Goto ? Yoshioka ? Omori ? Yanagawa ?

[Kurikata]

I personally offered me my Xmas present (I followed the advice:  If you want it done right your better do it yourself) 

 

Now we come to a school attribution. Personally I tend to consider this tsuba with a Goto school origin but.... would it be Omori, Yoshioka or Yanagawa?

 

Thank you for your views.

[John A Stuart]

Was not shishi and peonies a Nomura school theme favourite? John

[Krystian]

Can you share some additional close up photos of the shishi? It could be helpful for attribution. 

[Kurikata]

Here it is Krystian

[Kurikata]

[Gunome]

My first thought was Goto.

Seems the mimi is in gold nanako, isn't it ?

[Kurikata]

Yes indeed Sebastien, the mimi is formed with gold nanako . This nanako is so regular....  

[Gunome]

Nice mimi and nice tsuba !

 

[Yasaka Azuma]

Is another metal inlaid at the part of the image? Or is the base metal exposed?

 

 

[Barrie B]

Yas,

 

It is called Sekigane.. An insert (usually copper) to allow the tsuba to fit (snugly) to the nakago.. You don't just see them in the nakago ana either.. They are sometimes fitted in sukashi tsuba around the seppa-dai to fit a koshirae (Koiguchi for example) or in the Ryo hitsu-ana to accomodate kodogu or to protect the kodogu from scratching.. The latter usually being fitted to iron tsuba and done in shakudo or gold to protect the fittings.

 

Here is an example in the kozuka-ana from one of my Akasaka tsuba.

 

 

Tsuba from Suruga often have kutchibeni style sekigane that are fitted as part of the tsuba aesthetics. This is a kantei point as well.

 

Barrie.

[Yasaka Azuma]

Hi Barrie. I want to know the specifics, not the general ones. How do you identify Bruno's kinko-tsuba?

[PietroParis]

I’m 100% sure that Yas knows what sekigane is, and the one in the picture doesn’t look like an insert.

[Barrie B]

Apologies; I misunderstood the question, but it looks like sikigane (added at the time of manufacture) to me. 

 

Barrie.

[Kurikata]

Yas, thank you for your interesting question. From my own point of view, sekigane are original to the tsuba itself . This tsuba apparently has been mounted once only.

[Kurikata]

[Gakusee]

Bruno, I believe the confusion of Yas and others might stem from the beautiful and smooth execution of the sekigane. Usually they are crude, protuberant and unsightly and clearly a rushed copper addition to fit a tsuba to a specific nakago. Here, yours are smooth, elegant and flush with the surface. I have seen this before and it has also caused a debate in the past whether it was intended, how/why it was done etc. 

[Yasaka Azuma]

Barrie. It's a good tsuba. Seme-tagane is similar to Kyo-sukashi that I owned before.
Bruno. Thanks for the additional images. As Pietro says, I didn't seem to have Seme-gane attached. If possible, I would like to grab a magnifying glass and go see it.

[1kinko]

In making kinko tuba it is normal to insert the sekigane while preparing the plate, so it is not unusual to have the surface finished flush. Of course, the purpose of sekigane is to protect both the tsuba and the sword from damaging each other while permitting a tight fit.

[Kurikata]

Darrel,

 

it is clear that Tanaka school kantei point are those very specific Sekigane being an integrated part of the Tsuba. Is it the same situation for Goto school ones?

[Surfson]

The Omori guess sounds reasonable too.  They quite liked shishi and botan (peony).  

 

https://yuhindo.com/omori-mitsutoki/