Yoshimitsu sword fittings

[Pippo]

Hello Gents, just posted a listing of new yoshimitsu dword but curious about the fittings. Tsubas quite flyid in its main detail, almost like pressed clay in the malluable ways the irons been formed, not something ive come across as mainly collect WW2 era pieces. Any help appreciated.

 

[Pippo]

Was sure about the simple form of forging on the fittings but actually really like the way the irons  folded over and seems habd pressed in its finish the more i look at it.

[Pippo]

[Spartancrest]

First guess would be Shoami - "style".  Its not signed and a pretty conventional design based I think on Chinese landscape paintings.

The ategane in the hitsu points to several mountings and the gold nunome edging lifts its quality a little.  Please be aware the images should be the other way up with the narrow part of the nakago-ana pointing upwards [cutting edge] the way they would be seen when mounted.

It is interesting you say the way it looks like it was molded in clay - that sentiment was held by many early European writers back in the 19th century and the skill of the tsuba maker is still inspiring that thought even today.

[Pippo]

Thankyou for your knowledge, your detail on correct presentation and your mentioning of how my 1st impression as a western sword collector was an echo of earlier westerners describing this style of tsuba. 

Greatly appreciated.

[Spartancrest]

I am no expert on Saya but I do like the iron fittings on yours. Do you think the white circles are inlay of shell? I saw a similar effect on a knife handle where they used boar teeth in resin [not something you would expect to see] it turned out spectacular - on a "forged in fire" episode.

[Brian]

I like the tsuba. I know the concept of looking at iron/steel and saying "looks like good iron/steel" judging from the aesthetic and patina is probably largely a fallacy, but if it had any truth, I'd say this looks like good iron. Dark, and nice and smooth with good patina. Very appealing.

[Spartancrest]

I found some of the early quotes about how the Japanese can make metal appear like molded clay.

Japanese ART
by Louis Gonse
translated from French
 by M. P. Nickerson.
(1891)
SWORD MOUNTINGS.

----"I know certain sword-guards of Kinai's, which produce the impression of a work moulded in wax. I know some large lobsters, in open wrought iron, signed by Kinai, which are so life like and natural that one can hardly realize the difficulties overcome by the artist. The great difficulty is not in producing the open work, in the microscopic details of the model, whose fineness astonishes us, but in preserving, in a metal which can be wrought only slowly and by little strokes, the appearance of a sketch freely executed, and in attaining, by patient efforts, freedom and power in the result. One can, in thought, enlarge these lobsters. They are themselves of monumental proportions; but the appearance is so true to life that one sees them, as it were of natural size. It seems as if the artist had modeled them with his thumb in clay."- - 

 

The guard referred to is this one - not at all like your Shoami but yours could certainly be thought of as "molded in wax" from its appearance.

 

 

"THE DECORATION of SWORDS and SWORD FURNITURE"
by Edward Gilbertson,   M.J.S.  [Member of Japan  Society]
NOVEMBER 14  l894.

- - "Not less striking is the way in which the surface has been varied and undulated, the edges shaped and the borders rolled, with their corners turned back, showing nevertheless no trace of the hammer. In some of these tsubas the curves obtained seem almost the result of rolling some soft metal with the hand." --

 

You might notice "tsubas" which is incorrect - tsuba is used both as singular and plural.

[Pippo]

On 4/23/2022 at 11:58 AM, Spartancrest said:

I am no expert on Saya but I do like the iron fittings on yours. Do you think the white circles are inlay of shell? I saw a similar effect on a knife handle where they used boar teeth in resin [not something you would expect to see] it turned out spectacular - on a "forged in fire" episode.

The saya 2 tone lacquer and the white swirls look to be sectionalized sea shell pressed into the surface. Yes the iron fittings are very nice. 

[Deez77]

Thanks for sharing! That motif is not a common one you find.

[Deez77]

While not related to the original post, I'm sharing a beautiful piece from my collection for reference which shows a similar lobster motif Kinai tsuba mentioned in the excerpt shared by spartancrest.