How to collect Tsuba?

[thewarning]

As a new collector I'm wondering how to collect tsuba. What do I look for when buying, what makes some cheap and others expensive, what tsuba are sought after by collectors, what makes a good tsuba and how do you evaluate that, etc.?

 

From what I’ve seen some observations are condition (rust, damage, etc.), age, signed or unmarked, NBTHK papers.

 

All info is appreciated.

[Grey Doffin]

Forgive me for repeating myself: A young man in New York city with a violin case under his arm stops an elderly lady and asks, "Excuse me Maam, how do I get to Carnegie Hall?". "Practice" she answers.

Read books, look at good pieces, study, study, study. Grey

[Bugyotsuji]

This site alone is jam-packed with just such information. Check out the Tōsōgu section.

Hours and hours of happy reading!

 

PS A friend gave me a box full of starter tsuba which for several years I loved.🥰 

Until someone scornfully rubbished them… 

How do I become a wine taster overnight?

[Spartancrest]

3 hours ago, thewarning said:

I'm wondering how to collect tsuba.

That is what most of us are still trying to learn.  

What is one man's trash is another's treasure, you need to take your own road but feel free to notice the street signs along the way. The "Emerald city of tsuba knowledge" is always just over the horizon - taking an express route there, you will miss out on most of the good scenery and land with no information on how to find your way in the maze of the place you have arrived at.  -  Be assured we have all had to start with little to no knowledge on the subject, which when you think on it is not such a bad thing - an open empty mind always has room to fill.

[Waxing lyrical - maybe I should have done a Haiku? ]

[simo8989]

First of work out what type of Tsuba's you would like to collect and then get yourself some very good reference books on that particular group and do alot of reading and looking at good pieces and like someone in the post said earlier, study, study and study that's part of the fun and interest of collecting.

[Franco D]

 

 

 

4 hours ago, thewarning said:

As a new collector I'm wondering how to collect tsuba. What do I look for when buying, what makes some cheap and others expensive, what tsuba are sought after by collectors, what makes a good tsuba and how do you evaluate that, etc.?

 

After more than 30 years of collecting nihonto I find myself still wondering how to collect tsuba, too.

 

 

A place to begin ... https://shibuiswords.com/

 

Regards

[Jesta]

5 hours ago, thewarning said:

From what I’ve seen some observations are condition (rust, damage, etc.), age, signed or unmarked, NBTHK papers.

 

 

All info is appreciated.

 

My 2 cents: 

1. Buy what you like to look at. I collect pieces that I enjoy seeing every day. 

2. Buy from reputable sources (there are links to various places in the forum) at the start. You will be less likely to buy a dud from a well-reviewed dealer. 

3. Avoid eBay until you are very, very good at spotting fakes.

4. Accept that you will make a few mistakes, and if they are pretty enough it won't matter too much. (see my thread on the fake one that I bought)

5. Buy selectively (unless you have vast sums of money lying around). It is very easy to spend on tsuba, there are soooo many, and many are sooo desirable (speaking for a friend, of course)  

6. Personally, I prefer to spend a bit more and get them with NBTHK papers where possible, but if you follow #2 (above) it probably isn't really necessary, and it can cost more. 

7. Buy the ones that you will enjoy every day. Cheap or expensive, signed or unsigned, papered or not, just get the ones that you love looking at. (I know that this is repeated, but I think that it is key) 

[Steves87]

A lot of good advice here, two articles I think are worth reading more than once, maybe a couple of times a year are:

(26) How to Collect Tsuba Like an Expert - Building a Collection | LinkedIn

Haynes Article (shibuiswords.com) (second last paragraph especially)

Particular take-aways from these articles is: be unique in your collecting, authentic to your interests, and do not be close-minded in your study or interest of types.

 

Reading is very important, but it will only get you so far, you need to handle authentic and replica pieces too. I would highly suggest trying your hand at creating a Tsuba from scratch, cutting, filing, chasing, inlay, all of it... doing this will give you an appreciation of how much work still went into the Tsuba freely labelled as "junk", and what is likely needed to accomplish the exquisite museum quality guards. I suspect the majority of collectors do not truly appreciate the time and skills needed to make any level of Tsuba, especially the low-end examples.

Trying your hand at making Tsuba also teaches you to spot the nuances of traditionally made items, especially through photographs, nothing handmade is perfect.

 

I personally go for inlaid items, particularly in iron, and I focus on theme depictions as a criterion for collection... my care for smith/school is low, but having said that, I do have multiples guards within singular school classifications.

[Spartancrest]

For your reading pleasure - numerous books in Japanese, some with English captions. [Please note: not all are about tsuba]  https://www.jauce.com/user/boa_sorte_0011     

I can recommend a beautiful 'heavy' book with English captions   https://www.jauce.com/auction/o1136453416

Also https://www.jauce.com/auction/w1136452129 a 'double boxed' collection  but all in Japanese.

