Heitai68 Posted February 24, 2014 Report Posted February 24, 2014 Could this be an tsuba from the muromachi period? It´s from iron and mumei. Ed Quote
hxv Posted February 24, 2014 Report Posted February 24, 2014 Please sign your posts. I am no expert, but the iron and sukashi work look too "new" to be Muromachi -probably Edo-period. Hoanh Quote
John A Stuart Posted February 24, 2014 Report Posted February 24, 2014 Yes, your first name and last initial are requisites for communication. Welcome aboard BTW. John Quote
Marius Posted February 24, 2014 Report Posted February 24, 2014 Ed, the tsuba is Edo. Iron is too bland to be of an earlier production. Quote
Ken-Hawaii Posted February 24, 2014 Report Posted February 24, 2014 One small word of advice, Ed. Please show tsuba photos with the point of the nakago-ana up, rather than down. Helps to read any mei, & generally just looks better. Ken Quote
Marius Posted February 24, 2014 Report Posted February 24, 2014 Please show tsuba photos with the point of the nakago-ana up, rather than down. Unless it is a tachi tsuba. But yours is not. Quote
Heitai68 Posted February 24, 2014 Author Report Posted February 24, 2014 Ed, the tsuba is Edo. Iron is too bland to be of an earlier production. You mean the tsuba is not rusty enough.... Ed Quote
peterd Posted February 24, 2014 Report Posted February 24, 2014 Ed The quality of the steel is not good enough. How much rust has nothing to do with it. Peter D Quote
hxv Posted February 24, 2014 Report Posted February 24, 2014 You mean the tsuba is not rusty enough.... No, no, no.... Rust is not a good thing. By "bland," Mariusz meant absence of hammering marks, surface texture, iron bones, etc. Hoanh Quote
Heitai68 Posted February 25, 2014 Author Report Posted February 25, 2014 You mean the tsuba is not rusty enough.... No, no, no.... Rust is not a good thing. By "bland," Mariusz meant absence of hammering marks, surface texture, iron bones, etc. Hoanh Ahhhh, o.k., now I understand. Yes, that is fact. My tsuba has nearly no manufacturing marks. That means the processing in early periods like muromachi was more crude? Ed Quote
hxv Posted February 25, 2014 Report Posted February 25, 2014 Ed, You might want to invest $200 in a book entitled "Japanese Sword Guards" by Sasano, available on Grey's website japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com. It's a wonderful book that will answer all of your questions. Regards, Hoanh Quote
Antti Posted February 25, 2014 Report Posted February 25, 2014 Would this be an Edo period Owari, or done in the style of Owari? Some rought cuts there, like in the first picture 1 o'clock, inside the rim. Also, in the first picture (in its wrong way around position), on the bottom part of the seppa dai, there is a cut there, outlining the seppa dai. Was this made by the smith perhaps, to outline it, or does that kind of cut come from the seppa itself. Perhaps it's just my inexperienced eyes, but the tsuba feels like... unfinished somehow. Quote
hxv Posted February 25, 2014 Report Posted February 25, 2014 The iron doesn't have the boldness associated with Owari tsuba. If I had to guess, I would guess Shoami. Disclaimer: I am venturing outside of my comfort zone... Hoanh Quote
Heitai68 Posted February 25, 2014 Author Report Posted February 25, 2014 Ed,You might want to invest $200 in a book entitled "Japanese Sword Guards" by Sasano, available on Grey's website japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com. It's a wonderful book that will answer all of your questions. Regards, Hoanh Thanks for your recommendation. I consider to purchase some good books, I think this one would be a good start. I will post some better daylight pics of the tsuba with good closeups. Perhaps then a clear determination will be sure possible. Ed Quote
Heitai68 Posted February 25, 2014 Author Report Posted February 25, 2014 ...... Was this made by the smith perhaps, to outline it, or does that kind of cut come from the seppa itself. Perhaps it's just my inexperienced eyes, but the tsuba feels like... unfinished somehow. No, it looks like an "scratch" made by the smith. Ed Quote
Heitai68 Posted February 26, 2014 Author Report Posted February 26, 2014 So, here´re now some daylight closeups. Not perfect, but in spite of this I hope a clear determination will be possible. By the way.... this I´ve found today in WWW. Not the same but damned similar..... http://www.google.de/imgres?sa=X&biw=12 ... P8BEK0DMDY Ed Quote
Marius Posted February 26, 2014 Report Posted February 26, 2014 Sorry, your tsuba (which is probably attributable to Shoami, that handy grab-bag) and the one you have found on the web are run of the mill guards. Definitely not worth $1,600, (more like $160-200). I have seen some very persistent sellers on eBay trying to sell such tsuba for big bucks - they must have been hoping for someone rich and stupid. Buy some books. Start with Sasano "Early Japanese Sword Guards: Sukashi Tsuba" (as advised) and Torigoye / Haynes "Tsuba. An Aesthetic Study". Quote
raven2 Posted February 26, 2014 Report Posted February 26, 2014 So, here´re now some daylight closeups. Not perfect, but in spite of this I hope a clear determination will be possible. By the way.... this I´ve found today in WWW. Not the same but damned similar..... Ed A lot of tsubas in this style are damned similar. That is the problem, people get tricked very easily because they look so close. You need to be able to look at the style and also the "feel" of the tsuba and by feel I mean both the quality of the iron and the impression you get from seeing it. Although the design of this tsuba is similar to Owari, it doesn't have the robustness or the "flow" that a true Owari would have. Try the suggested books, they will help you a lot. Also look on the websites in the links section here and look at the pictures and descriptions of the tsubas there. Quote
Heitai68 Posted February 26, 2014 Author Report Posted February 26, 2014 Sorry, your tsuba (which is probably attributable to Shoami, that handy grab-bag) and the one you have found on the web are run of the mill guards. Definitely not worth $1,600, (more like $160-200). I have seen some very persistent sellers on eBay trying to sell such tsuba for big bucks - they must have been hoping for someone rich and stupid. Buy some books. Start with Sasano "Early Japanese Sword Guards: Sukashi Tsuba" (as advised) and Torigoye / Haynes "Tsuba. An Aesthetic Study". Thank´s very much. Sorry for my small provocative joke :lol: 200$ would be even o.k. for me :D Ed Quote
hxv Posted February 26, 2014 Report Posted February 26, 2014 Ed, That's quite alright. Look at it from the bright side: it's a real tsuba with some age, not a Chinese repro. I would definitely go with books and lots of reading before buying again, though. At some point, after lots of reading, you will probably look back at what you bought earlier on and say: "What an eye sore! What was I thinking?" It happens to all of us, present company included. Have fun reading! Regards, Hoanh Quote
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