sasano’s TOSOGU NO KIGEN (1979). He focused on the peculiar form of the hitsu-ana. In the named book he sums up the development of Kogai and Kozuka pointing out that the early ones have a flat design while later with the Goto-lineage more and more relief-like decoration appeared. This makes it necessary to change the form of the hitsu-ana to larger, rounded ones. In correspondence with other examples showing similar primary hitsu-ana he dates it back to the Nambokucho period. About 200 years difference! There are others who dated it in between those periods and I don’t think there will be ever an ultimate answer. But why I mentioned this Tsuba is that the age estimation is based on one hand on the design, on the other hand on a technical background. Best, Florian

Sorry to correct the "jumping carp": It's a KOINOBORI, a windsack in form of a carp used as an auspicious symbol on boy's day on May 5th. An UKIYO-E by Hiroshige (maybe the model for the TSUBA in question?): Best, Florian

I want to clarify my objection concerning the demand for historical illustrations. Edo-period illustrations (excluding pattern books of course) depict hardly any individual Tsuba-Design although we know many different models were in use. But this obviously means nothing. llustrations from Muromachi-times depict also no individual Tsuba-Design - but this shall proof their non-existence. I can only speculate why Tsuba patterns have been omitted by the artists through the times, but at least the illustrations cannot (or only in some cases) consulted to back up the development of Tsuba. Florian

Thomas, in some way You are right, it’s the same old story of supply and demand. There was a time, I also thought gaining a papered piece is the top of bliss. But someday I had the opportunity to buy something and asked if it is papered. The seller asked me in return, if I do collect papers? At this point I became grounded and I possess many pieces today without paper. Nice to have them, but it is more important to recognize the quality of a piece itself. Alas, many folks are still blended by papers or even worse demand them to be sure. BTW: The limitations at the shinsa is a result of missing judges, too. I think if they had enough board members, they could manage the flood of submissions as well… Florian

Besides the attribution: In my younger collector days (decades ago) a Hozon-paper was something special and proofed a certain grade. But today Tsuba from top to low End got Hozon so it became an inflationary practice and says nothing about quality at least. IMHO these papers will loose more and more significance (as the former Kicho-Papers have). If there will be maybe a revision of the certification system it can only be build up on levels of quality to become reliable again. Florian

Glen, the shots are just a random selection (just a fast search) of woodcut prints found in the web, but endless others could be added. I choose especially prints of the Edo-times and also scenes of this time, so decorated Tsuba must have been common. Thus it is peculiar artists don’t depict them (the suggested reason I gave above). Florian

The illustrations of Tsuba on paintings (scrolls and screens) and woodblock prints are not a reliable source. In most cases plain round or mokko-shaped swordguards WITHOUT ANY decoration (neither sukashi nor kinko - and by the way without hitsu-ana!) are shown. Does it means that samurai didn’t use decorated Tsuba? Certainly not, but the depiction of small details was apparently technical difficult or the artist wasn’t interested in an exact depiction and a simplified, standardized type was sufficient for him. Florian

Gentlemen, I want You to remember that Mr. Haynes is a well reputed and skilled collector so there is no need for mockery. Don’t forget he went for Tsuba when most of us haven’t been born and without todays possibilities. There are indeed pieces I won’t agree with Mr. Haynes judgement, but this can be discussed without scoffing. Florian

Mostly we are looking for a definitive, and thus satisfying explanation, in this particular case a Tsuba motif. But there are Japanese design motives which are intentionally unclear and could be interpreted in different ways. So everything You will see in it is correct! Maybe an artist created a Tsuba without the purpose to depict something. He has had just fun by playing with forms or varying existing ones. In these cases just enjoy the result and admire the beauty of shapes and surface. And the little secret not exactly to know what it means keeps it more interesting. Florian

Hi Steve, the wavy lines in the circle merge in a curve into the outer rim and connect these parts to one form. So I would clearly support Your sea cumber interpretation. Similar examples with angular connections at the junction seem far more indifferent. In the "Tosogu Classroom" Vol. 1 the motif is assumed as "OI" or backpack box for Yamabushi. So it’s a nice example how a little variation of curvature changes a design. However, a wonderful find! Congrats! Florian

Seeing the front I wasn't sure what to make out of it, but the backside looks all right. I’ve never seen such before - interesting indeed! Is the front side plated? Florian