An Owari (尾張) tsuba with double diamonds

[Mario Tod]

Hello.

My name is Mario and I live in Cape Town South Africa.

I'd like to ask if anyone could help shed some more light on this very intriguing piece.

I am reasonably sure that it is Kiribun Sankai Hishitsu (Owari) Muromachi period - Momoyama period -early Edo period. ??

 

Rich T, a member of this very forum observed in 2007 of a very similar piece " The Hitsu-ana are pine trees, they represent a design (and also a family crest) known as Matsukawabishi which also means pine bark diamond. They represent two stylized pine trees"

 

The one thing that really has me intrigued is the tiny fragment remnants of gold on the front, which can be seen in the third image near the centre top and on the right diamond at the top left base.

 

I also believe the quality of Owari iron was exceptional and led to a very desirable and aesthetic oxide patina known as purple rust.

 

Any context and observations would be extremely valuable and I'm grateful to everyone.

Thanks very much.

 

[ROKUJURO]

Mario,

welcome on board the NMB!

Your TSUBA shows typical design elements known from OWARI TSUBA, but it is not necessarily one if you look at the shape of the SEPPA-DAI. Additionally, the gold remnants may point in another direction. The heavy corrosion has probably removed most of the decoration, so a classification to a later school is difficult.

[Spartancrest]

Owari certainly liked the pattern, two examples with four "pine bark" symbols used -  see top right and middle right of illustrations here - https://tsuba.info/owari/ 

 

 

Also used by several other schools  https://tsuba.info/akasaka/  

 

 

Shoami https://richardturne....com/2011/02/26/950/  

 

 

Your piece is intriguing with the very wide border which is not a common trait of Owari [at least I can't find any like it]  Matsukawa = is pine bark. Not pine tree.

 

https://lorenzoamati...-person-the-theme-is

 

Sorry I am not much help.

[Mario Tod]

Thank you so much guys.

I have looked at those links in my attempt to identify this piece and it's definitely an ancient and intriguing crossover of aesthetic styles and schools.

Thanks for the welcome and thanks for your insights.

[Brian]

Good to see another South African

[BIG]

.. the design of pine barks represents unstable political situations ( Sasano) within full moon, star or sun background

 

https://varshavskyco...collection/tsu-0296/

 

Best

[Mario Tod]

Thanks for the welcome Brian and thank you Big for the link. I’ve looked on that site quite a bit but missed that piece. That quotation is fabulous and the history is definitely very stirring. Thanks again guys

[Spartancrest]

Could I suggest perhaps looking at the Namako - [sea cucumber] design as a hint to the maker rather than the pine bark? This particular one is Higo and the style is not the same, but just another avenue of research.

 

I was thinking this the other day -  lots of people post their tsuba on NMB and ask "What School or maker do we attribute this to?"  

I just realised, what percentage of tsuba were made by "backyard" smiths or local village smiths who had no affiliation with any "School" ?
We blindly think that all Edo tsuba are the work of specialist Schools - WHY? The "experts" surely don't believe that some Samurai living in a remote place or on some offshore island is going to order a tsuba made in Kyoto or Tokyo when the guy down the road can supply both his sword and fittings at a fraction of the cost? This could also explain why some styles or copies turn up in such numbers - Joe Blow down the road created what his customer wanted = A Nobuiye look alike or  Kinai dragon or the 'newest thing' in Kaneie etc. No school training needed, just a keen eye and the ability to 'fake it'.  We all get caught up with wanting to attribute our pieces to certain schools but it may not always be the case.

[Just something to think about.]

[Dan tsuba]

Spartancrest,

 

Now that is some "original" and "out of the box" thinking!  It makes a lot of sense.  The "backyard" smiths that have (as you stated) "no school training needed, just a keen eye and the ability to 'fake it' ".

 

In my opinion that kind of "drawing outside the lines" idea is impressive!

 

Just my opinion!

 

With respect,

Dan

[Mario Tod]

That’s a really intelligent take Dale. We definitely get very bogged down in the superlative academia of school attribution as you say. I suppose we also are looking for easy answers to complicated questions as always. Thank you so much for your insight!

I can definitely feel my mind is beginning to relinquish its requirement to know a close date or attribution for this piece and just begin to enjoy how marvellously ancient and amazing it is more than anything else.🙏🧘‍♂️

[Spartancrest]

  On 10/21/2023 at 4:10 AM, Mario Tod said:

just begin to enjoy how marvellously ancient and amazing it is more than anything else

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That is a very important thing to remember, we are privileged just to have them. 

Ps congrats on the ranking up grade "Rookie" [which I am sure you are in reality far beyond ]

[FlorianB]

Hello Mario,

 

my first impression seeing Your Tsuba was Shoami - because I remembered a similar one in Sasano’s book:

 

 

He sticks it into Momoyama period, in my eyes Yours is a later specimen because of the broad rim.

 

Best,

Florian

[Soshin]

  On 10/20/2023 at 12:09 PM, Mario Tod said:

I am reasonably sure that it is Kiribun Sankai Hishitsu (Owari) Muromachi period - Momoyama period -early Edo period. ??

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Like the tsuba I am sure the feel of the iron is nice in hand, but it isn't Owari. I would attribute this antique tsuba to being the work of the Shoami group circa the middle to late Edo Period especially with traces of what looks like gold inlay on the plate. Attached is a photo of an NBTHK papered Owari tsuba that I once owned as part of my collection. Notice how differently the openwork for the same design is done on my tsuba versus your tsuba. I hope this additional information is helpful to your study.

 

  

[Mario Tod]

  On 10/25/2023 at 11:17 AM, Soshin said:

 

Like the tsuba I am sure the feel of the iron is nice in hand, but it isn't Owari. I would attribute this antique tsuba to being the work of the Shoami group circa the middle to late Edo Period especially with traces of what looks like gold inlay on the plate. Attached is a photo of an NBTHK papered Owari tsuba that I once owned as part of my collection. Notice how differently the openwork for the same design is done on my tsuba versus your tsuba. I hope this additional information is helpful to your study.

 

  

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Excellent. Very useful advice. Thank you so much David 🙏