Ginkgo tsuba

[Mark S.]

Just added to the collection.  Ginkgo are one of my favorite themes.  Do not have it in hand yet.  Other than some missing gold (possibly added later?) and maybe the carving is a bit thin, any other red flags?  Maybe overcleaned?  Lack of rust and bellybutton lint in ana a concern?  
 

[Mark S.]

[ROKUJURO]

Hi Mark, interesting TSUBA in good condition! It was obviously loved and well cared for, so you can be happy that it has no rust which would always be a sign of neglect.

The design looks unusual to me, as GINKGO has an additional plant name "BILOBA" which mean 'two lobes'. In the TSUBA we see three lobes which may indeed occur sometimes in nature.



We had a discussion of another MASAHISA here:  

 

[Spartancrest]

    I am not sure the plant can make up its mind - generally two lobes but variations have many lobes or just the one - must be many "cultivars" particularly in China and Japan and they could vary with the age of the tree. I have one, which I am looking forward to trying the fruit [in about 20 years!]-  The fruit has a strong, unpleasant odor somewhere between rancid butter and dog faeces [yum  ]. The nuts resemble a pistachio. Only a few seeds should be eaten at a time. The nut, you see, contains bitter cyanogenic glycosides. These break down when the nut is cooked, but it retains the compound 4-methoxypryridoxine, which depletes vitamin B6 and is especially toxic to children  [good for the neighborhood - keep the population under control .] So if your children come home with dog faeces breath get them to hospital fast - probably a mental hospital for eating something that smells like faeces to start with! 

[Mark S.]

Arboricultural is my career.  The best way I can explain the odor is… vomit.  Sorry, but it is that bad.  In college, there were large female ginkgos along a main walkway on campus.  Students would walk through the down fruit and classrooms would stink to high heaven.  It was stomach turning.  

[Spartancrest]

A similar style guard here https://www.jauce.com/auction/l1163054633  Bushu 武州 school?  Not the same individual.

[ROKUJURO]

Yes, MASANAGA, first master of BUSHU ITO school.

[Okan]

Here is my good old Masayoshi. 

[Mark S.]

Thank you all.  Some nice looking tsuba… thank you for sharing.  There was another one I was eyeing…