Tsuba Help

[StanJS]

I bought a tsuba on the spur of the moment because I liked it. Now, I am trying to find out what I have (maker, date, material). Is it an original? A copy? Any comments and thoughts are very much appreciated.

 

Thank you for any help provided.

Stan

[Geraint]

Ahhh.  I hope to be wrong on this one but a number of alarm bells are ringing for me. Seeing these photographs I would be assuming that it is a recent reproduction.  It's pretending to be Bushu ju Masatsune.   Is the colour silvery like that?  Are the marks around the mimi nunome zogan in gold or do they look like etched designs?  Do the designs continue over the edge of the mimi?  What can you see inside the kogai/kozuka hitsu?

 

Here is one for you to compare it with. https://sword-auction.com/en/product/14811/af22548-鍔：武州住正常（保存刀装具）/

 

Others will chime in I'msure.

 

All the best.

[George KN]

It's a little hard to tell from the current images, but is there a line on the inside of the tsuba, or around the edge?

 

 

If so, it would suggest it has been cast... The colour/bare metal look is another concern. Is it magnetic? (looks almost like aluminium).

 

For what it's worth, I do like the design

[Spartancrest]

You have better images here - https://www.asianart...=detailAll&Id=152453

I think it is very modern - $60 a little too much for a reproduction but they sell really really bad copies for twice that much. 

 

  About equivalent quality to this Alva Museum Replica Pendant. Attach a chain and you can have some retro 'Bling'  

https://www.ebay.com/itm/193470636738

[StanJS]

Without thinking, I used the same images I used on the Asian Art Forum, which requires images less than 500K. Below is an image from my cell phone (unprocessed). I hoped this subject was more in the wheelhouse of the members of this board than the Asian Art folks.

 

It does appear to be cast. The material is nonmagnetic and not aluminum. My best guess is that it is made from shibuichi (an alloy of ~25% silver and copper - but I haven't had it tested).

 

Any further thoughts?

 

[Kunehito]

Looks cast due to the cast marks in the middle section in Hitsuana. Those were removed on the outer section of the Mimi.

[Geraint]

Dear Stan.

 

Look at the regularity of the cast seam marks around the inside of the nakago ana and hitsu ana.  A sure sign of a modern casting and as such I should give up any hopes of it being shibuichi as no one would be using an expensive material for this.

 

Probably have to chalk this one up as payment for your learning unless a dealer sold it to you as antique...........?

 

All the best.

[StanJS]

Any thoughts as to what the material might be?

 

In any case, I have it on my desk. It is my new favorite paperweight.

 

Thanks for all your help. I do appreciate it.

 

Cheers,

Stan

 

PS - My area of expertise is Japanese woodblock prints. Below, from our collection, are 2 pages of a triptych by Kunichika with a tsuba in it.

 

[ROKUJURO]

The alloy could be Nickel silver, Maillechort, German silver, Argentan, new silver, nickel brass, Albata, or Alpacca

[Jake6500]

Aside from the cast marks, the Hitsu Ana being that clean (?) in and of itself usually is indicative of a reproduction.

 

I'm not sure if that's the best way to put it but hopefully everyone knows what I mean. 

 

If the entire piece looks too clean to be around 200 years old, particularly around the Hitsu Ana and Sekigane, also sometimes the Mei, then it probably isn't.