Not a Keneie tsuba ...

[docliss]

The recent, authoritative article on Kaneie tsuba by Richard Turner, in the October edition of his tosogu.com, has prompted me to seek opinions on the attached tsuba from my collection.

 

This is of a darkly patinated, and beautifully textured iron. Tate-maru-gata, measuring 8.0 cm – 7.4 cm, it is slightly lenticular in cross-section, and depicts a silver moon, shining through openwork clouds. On the obverse, a cormorant, with golden legs, beak and eye is perched upon the prow of a boat while, on the reverse, is a cormorant fisherman, depicted in an iroye of shakudo, silver and gold. Water and reeds are carved out of the iron ground. The kodzuka-hitsu has shakudo umagane and the guard bears the inscription ‘YAMASHIRO KUNI FUSHIMI (NO)JU KANEIE.

 

It is interesting to observe that the dominant image appears, unusually, on the ura surface of this tsuba. This, surely, is not Kaneie work; is it, I wonder, Ko-Nara in its origin?

 

Regards, John L.

[Stephen]

months looking for a tsuba with a bird and boat...at least i know there out there, very nice.

[Rich T]

Hi John, I have to agree, I think not Kaneie. It's design and the workmanship in the soft metal is immediately not Kaneie. The look of the iron is not early Kaneie either I think, and while it is hard to judge, it looks like it may be 4mm or so thick ?, too thick even for most Saga Kaneie I think.

 

Nara or Naraesq would be a good call I think on this one, I also agree there.

 

Also thanks for the plug John :-). I have recently made some additions to that article and a couple of corrections.

 

Cheers

 

Richard

[Rich S]

I would agree with Rich T, not Kaneie. Probably later Nara style work with

an even later added Kaneie mei - intended to deceive. Still a nice

looking tsuba; not one that I'd throw out :-)

 

Rich S