A tsuba to your consideration

[Mike]

Hello everyone, I have been away of the forums the past two years or so, in which I have sold a substantial part of my tosogu collection, keeping few of my favorite tsuba. Now, when I am back again, enjoy the reading and educate myself, I would like to post the remainder of my tsuba collection, one at a time and have discussion if the tsuba turn out to be interesting. I also will not post deatails of era and school, letting you, respectable fellows, have the chance to find out

 

I will start with this one, I purchased it from a forum member years ago. It is sukashi rounded square shape, measures are 63 mm x 65 mm x 5 mm, dark grey-brown color.

 

What do you think? Any opinion and information will be gratefully accepted.

 

Mike

 

Ps- The photos are bad comparing the true beauty of the jigane of this tsuba :?

[raven2]

A lot of rust on this one and roughly carved. The school escapes me and I am not at home for my books. The shape is interesting but not one of my favorites.

[Bazza]

Home made??? i.e., "shinsaku"!!!!!

 

Bestests,

BaZZa.

[Mike]

Well I think that the macro photographs did not serve right. It is not homemade and definitely not shinsaku, on the contrary.

This is Ko Shoami tsuba from the muromachi period, rather good condition to its age and possibly used to fit katate-uchi.

 

Mike

[raven2]

Well, it certainly does look old enough for Muromachi and I think you may be right about the macro, Mike. Sometimes there can be too much of a good thing.

[John A Stuart]

What I think I see here is a tsuba that has rusted to an high degree, been surface cleaned to bare metal ( except the sukashi where you see thick red rust) and repatinated. Just like a tsuba in a recent thread, one of the telltales is the artificial darkening seen on the sekigane. The square hitsuana has lost a fair amount of metal and become so thin it warped. John

[Curran]

Mike,

 

Take new photos in brighter (sun)light if at all possible. Much less macro.

It is a little ko-shoami that was probably on an uchigatana or short blade. I recall similar a one in the Haynes Catalogs, though I sold mine.

 

It hasn't been repatinated / dipped.

On the sekigane: Lacquer? Pine? Probably the whole tsuba, possibly the koshirae it originally went on was shellacked.

[Pete Klein]

From the surface condition it appears to have been in a fire at some point with the heavier fire scale being removed. From the rectangular kogai hitsuana most likely Momoyama jidai, Shoami would most likely be the attribution.

[Mike]

I will take better photos with less macro as Curran suggested, not sure about it been in a fire though.

 

Thanks for your comments

 

Mike