School And Age

[svarsh]

A couple of tsuba that I cannot attribute. Please help.

Thank you.

Sergei

[svarsh]

OK, I got no response on my previous request. Let's see if I get any luck with this one:

Myochin or Akasaka? Or something else?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Sergei

[Nikanoru]

Here is one for you, Sergei.

My centipede is a NBTHK papered Shoami.

[vajo]

Sergei the tsuba looks newly made for me.

Alex your Rising Sun and Waves site is great. Congratulation!

[Nikanoru]

Those are not new. Those are from the collection of the great Russian collector Sergei Petrovich Varshavsky. I can't speak on behalf of Sergei, he might tell more.

And thanks, Chris! 

[svarsh]

No, Alex.

None of my pieces is from my grandfather's collection. All of my pieces we acquired in last 5 years. I started collecting in 2013.

The torii and pine tsuba was purchased in Tokyo in 2014.

Sergei

[svarsh]

Thank you Alex. Very helpful. Please give me a link to your website.

  On 5/24/2018 at 10:13 AM, Nikanoru said:

Here is one for you, Sergei.

My centipede is a NBTHK papered Shoami.

IMG_3659.JPG

IMG_3660.JPG

[svarsh]

Which one, Chris? The torii and pines? I don't think it's new. I bought it in Japan from a reputable dealer. 

  On 5/24/2018 at 10:30 AM, vajo said:

Sergei the tsuba looks newly made for me.

Alex your Rising Sun and Waves site is great. Congratulation!

[Peter Bleed]

These are neat tsuba and the thread has been both fun and informative.

I have little to add, but...

I stopped collecting  dote mimi "katchushi" guards  (which used to be common and cheap) in part because of tsuba like the one that was at the top of this thread. It is a nice looking antique, but it looks fresh and more embellished that I liked as "armorsmiths'" work. Ultimately, I began to wonder if they might not be "OLD" (i.e. pre-Edo) tsuba that had been freshened up and embellished with zogan that matched the tastes of the 19th century.

Thanks for sharing and letting me muse.

Peter

[svarsh]

Hi Peter,

The tsuba you mention as dote mimi "katchushi" was purchased at Hartman Rare Art in New York. It has a collection accession number. I understand that both pieces of circumstantial evidence (old reputable dealer and collector's mark) may lead us into the woods, but still I would prefer to think that it is an old and nice piece. What I like the most is that one antenna of the bug is inlaid and the other is carved out, and that which is carved and which is inlaid alternates on the face and the reverse.

  

[vajo]

Sergei, Peter. The color looks so goldish "new". Is that from pictures or is it the real looking color of that tsuba.

[TETSUGENDO]

Sergei,

 

Looks like missing inlay and not an intentional design element.  As for Hartman, I would edit your description to simply read....Hartman Rare Art, New York, an older dealer.

 

Cheers,

[Guido]

  On 5/25/2018 at 7:16 AM, svarsh said:

... one antenna of the bug is inlaid and the other is carved out, and that which is carved and which is inlaid alternates on the face and the reverse.

 

Which, for me, is an idication that this was done intentionally. What are the odds of the entire inlay coming off on reversed elements on both sides of the tsuba? The lighting is probably off, but to me it looks like the real deal.

 

Btw, I would describe the rim as uchikaeshi-mimi, not dote-mimi - and both are seen on many types of tsuba, not only katchū-shi.

[TETSUGENDO]

  On 5/25/2018 at 1:49 PM, Guido Schiller said:

Which, for me, is an idication that this was done intentionally. What are the odds of the entire inlay coming off on reversed elements on both sides of the tsuba? The lighting is probably off, but to me it looks like the real deal.

 

Btw, I would describe the rim as uchikaeshi-mimi, not dote-mimi - and both are seen on many types of tsuba, not only katchū-shi.

Considering the number and nature of the inlaid elements....comfortably within the realm of possibility.

 

Cheers,

p.s.- If it is an intentional design choice, which is not impossible, it is IMO an ineffectual one.

[MauroP]

Just to clarify, dote-mimi and uchikaeshi-mimi can both apply, since the first term simply describes the rising of the border, the second term refers to the way the border was obtained (but in this tsuba the rised border could have been obtained by a tomogane-fukurin - 共金覆輪, i.e. a fukurin made of the same iron).
About the ji-sukashi tsuba, my guess is Akasaka.
Bye, Mauro

[svarsh]

Thanks Mauro. I will keep it under Akasaka, as you suggested.

Though, this is what some have said:

Japanese Swords and Sword Fittings from the Collection of Dr. Walter Ames Compton (Part I). Christie's, New York, March 31, 1992, pp. 28-29, № 53:

"A Tosa Myochin School Tsuba. Edo period (circa 1750), signed

Toshu ju Kuniyoshi saku

. The round iron plate pierced with a design of a temple gate (torii) and a pine tree. It has a round rim and there are some carved details on the surface of the design. The Tosa Myochin school, despite its foundation in the classic Myochin armor school tradition, worked mainly in the style of Akasaka school of Edo. [...]

Many are equal to the mid to later Akasaka school work and the two types have frequently been confused.

Signed examples are rare. Estimated price $1,500-2,000."

[MauroP]

See this:

http://togishi.com/store/p52/BCT1_Late__Iron_Akasaka_Sukashi_Tsuba_Torii_%26_Pine.html

[TETSUGENDO]

Sergei,

 

Take a look at the cited Compton tsuba and the example Mauro has given you, the only thing they share is a common design source.  Examine the material and workmanship closely...do they appear comparable to you?  If your answer is yes, something is amiss.

 

Cheers,

[svarsh]

  On 5/26/2018 at 10:26 AM, MauroP said:

See this:

http://togishi.com/store/p52/BCT1_Late__Iron_Akasaka_Sukashi_Tsuba_Torii_%26_Pine.html

I've seen it, of course, Mauro. I trust Christie's, though we all make mistakes, including Christie's.

[svarsh]

Steven, you are surely right, they are very different. And mine is different to theirs. That's why I am asking your opinion: which school/age is my piece?

 

 

  On 5/26/2018 at 3:02 PM, TETSUGENDO said:

 

Take a look at the cited Compton tsuba and the example Mauro has given you, the only thing they share is a common design source.  Examine the material and workmanship closely...do they appear comparable to you?  If your answer is yes, something is amiss.

 

Cheers,

[TETSUGENDO]

Sergei,

 

I think Chris had already answered your inquiry correctly.  Unfortunately,  it appears to be a fake produced by an amateur hand using modern commercial plate. Sorry.

[svarsh]

Speaking of cricket's antennae, what about this one? At list I hope this one is not a modern fake...