Tsuba i.d.

[Oldman]

Can anyone shed light on this iron tsuba, maker, school, age? It is 67 mm diameter. Thanks!

[Akitombo]

Kinai school, Edo period .  David

[Ford Hallam]

As David wrote, Kinai, left side reads Kinai saku (made), right side Echizen (no) Ju or 'living in Echizen (province)'

[mecox]

Michael, yes this is Echizen Kinai very late design, but the mei looks a little "clunky" (quickly cut).

On website Nihonto-no-Bi is a comprehensive summary of Kinai group for comparison    http://www.users.on.net/~coxm/?page=TsubaIII

Mal

[mecox]

Michael,  I had a closer look,  please check if this may be cast.....hit with a steel object...does it "ring" or "clunk"?

[SalaMarcos]

Also seems cast, maybe not...but judging the mei and the pic... Hope not...

[b.hennick]

I do not see the usual obvious signs of a cast piece.

[Yasaka Azuma]

Last week I happened to see the same tsuba  auctioned.

 

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/c865354537

 

 

[Oldman]

Thanks very much all. While my tsuba certainly looks very similar to the one that was listing on Yahoo, the sekigane and tagane ato are different. I don't see any indicia of it having been cast; no porosity, no flashing. I'm reluctant to hit it with anything hard. Cheers, Michael S.

[Shugyosha]

Hi Michael,

Go on - give it a whack with a hammer😄...but seriously, I agree with you, nothing there to indicate it's cast. More importantly, I think Ford would have mentioned it if there had been anything untoward to his expert eye.

[Spartancrest]

Michael, the Kinai 'school' was well known for its production of Aoi pattern guards, they were produced in some numbers and as usual in various states of quality. Yours shows no casting signs, but I would agree the Mei looks 'hasty'. A large number are from 'student' craftsmen who happily signed their work with the masters name. Yas's example only goes to prove the numbers made. Another two examples with the same signature.[sorry for the partial image]

 

Another similar to yours [ura view] and an even more common version. [the right hand pattern are so common they are still being copied]

 

One going on auction now as well.    https://www.jauce.com/auction/s784060301 

I hope the images are of some use for comparison. [As you noted the nakago-ana is the fingerprint and the tagane-ato are the clincher for  individual guards.]

Regards Dale.

[Yasaka Azuma]

I agree with Dale. The sixth generation Takahashi-Kinai was named in 1809 and died in 1821. The two Aoi leaf openwork tsuba are said to have been made by him. However, there are so many tsuba with Mei in the 6th generation that Japanese collectors call them "丁稚記内 (apprentice-kinai)" mass-produced by apprentices.
They include foundry products and replicas of the new era, but if you follow the rules of kinai, they don't worry about the details.