Recent purchase big iron tsuba. Opinions/help please

[Matsunoki]

Hello from the UK,

Another recent acquisition. I’m really getting the tsuba bug.

I bought this simply because I like the bold subject and it looks well made. 
It’s large….8.7cmH and 8.0Cm W. The plate is quite thin

Any help re age/school would be most welcome.

Please tell me if I’m buying poor quality things.

Many thanks. All the best.

colin

 

[Curran]

Aizu Shoami

 

[Grevedk]

Good evening Colin,

 

Nice tsuba and a fine choice of motive. Another Shoami tsuba with a slightly different design but with a similar motive from 

:

http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/collection/7/10237/10350

 

 

And be careful - collections tend to grow fast, and just as swords, Tsuba tends to become an addiction 😜

 

/Soren

[Spartancrest]

A few more similar, including another from the Ashmolean museum not part of the A. H. Church collection.

http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/collection/4/867/873/12746

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/Japanese-samurai-antique-tsuba-crab-1750619193

https://collections.mfa.org/objects/13350/tsuba-with-design-of-crab-and-grasses?ctx=ac649585-690e-46f3-a1d1-693c279367e3&idx=1

Tsuba with design of crab and grasses
Akasaka Tadashige
Akasaka School:  Signed Tadashige 忠重

 

I fear Soren is correct, tsuba collecting is a hard thing to try and go 'cold turkey'- you need a regular 'fix'! 

[Matsunoki]

You guys are great….thank you all so much. I really am at square 1 with tsuba knowledge. It’s easy to research when you know what to look for ie school names etc and that’s where I’m lacking. I had tried looking for “crab tsuba/iron tsuba with crab” etc but didn’t get much luck.

Yep,I’ve been bitten as you will see when I post a few more. 
Re. this one….any views re age? I would hazard a guess at early 19thC

Arigato gozaimasu.

All the best. Colin 

[Soshin]

Hello Colin,

 

I once had a menuki set with the same bamboo and crab design. I would agree with Curran's call of it being the work of the Aizu Shoami School. In terms of age of would say early Meiji Period to late Edo Period circa early to mid-19th Century. It is hard to be much more specific given your tsuba isn't signed. Check out my link below my personal collection website. I have been collecting for a while now had have amassed a sizable collection myself not to mention all the tsuba I sold directly and indirectly when I had my Japanese art and antiques business.    

[Matsunoki]

  On 2/18/2023 at 9:53 PM, Soshin said:

I have been collecting for a while now had have amassed a sizable collection myself not to mention all the tsuba I sold directly and indirectly when I had my Japanese art and antiques business.    

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Hello David

Many thanks for your thoughts, greatly appreciated. I have just enjoyed going through your collection…..very well documented and catalogued! I must get round to doing something similar “one day”…..! Like you I spent many years as a dealer and restorer following a career in London (horrible place to work) My main dealing and collecting interests were the Arts of the Meiji period…..metalwork, cloisonné, netsuke, okimono etc and I had a decent sword and tsuba collection way back in time….but got tempted and sold them all. I am now returning to Samurai Art with renewed enthusiasm and am amazed at how much more information is available nowadays. My ageing brain struggles to cope with it all! My tsuba taste is not as refined as yours…..I love subjects such as dragons, bugs and insects, legends and myths etc. Maybe the deeper I get the more my tastes will evolve!…..meantime it’s great fun. Thank you again for your help.

Best wishes. Colin