Dragon tsuba - Saotome ? Myochin ?

[Kurikata]

Hi NMB friends,

 

I hesitate with a school for this tsuba. I'll tend to consider it as Myochin but it could be Saotome too. Dimension is 7,8 cm X 7,4 cm

 

Your views, please !

[Larason2]

Nice tsuba, thanks for sharing! Both, of course are a type of katchushi (armorer) tsuba. I'd lean towards Saotome. Look at this link:

 

http://www.japaneses...om/tsuba/saotome.htm

 

Towards the bottom there's a chrysanthemoid tsuba like this one. There's a myochin that's also chrysanthemoid in the Birmingham collection, but they didn't slope the pedal edges like this one or the saotome llinked to above. The chrysanthemum is a common saotome theme, but usually it's perforated. In my mind, myochin's are usually fairly flat, without a lot of sloping or complex edges, whereas saotome tend to have more complex carving and details.

[Kurikata]

Thank you Carlos for you views on my tsuba!