 

[Curran]

On 5/15/2024 at 1:34 AM, Jesta said:

My 2 cents: 

1. Buy what you like to look at. I collect pieces that I enjoy seeing every day. 

2. Buy from reputable sources (there are links to various places in the forum) at the start. You will be less likely to buy a dud from a well-reviewed dealer. 

3. Avoid eBay until you are very, very good at spotting fakes.

4. Accept that you will make a few mistakes, and if they are pretty enough it won't matter too much. (see my thread on the fake one that I bought)

5. Buy selectively (unless you have vast sums of money lying around). It is very easy to spend on tsuba, there are soooo many, and many are sooo desirable (speaking for a friend, of course)  

6. Personally, I prefer to spend a bit more and get them with NBTHK papers where possible, but if you follow #2 (above) it probably isn't really necessary, and it can cost more. 

7. Buy the ones that you will enjoy every day. Cheap or expensive, signed or unsigned, papered or not, just get the ones that you love looking at. (I know that this is repeated, but I think that it is key) 

 

That is a good primer.

I've been at this a long time and collect mostly Higo or Owari schools, but sometimes something totally away from those groups will artistically or philosophically connects with me.

It doesn't matter what -school- it is. If I like it that much, I buy n keep it. Thus I have a Saotome, Ko-Nara, and two Ko-Akasaka owned for many years now. I love the Ko-Nara far above its financial value.

 

NBTHK papers are nice, but at some point you eventually take off the training wheels.

Also, NBTHK tosogu opinions aren't what they once were.

The time and expense of getting them has risen at least +50% in the last few years, and the opinions a bit more slapdash than those from 1983-2013 reference frame.

 

 

[Tim Evans]

There are two broad categories in tsuba: Kinko and Tsubako. 

• Kinko is mostly soft metal, but some iron
  • Generally pictorial and easy to relate to
  • Primary aesthetic is about the quality of the carving expressing the design
• Tsubako is mostly iron, but some soft metal
  • Tsubako aesthetics is very much about the material, so it is more like sword appreciation

The quality criteria between the two types is distinctly different, that will affect the reference material you will need. 

 

There are several articles concerning fittings in the Downloads section. I wrote one concerning Tsubako titled "Assessing Quality in Iron Tsuba". 

 

2 essential books:

• Tsuba, an Aesthetic Study by Torigoye
• Nihonto Koza Volume VI Kodogu Part 1. Translated by Harry Watson

[Alex A]

Was going to say learn to recognize what junk is but as mentioned above by Dale " one man's trash is another's treasure"

 

An example. Some folks refer to old iron plate Tosho tsuba as "large washers".  I kind of get that but at the time lots of folk including me like them.

 

Some folks like old Ko Kinko tsuba whilst others turn their noses up.

 

Horses for courses.

 

If you like posh stuff, maybe look at threads like this to learn to recognize quality.

 

[Alex A]

Ps,

 

I don't know anything about tsuba, only read the basic books.

 

Though i know a good tsuba and a bad tsuba.

 

Just buy what i like, most of the time not interested in who made it.

[cluckdaddy76]

I am a newer collector just learning myself and have fallen in love with specifically tsuba. Everyone here has given great advice; my suggestion is to do some studying on metals/metalwork in general. Once you get some basic knowledge, start studying nicer tsuba for sale on sites from legitimate dealers. Then head to a site like Ebay and try to start spotting fakes. As your knowledge develops, you can then start to pick out the better "fakes" or cast pieces trying to get passed off as handmade pieces. The more you look at them, the easier it gets to spot bad ones. Some basic things to look for would be casting seams/bubbles, often the colors of various metals look off (this you learn from studying real pieces). If you see a piece, you are not sure about on an auction site, take a look at what else that dealer has for sale. If you can tell other items from that seller are not legit, my rule is run away. I am far from an expert but have a job where I can do some research every day and I have been studying hard for some months now. I do also have books, but for me the visual study/comparison helps greatly. Ginza Seiyudo website is a great place to start looking at really nice higher end tsuba. Grey Doffin's site, Japanese swords and tsuba is also another one with a ton to look at and study. The biggest problem is that the more studying you do, the prices of the tsuba that you now want do tend to go up in price dramatically. But this is the fun of collecting so enjoy but be careful because you can buy some junk if you are not knowledgeable. 

[DirkO]

Something a senior collector once told me and stuck was the following: obviously buy what you like, but always try to buy the best quality at the top of your budget. As said before here, your knowledge will grow and your taste will likely become more expensive over time. By stretching your budget you make sure your buy will be thoroughly thought through and because you made that extra effort to buy a better piece, you can enjoy it longer.