A series of fittings ( or how not to build a collection )

[Brian]

His old mei vs his later one.....hmmm.
Lovely piece. I regret not buying a tsuba of his whilst I could afford it.

[Bob M.]

Item No. 247  Tsuba in shibuichi with gold , copper and shakudo   5.75 cm x 5.04 cm x 0.35 cm

 

Subject of persimmon fruit with bird signed Nomura Yuki ( his earlier art name was Nomura Masatada ) early 1700's.

 

A tanto sized tsuba from the third master of the Nomura school , finely crafted and restrained in execution.

 

[roger dundas]

Can I poke my nose in here to recommend to any of you with the time, to go back to the very first of Bob M's postings Feb 26, 2021 and go all the way through the posts that he has taken a lot of time to bring to the NMB members over the past 17 months.

I did so the other day and had the pleasure of seeing Bob's fine collection altogether at a single sitting .

Looking forward to the tiger themed items.

Thanks Bob.

Roger j

[Bob M.]

Item No. 248   Fuchi kashira in copper with gold , silver, copper and shakudo inlays.

 

Subject of long life , good fortune and courage in battle. Signed ( 1st. Gen. ) Yasuchika .

 

Nicely shaped and sculpted set  with ground effect produced by use of a ' y ' shaped punch. The cat and butterfly is a commonly used theme in Japanese Art , although fairly rare on tosugu , as a symbol for long life ( meaning over eighty years old in Japanese word play ) . The spider brings blessings from heaven and the dragonfly never retreats .The cat is modelled in 3D with protruding tongue .

 

There are also removable ' fitting shims ' attached to the Fuchi and Kashira as shown in the second set of pictures - maybe these performed a function when mounting the sword or could be just decorative showing a nice shakudo border . There is a cut out exposing the signature on the fuchi to complete the effect.

 

NTK papered , acquired from Japan some ten years ago.

 

Thanks to George Miller for his help on this.

 

[Bob M.]

Re. Item No. 248

[Brian]

Wow...awesome.

[Bob M.]

Item No. 249   Kozuka in copper with shakudo and silver

 

Subject of wasp set on a stippled background and with basketwork pattern. 

 

Mumei probably late 1700s to early 1800s.

 

Just a pleasing composition , quiet but compelling. The way in which the basket weave pattern merges into the stippled background is well carved.

 

[Anthony de Vos]

Hi!

 

Sword fittings is a very new interest of mine, previously collecting other Japanese fields. I would like to express my gratitude to Bob and everyone contributing with valuable information. It is a great learning tool for a beginner. I hope it never ends...

 

Regards,

 

Anthony

[Bob M.]

Item No. 250   Tsuba in dark Shibuichi with shakudo , gold and enamels   8.40 cm x 8.15 cm x 0.43 cm

 

Subject of a cormorant fisherman at night signed by Hirata Harunari with kao . 19th cent.

 

The fisherman has three cormorants on lines whilst working in a boat with a blazing fire basket to attract the fish.

 

Red enamel really brings the fire basket to life , while the colours of the fisherman's clothes are nicely portrayed.

[Steves87]

That is excellent, thank you for sharing.

I also want to add how very rare it is to see depictions of fire on Tosogu. I have not seen it depicted as finely as this.

[Bob M.]

Item No. 251   Iron Tsuba   7.10 cm x 6.90 cm x 0.45 cm

 

Subject of waves and stylised clouds. Inshu school, signed Inshu ju Suruga saku ,and dates to the 19th cent.

 

An old but unused tsuba from possibly 150 - 200 years ago. I cannot find any info. on the Inshu school - is there any information in Haynes of Wakayama ?

 

Great piercing - I will try to upload better silhouette pictures in the next day or so.

 

Quite unusual to see a tsuba like this awaiting its first blade.

[kissakai]

The more you look at it, the better it gets.

It seems to have characteristics from other schools

 

[Bob M.]

Re Item No.  251

 

George Miller has been able to find the following - Suruga was used by later members of the Haruta family school after they had moved to the Suruga province. They were retainers of the Ikeda Daimyo. The third master is said to have only signed using Suruga.

