Tsuba bought in Kyoto ca 1990

[Jens Olesen]

This tsuba was bought in Kyoto as a gift to me from my sister ca 1990. Can anyone suggest its possible age and origin?

[BIG]

Mokume gane tsuba ..

[Jens Olesen]

Thanks for you reply, i am a novice in this matter. I have tried to google these Japanese words, but didn’t get any results that were meaningful to me, but thank you anyway.

 

[Bugyotsuji]

'Mokume' means a wood grain (with swirls, whorls) pattern.

 

'gane is a form of 金, かね, kane, which is essentially metal but here indicates iron or steel.

 

For me, there is not a lot of information to be had from this tsuba. It's a thick forged circular iron plate with 'sukashi' openings depicting river flow and a water fowl, a single wild goose? There were many marshes between Kyoto and Osaka. This kind of thicker tsuba suggests later rather than earlier work, so we might well be looking at the Edo Period. The surface looks a bit rough. Was it once lacquered, or has it been in a fire, with subsequent rust? Lots to speculate about, but little concrete.

 

The above is my feeling only and open to adjustment by our regular tsuba experts here! 

[FlorianB]

Hi Jens,

 

would You be so kind and give the dimensions? This means height, width and thickness both at the rim and at the nakago ana (the triangular center hole). More pictures in higher resolution would be helpful, too.

 

My quick guess would be an average Tsuba made in Edo-period. There are different artists/schools which worked in kage-sukashi (negative silhouette) at this time.

The motif of a goose (karigane) is frequently found on Tsuba, here combined with a swirl of water.

 

Best,
Florian

[Jens Olesen]

This information is valuable to me. Thank you very much!

[Jens Olesen]

Dear Florian B,

Thanks for your thorough reply.

Height 66 mm

width 65 mm

thickness 5 mm

Hope the two close-ups make sense.

Yours,

Jens

 

[FlorianB]

Hi Jens,

 

this was quick!
The Tsuba has wakizashi size (meant for short swords)
A closer look shows no mokume surface as  Peter suggested.
I will do some research later.

 

Best,
Florian

[Bugyotsuji]

Thanks for the closer surface shots, Jens.

[Spartancrest]

Hi Jens, Karigane (means wild goose in Japanese) possibly 'Ito' (thread cutting) particularly the meandering water motif. Several schools adopted the "Ito" technique [Bushu-ito etc] but it was also a particular school.  Ko-Sukashi, the openwork is limited and in negative silhouette. [As defined by Sasano]   'Ko' can also mean 'Early' but I think this piece is mid Edo(?)

Sorry Peter I can't see any 'mokume' there are no definite layers [not to say that it has not been folded]

Jens, I have seen a very similar designed guard but I can't lay my hands on it right now.

 

 

[Jens Olesen]

A lot of valuable information for me to ponder and work with, Spartancrest! Thank you very much!

[FlorianB]

Hello Jens,

 

I flipped through my books but I haven’t found a similar piece yet.
However, Dale showed some already.

I agree with his Ito attribution though these show often very fine lines but there are also some like Yours.

 

The surface shows a fine structure by hammer finish (so-called tsuchime). Careful regular rubbing with a cotton cloth will enhance the patination of Your piece.

 

Best,
Florian

[Spartancrest]

   This is from a post back in 2008 - looks like a polished plate [Migaki-ji]. Florian is correct 'ito' like to show just how fine they can cut through the plate, some are almost as thin as a human hair. 

 

Quote taken from : 

METALS AND METAL- WORKING IN OLD Japan.  by  W. GOWLAND.
REPRINTED FROM THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE Japan SOCIETY OF LONDON, Vol. XIII
Tuesday, March 2, 1915.

 

"........ Forms of the greatest delicacy, often almost microscopic in their details, others with bold contours and sweeping curves worthy of the artist's brush, are alike carved with as much accuracy and freedom as if the material was plastic clay rather than solid iron. In some, the pierced cuts are so fine that they do not exceed 1/250 of an inch in width, and their sides are perfectly parallel. These were produced by a very laborious method of procedure. 
A minute hole was first drilled in the iron with a fine steel wire moistened with oil and powdered garnets or siliceous rock; the hole was then elongated into a slit by means of another fine steel wire used as a saw, also moistened with oil and the above powder. These cuts were further continued with flat wires, and were then reduced to the extreme degree of fineness required by hammering both sides of the metal until they were sufficiently closed. The sides of the cuts were kept parallel by rubbing them from time to time with flat wires of steel and grinding-powder........" 

[Jens Olesen]

I appreciate this information very much, FlorianB and Spartancrest! It makes my tsuba all the more precious to me.