Tsuba Mon

[Ed]

I have scoured every reference I have as well as online, but have been unable to find this exact Mon.

 

Closest I have come is the one shown.  Maybe a variation of that. ???

 

Any ideas ?

[IJASWORDS]

Ed, may not be a mon but just part of the decoration. 

[Brian]

I think it's more than just decoration. But what it is....
Beautiful looking shakudo though.

[Curran]

I think it's more than just decoration. But what it is....

Beautiful looking shakudo though.

 

Yep. Extremely nice shakudo.

This tsuba seems to have much going on with it even in the partial window shown by Ed.

[Pete Klein]

http://yakiba.com/Tsuba_Ko-Kinko_Shells.htm

 

I thought it looked familiar.  It used to be mine.

 

CC -- probably four/five years ago at Tampa show.  

[Brian]

Ah....lol. Nothing escape the forum eyes
Looks lovely Pete. Odd..looks like someone practiced their nanako on the seppa dai.
Tsuba looks stunning.

[uwe]

After consulting my mon-books, I came up empty handed.

Might be a variation of orange blossom (tachibana 橘), but I’m in doubt if it’s a mon at all?!

[Ed]

Yeah, I am not really sure that it is a mon, but that was by best guess.  regardless, I would still be interested to know what it is.

 

Thanks for the input.

[Greg F]

Ed I think the mon you cound may be it. I can see why you may have doubts but to me its just a slim version. Hopefully someone will be able to answer for sure and put your mind at ease. Good luck.

 

Greg

[FlorianB]

Ed,

as written in the "Mon"-book by Chappelear/Hawley You refer to about 7500 kamon were in existence and in this book only a smaller number are selected which represent the final form.
On Your Tsuba not the mentioned “final form” but a more naturalistic view of this plant is depicted. IMHO this hints to an early version of this kamon still without the graphic simplicity of later ones but with more artistic licence.

Researching one of my own Tsuba showing an unusual myoga-mon I found this in the depths of the internet:

 

Probably an old shop-sign whith a slim variation of myoga. Although not Your gyoyo-kamon I’d like to share it to prove a larger variety in style.

Florian
 

[Ed]

Florian,

I have been forced to conclude that this mon must be just that, a variation depicting a more naturalistic view.

 

Thanks for the input. 

[SteveM]

I agree with Ed. At first I didn't think it was myōga, but now I think it must be a depiction of myōga (just not the one we typically see on kamon).

I don't know if its intending to be a kamon, or just a motif, but I don't think it could be anything else. 

[MauroP]

Hi Ed,

I just realized that I have collected  in my database an image of your tsuba from an old Yahoo Japan auction.

Actually the tsuba has (had?) a NBTHK paper reporting in the description: 波貝に変り花抱茗荷紋鐔  -  namigai ni kawari hana dakimyōga-mon tsuba. So little doubt about that mon representing  myōga.

BTW, quite unusually, the shinsa team reported also a time attribution (Momoyama).

[Stephen]

Got to love our small world of friends!!