Assistance with an Attribution ...

[docliss]

I am reviewing the attributions of some of my tsuba, and would welcome any suggestions concerning this mumei one.

 

Rendered in a very darkly patinated iron, it is ‘irregularly round’ in outline, measuring 8.4 cm – 8.3 cm, and is lenticular in cross section, measuring 0.25 cm at the seppa-dai and less than 0.2 cm at the mimi. The edge is slightly rounded; there are very delicate copper sekigane in the nagako-hitsu; and it has a single, broad kōgai-hitsu. On the tsuchimi-ji plate are depicted three aubergines in negative silhouette.

 

The tsuba is ex the Edgar Jepson collection, dispersed in 1938.

 

In spite of the surprisingly unworn state of the nakago-hitsu, it clearly has considerable age, and I had previously labelled it as C17 Saotome work.

 

With thanks in advance for your comments, John L.

[Steve Waszak]

Hi John,

 

Looks like a nice tsuba. Would it be possible to post images of the other side of the guard, as well as a 3/4 shot so that the mimi is more visible? I see aspects of different schools/tsubako in this piece, but I'd like to see more of the guard in order to try to whittle down the possibilities.

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

[John A Stuart]

I have started to reply a couple of times and changed my response, the multiple monsukashi point to Saotome rather than Tosho although the irregular shape brings to mind Kaneiye but the ji really belays that. Saotome therefore I have to agree. However 17th cent. ? Why not Momoyama? Of course the timeline would be close to that anyway. John

[Mark Green]

I would see no reason to doubt Saotome.

It sure has the look. Very nice.

Mark G

[docliss]

Further images, as requested by Steve. John L.

[Steve Waszak]

Hi John,

 

Thanks for the photos. Well, I certainly can see Saotome, as many here are saying. Of course, it would be nice to be able to see it in-hand to get a better sense of the metal (forging, color, etc...). The tsubako who came to mind when I saw this first was Owari Sadahiro. Granted, I've not seen a mumei Sadahiro (that I know of), but the motif/subject and its treatment/placement on the plate do recall Sadahiro for me. This artist was known, I believe, occasionally to use irregular shapes; this one does recall Kaneie a bit, but I have seen the odd Sadahiro tsuba or two present such irregularities. The metal looks right for a Momoyama/early-Edo dating, and while some have Sadahiro as a mid-Edo artist, the pieces I've seen have the sensibility of an artist working at an earlier time, perhaps as early as Momoyama. Of course, one would have to wonder why, if this were a Sadahiro guard, it wasn't signed.

 

Of course, by the early-Edo and certainly beyond that time, there was such a rapidly increasing cross-fertilization among the various schools and artists that it's not inconceivable to see this tsuba as one exhibiting traits of two or more schools/artists (i.e. Kaneie shape, Saotome metal/hammering, Sadahiro motif). Whatever it is, it's a nice piece... )

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

[docliss]

With my grateful thanks for your input, I have re-labelled this tsuba as Saotome work of the Momoyama period. John L.