Really really unusual guard.

[KungFooey]

This has become an addiction!!!

 

I just went back to the dealer who sold me the water wheel guard and, despite saying "no more expense this year", fell in love with this and had to get it.

The beautiful, rough texture of the iron, along with those huge plugs of shakudo are SO unique!

 

Dee

[Dan tsuba]

A beautiful and unique piece!

 

As you stated-

 

“fell in love with this and had to get it.”

 

That is the best reason to buy a tsuba, in my opinion!

 

I have also found that sometimes the piece just calls out to you!

 

I am sure much more knowledgeable members than I am will tell you more about your tsuba.

 

Onward!

[Tcat]

Nice. I like those shakudo plugs. This tsuba reminds me of the first I ever bought..and still have. Pic for ref.

[Robert S]

I wonder why and when these shakudo plugs were put in.  Was this a design decision by the original maker?  Probably not, but ???  Or if they were put in later why?  A style moving against peirced tsuba?

 

Very interesting.

[cluckdaddy76]

I have a similar style. I only have one pic right now but the large plug is gold colored one side and silver the other. I love this one because the Hitsu-Ana are shaped like a ship sail and rudder I believe.

 

Jason

[kyushukairu]

2 hours ago, Robert S said:

I wonder why and when these shakudo plugs were put in.  Was this a design decision by the original maker?  Probably not, but ???  Or if they were put in later why?  A style moving against peirced tsuba?

 

Very interesting.

In my opinion, the shakudo plugs were part of the original design. As for the theme, I think the sukashi (and shakudo plugs) are intended to represent a flowering plant or vegetable - perhaps daikon (Japanese raddish), which is a symbol of fertility and longevity. When mounted on a sword, and being worn in an obi, one would observe the flowering leaves flowing above and around the tsuka. And when matched with a (fuchi)kashira of complimentary theme (of a daikon or something similar), the image would become quite prominent. The Umetada school excelled at such floral motifs (though done in flush inlay of various metals)

 

(Image taken from https://japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/tsuba-kodogu-over-1000/t159-shakudo-umetada-tsuba-gold-silver-copper-zogan/)
 

[Tcat]

4 hours ago, Robert S said:

I wonder why and when these shakudo plugs were put in.  Was this a design decision by the original maker?  Probably not, but ???  Or if they were put in later why?  A style moving against peirced tsuba?

 

Very interesting.

 

1 hour ago, kyushukairu said:

In my opinion, the shakudo plugs were part of the original design.

 

In the case of the tsuba I shared above, I was informed by an expert that the shakudo plugs and fukurin were likely to be later additions to an existing iron plate tsuba, which previously had some kind of gold decoration that seems unlikely to match with the shakudo. There are still trace remnants of gold visible on the plate. I'm not an expert and have no skin in it either way, though I believe what I was told because I suspected that to be the case already. The pleasures of confirmation bias.

[Spartancrest]

      Grey Doffin seems to have had a lot of these plugged sukashi tsuba.   Most also have the rough finished surface [Ji]

 

 a Christies auction piece

[KungFooey]

5 hours ago, Tcat said:

Nice. I like those shakudo plugs. This tsuba reminds me of the first I ever bought..and still have. Pic for ref.

Wow! They could be twins in many ways (but I'm jealous about the matching mimi on yours)!

Thanks for sharing!

 

Dee

[KungFooey]

Maybe these guards would make a good thread on their own? 😅

[Grey Doffin]

The tsuba above that I used to own, T536, was papered by the Fittings Museum to Shonai Shoami.

Grey

[MauroP]

The plugs covering a sukashi are called gankin (嵌金), the homologue elements covering hitsu-ana are called ume (埋).

[Bugyotsuji]

Wow！Why is that one described as dried abalone, I wonder? Slices, chunks?

干鮑 hoshi awabi

[Deez77]

Thanks for starting this thread Dee. I really like your piece and it does remind me of the leaves of a daikon (radish). I have a couple of odd balls when in comes to plugs, too. 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

 

Damon

[Kurikata]

more plugs.