Heianjo tsuba with brass inlay?

[mercierarmory]

This is another tsuba I picked up from a friend today. It appears to be a heianjo piece but am not knowledgable enough to tell. There is a very faint signature but it is too well worn to read (in my opinion). Any thoughts on age? Early or mid Edo? I am very new to collecting tsuba so I welcome any comments.

 

Mike

[Soshin]

Hi Mike,

 

What are the measurements of the tsuba? The type of brass inlay does look like Heianjo shinchu zogan tsuba style. Check out other peoples posts here and you would get the idea of the correct orientation the tsuba should be in photos. The third photo is correct the other two are incorrect unless you are posting a tachi tsuba. From what I see and can't see in your photos I would date your tsuba to the early Edo Period. This is just my educated opinion.

 

P.S. I am currently researching a early Tenpo tsuba that has a Heianjo style inlays of brass with a very deep color of imported Chinese brass. The color of your brass inlays looks more like domestic Japanese brass of the Edo Period.

[mercierarmory]

Hello David,

The tsuba has a diameter of 3" with a nakago-ana of 1 3/8".

 

Mike

[Rich S]

Nice tsuba. Here are a few of my favorite Heianjo, some on Saotome plates.

 

Rich S

[Rich S]

Nice tsuba. Here are a few of my favorite Heianjo, some on Saotome plates.

 

Rich S

 

(I find I don't know how to add multiple pics Sorry)

[Rich S]

And another: Heianjo 4 is just a better pic of the front of this one.

[Rich S]

And still another:

[Rich S]

And one last one:

[yogoro]

A few brass inlay tsuba : Heianjo / Onin /Tenpo

[Ron STL]

Mikolaj, you have some very nice tsuba there. Enjoyed seeing them. Attached are two examples that are here. The first one is brass inlay on a very uneven Tempo plate (which resembles one of Mikolaj's tsuba). This one measures 85mm x 82.5mm x 4mm. John Yumoto said when I showed this to him that inlay artists would buy Tempo plate tsuba and inlay the rough, uneven surface to "show how good they were at inlaying." The second tsuba (mokko shaped) is one my earliest found tsuba measuring 74mm x 73mm x 4mm. . I showed this tsuba to Morihiro Ogawa back in the early 1970s and he identified it as Heianjo. This was my earliest exposure to Heianjo brass inlay tsuba, a stepping stone in my collecting years. Both tsuba remain here today, still appreciated.

Ron STL

[Gabriel L]

I won my Heianjo tsuba from the raffle here on NMB. I always feel a little guilty looking at it because I am used to paying for things the hard way! But I do like it and it seems germane to post it here.