Early iron something Tsuba?

[kaigunair]

Been carrying this one in the pocket a while. Seems very old to me. Shoami would be the easy call, but I am hoping some member have seen others like it? Brass dots and rims around everything made me think onin/heianjo/kamakura but sukashi is probably too big for such a call. Proto/ko something? 53x58mm

(Using mobile to do this and not sure I have the resizing down; gomenasai)

[kaigunair]

Guess it's an unusual one?

[Henry Wilson]

Hi Junichi

 

I have seen tsuba like yours in Tokyo. The same sort of squat rugged look and the same kind of metal with an unusual motif. I imagine it is quite thick, about 4 mm maybe? It seems that the motif is of winged insects possibly.

 

The person who I was with dated them to Muromachi period, I think based on the naive feel that they have and the fact that he says they came off old period Edo koshirae. They remind me a bit of Kanayama tsuba and Owari sukashi for some reason.

 

The nakago ana shape reminds of one from my collection. Bear in mind there is shadow in the nakagoana. It is papered as Ko Shoami.

 

I hope this is of interest.

[kaigunair]

Thanks Henry. I should have taken thickness measurement but was headed out the door for travel. Will get them once I get home. Not sure if it was very thick. Not tosho thin for sure. I forgot to mention none of the designs are symmetrical which is also interesting.

 

Nakago does look similar. I was thinking it might have been due to the design being rotated during a subsequent remount, though this is a small Tsuba and not tachi sized. I've always assumed tanto were worn blade up, but upon further thought, since their style is as old as tachi, maybe they experienced the blade down, then up mounting change?

[Soshin]

Hi Junichi,

 

My guess is Ko-Shoami. They did inlays like that on simple sukashi designs. The seppa-dai is very wide as well. The thickness is a important measurement to have.

[kaigunair]

Been busy prepping for the SF show, so apologies for the measurement delays.

 

Approximately 3.5-4mm at the nakago ana, and about 4mm at the rim. Does that help narrow down the school to something other than ko-shoami?

[Curran]

Saw a similar one in a museum collection and was asked to identify it.

It is one of those I had to say 'unknown'.

Aspects of ko-shoami crossed with later Edo Umetada works.

 

We all have our comfort zones, and this is one outside what I feel I know.

I lean heavily towards Edo, but couldn't say where it was manufactured.

[kaigunair]

Thanks curran. The amount of wear down on the lines surrounding the sukashi work had made me think earlier. Appears to have been carried around quite a bit to get that sort of wear, I'm thinking.

 

Do you recall if the example you saw was heavily worn also? Maybe the iron is softer if it is edo and wears faster ....

 

Thanks in advance.

[kaigunair]

some glam shots

[Soshin]

Been busy prepping for the SF show, so apologies for the measurement delays.

 

Approximately 3.5-4mm at the nakago ana, and about 4mm at the rim. Does that help narrow down the school to something other than ko-shoami?

 

Hi Junichi,

 

The thickness measurements of your tsuba remind me of what I would expect for a Ko-Shoami tsuba. I still think this is a early tsuba but it is a bit hard to be 100% sure without seeing the tsuba in person.