 

Haynes 09041 , also Wakayama has several mei that match this one.

 

Thanks , George.

 

Also Silhouette view as promised.

 

 

[Bob M.]

Item No. 252   Iron Tsuba with gold and silver inlay   8.40 cm x 8.30 cm x 0.39 cm

 

Subject of Iris ? ( unlikely ), Lily ?, Orchid ? Any botanists out there ?

 

Signed Osawa Inaba chokoku kore , apparently the signature of Osawa Hokyo who was active in the latter part of the 18th cent.

 

In very good condition for a tsuba the best part of 250 years old . Deep lustrous dark brown patina with the inlay virtually intact.

 

One of my favourite themes , depictions of stately flowers and leaves .

 

 

[Bob M.]

Second of the fittings featuring tigers !

 

Item No. 253   Set of copper fittings

 

Theme of tigers and bamboo signed Yurakusai Sekibun - 19th cent.

 

Set comprises fuchi-kashira , kuchigane , uragaware and kojiri , engraved in katakiri and kebori . In bespoke fitted box.

 

Bought at auction some nine years ago.

 

NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon.

 

 

 

 

[Bob M.]

Re Item No. 253   Additional views.

[Bob M.]

Item No. 254   Tsuba in copper with gold, shibuichi, shakudo and silver    7.00 cm x 5.82 cm x 0.50 cm

 

Subject of thatched hut and sparrows   signed Masayoshi .

 

Can anyone attribute this to a school ? I wondered if the tree on the reverse pointed towards Hamano ?

 

Irrespective , a nicely produced piece, possibly dating back to the early 19th cent.  A lot of fine detailing and engraving on show.

 

 

[MauroP]

Hi Bob, I can't see a kaō, just 正義 - Masayoshi.

 

[Bob M.]

Hi Mauro,

 

Thanks for that - I have edited the posting .

 

Regards

[Bob M.]

Item No.  255   Iron Tsuba   7.75 cm x 7.33 cm x 0.50 cm

 

Subject of three yanone ( arrow heads )  signed Shosai ( first half 19th cent. )

 

Beautifully made piece with smooth , tactile finish and nicely depicted arrow heads.

 

Possibly alludes to the ' Three Arrows Lesson ' , still taught today to elementary school children in Japan.  The lesson shows that one arrow may easily be snapped , but bundle three together and they are far more difficult to break - in other words working together as a team is much stronger than working as an individual .

 

Again , thanks are due to George Miller for his assistance.

[MauroP]

Hi Bob,
the tsuba is signed  江府住 正齊  –  Kōfu jū   Masanari.
Since the kanji 齊 is a variant of 斉 I think the artist could be the same as reported here below:

[Bob M.]

Hi Mauro,

 

Thanks for your interest and message . This is one of a number of fittings that arrived into my collection without any background information . I asked George Miller if he would kindly take a quick look at some of these and my posting is based on information he has supplied , always assuming that I have interpreted it correctly .

 

It seems that the signature on this piece is a bit of a puzzle .

 

My understanding is that it is signed Kofu ju on the right ( agreed ) and on the left ' Seisai ' or ' Shosai ' with kao/kakihan on the left. Seisai is known as Masanari ( Haynes 04295 ) however several kao shown for him , although similar , do not match. Haynes refers to Wakayama , where the signature and kao for Masanari do match however , both Haynes and Wakayama say that Masanori always signed with the place that he worked , but none of these locations are Kofu.

 

Shosai , the other possibility , is from the Takigawa family and worked in Kofu in the first half of the 19th Cent., but it has not been possible to find any references to his mei.

 

This leads us to the puzzle that the mei and kao match Masanari but the location does not , however the location matches Shosai . The style of work possibly also points to a later piece rather than an earlier ( 1700's ) one which is when Masanari was extant.

 

I guess that one could choose either way - it would be interesting to see what a shinsa would make of it .

