Opinions on new purchase Enjuken Kanri (Sei), Moritoshi Okimono Tsuba

[autodex]

Hello,

I am getting back into the tsuba collecting game,  I  just picked up a tsuba and thought I would get some opinions. It's Meiji,Okimono tsuba signed by Enjuken Kanri (Sei), Moritoshi. Never mounted most likley just for artistic value. Not sure who is depicted on the front and any background would be appreciated from those in the know. I saw a previous post with this exact tsuba but there was no copper left....someone had a question about the signature. I wonder how common these are and if they have any cultural significance 

 

 

 

Thanks 

Steven

[MauroP]

Hi Steven,
I've found very similar tsuba a handful of times on Yahoo Japan.
Here below my one

The signature should be 延壽軒 寛利製 - Enjuken Kanri sei (I was helped by members of this forum to get it right).
寛利 can be read either Kanri or Hirotoshi.
The subject depicted is Daruma in meditation in his cave.

I suppose the material could be bronze (seidō - 青銅), casted and then hand refined
Mauro

[autodex]

Thanks for the info

[IanB]

Autodex,

Please excuse a small fetish of mine but I normally like to know who I am communicating with. However, If you compare the two tsuba you will see the soft metal one is crisper and the cuts made in the signature are sharp compared with the somewhat blurred ones in the iron (?) version. If you look below the signature, almost in line with the first column, you will see two dots on the iron one that are not there in the other. There are other examples. In my opinion, and it is just that working from photos, the iron (?) is a copy.

 

Ian Bottomley. 

[Ford Hallam]

To my eyes the original tsuba on this thread is not a casting. It's brass, or shinchu if you want to impress... I see no reason to suggest that it's anything other than a genuine piece of metal carving.

 

The second piece, on the other hand, is to my eyes, a cast copy. The patina is an awful modern instant thing, out of a bottle.

[autodex]

Thank you all for the replies. I feel much better about my purchase

[Ford Hallam]

Just seen that Ian has beat me too it with the same conclusion.

 

I would just add that the second one is, in my option, not iron, but probably brass.