Shakudo Choshu

[raiden]

Shakudo works by the Choshu are very rare and of high class. This tsuba is a very good example of a special ordered tsuba by Choshu Yukihisa. In fact fittings other than tsuba are very rarely seen by the Choshu artist.

[DirkO]

I've always thought Choshu to be an underestimated school - this is a very fine example indeed! It's not all vague mountains and Sansui themes... Some of them were quite inventive. The cut out moon in reeds comes to mind (Choshu Yukitaka I think - should look it up in my books).

[Brian]

What a beautiful tsuba. Gorgeous.

Do you mean any other fittings by any Choshu artist besides tsuba are rare?

One of my own that I love, and on one of my first swords. Choshu Hagi ju Tomonobu I think...

 

Brian

[raiden]

This tsuba has a maching Fuchi Kashira by Yukihisa as well, an issaku koshirae by any Choshu artist is very rare.

[docliss]

I should like to complement Mike Y’s beautiful shakudō, Choshū tsuba with an image of a sukashi tsuba in a rich, black shakudō, depicting a cricket among susuki grasses. It is mumei, but clearly demonstrates its Choshū origin.

 

There is a guard similar to this in the collection of the Museum fur Kurst et Gewerbe in Hamburg, which was loaned to the 'L'Art Nouveau: La Maison Bing' exhibition, held at the Amsterdam Van Gough Museum in 2005. That guard also is mumei, but was attributed to Nakai Zensuke Tomotsune I, this despite the fact that there were three Nakai artists who used these names and who are very difficult to distinguish from one another.

 

John L.

[kusunokimasahige]

Gorgeous items !!

 

I have seen some on the Tetsugendo site I believe, or similar ones.

 

KM

[Bernard]

Beautiful !

Bernard D

[Soshin]

Hi Mike Y.,

 

This is a wonderful tsuba that I would say is emblematic of the Japanese aesthetic Miyabi. Thank you so much for posting it on NMB. It is a great study piece. I hope you have it at next year's Tampa show.

[jlawson]

I remember this Koshirae from the DTI catalog in 2006. Reference on page 26 for folks that have the catalog. Very nice Mike, wondered where this Koshirae went to.