 

Thanks again for spending your time on this , it is great to have some feedback.

 

Best

[MauroP]

Hi Bob, Kōfu (may be read also Efu) means just Edo, so Kōfu jū and Edo jū are equivalent.

[Bob M.]

Item No. 256   Kozuka in copper with shakudo and gold

 

Subject of a snake winding in and out of a hole in a rock with a toad on the reverse, signed Haruaki Hogen with kao. 19th cent.

 

Superbly detailed piece with miniature , delicate kebori work of the toad surrounded by grasses . Signature on edge.

 

Could this have something to do with a Sansukumi ? There are normally three characters though, and we are missing the slug.

 

Another piece showing the skill and attention to detail that is the hallmark of Haruaki Hogen and his school.

[Toryu2020]

I agree, Sansukumi, I believe Fukushi Sensei says that often you only see two of the subjects or just the snake...

 

-t

[Bob M.]

Item No. 257   Iron Tsuba with shibuichi , shakudo , silver , gold and copper   6.90 cm x 6.43 cm x 0.46 cm

 

Subject of Shoki and oni  , signed Toshinaga saku  - Nara school 18th cent.

 

A wakizashi sized tsuba with popular theme of the demon queller and his adversary . Shoki is striding purposely forward whilst on the reverse a fleeing oni is stealing a banner.

 

Both figures and the banner are beautifully detailed and reward a close look .

 

Provenence - ex Edward Wrangham collection.

[Bob M.]

Re Item no. 257

 

Slightly clearer images showing a bit more detail.

[Bob M.]

Item No. 258   Copper Kozuka with gold and shibuichi

 

Subject of a cricket signed Yasuchika on one edge.

 

The Kozuka is carved with a background imitating a wooden log , the cricket in gold with a full moon rising behind grasses on the reverse.

[Bob M.]

Item No. 259   Tsuba in Sentoku wth silver , gold , shakudo and shibuichi   6.90 cm x 5.50 cm x 0.26 cm

 

Subject of autumnal scenes under a full moon . Signed Nagaharu - 3rd Generation Koichi  & Katsuo school ( Kaga ) late 17th cent.

 

The tsuba is in good condition for its age of nearly 350 years.

 

An interesting small ( wakizashi sized ) tsuba with an image of a stream running past bundles of firewood and an old pine tree . The scene continues on the other side with a few more bamboo leaves and two flying geese . The whole panorama is lit by a full moon shining through a gap in the clouds .

 

A quiet, contemplative , almost melancholic piece depicting the changing of the seasons .

[Bob M.]

Re Item No. 259   -   George Miller has kindly been doing some digging regarding this piece and has sent his conclusions below. I must admit that I never thought that the young Joi could, ( still not proven , however ) be responsible for this  - I guess it would really need to go to shinsa for their views.

 

' Just a quick note on your Item No. 259 signed Nagaharu.  The 3rd Generation Koichi & Katsuo School Master (Named Yazaemon - Haynes 06426) used a different kanji for “haru” than the one on your tsuba.  Your tsuba uses 春 instead of 治 (which is what 3rd Gen Katsuo used).  Haynes has three entries for guys who used the kanji on your tsuba H06427, H06428 & H06429.  The first guy (H06427) is from the Haruta school and does not usually work in the style of your tsuba.  The second guy (H06428) worked in the style of Sugiura Joi, but Haynes notes that the relationship to Joi is unclear (and can’t provide any more information).  Joi is also known to have used the name Nagaharu in the same kanji as your tsuba early in his career (later he used Nagaharu in “seal script” and signed Joi).  The third guy (H06429) is a Shimizu Jingo guy so also not usually working in the style of your tsuba.  Therefore, I think your tsuba is either an early Joi (when he signed Nagaharu) or H06428 (who may actually just be early Joi) or someone trying to look like early Joi.

 

Of course, if you ask people, they will say that this tsuba, while very nice, is not to the level of Joi; however, Joi had to start somewhere (I don’t believe that his first few attempts were all perfect)… '

 

 

 

Thanks again , George.