Ko-Nara (?) tsuba

[andreYes]

I need your advice about the following tsuba.

 

The seller said that the ji was made in Muromachi, and the zogan was added in early Edo by a Nara school craftsman (probably from 2-d or 3-d generation, he even supposed that it could be Toshiharu). What do you think about it?

 

Is it a usual practice when the tsubako (from Nara or other schools) use an old tsuba as a base of his work?

 

 

 

 

 

By the way, what the shape of the upper left "insertion" means? The bottom right are inome and matsukawabishi, as I know.

 

 

Thank you for any information and opinions!

[John A Stuart]

Hi Andrey, That is certainly possible. Many old plain tsuba were later inlayed and the Nara school, if I remember rightly had their plate made by tosho, as did other artists. John

[andreYes]

Thank you, John! Very interesting method. I knew about small modifications of old tsuba, like adding hitsu ana, but using it as a raw material

 

Concerning Nara... I've found very few information about this school. Could anyone advice, where can I get more information (distinctive features, history, artists)? Maybe there are some articles or books about Nara tsuba?

And I wonder to know, how to distinguish Nara tsuba from Mito or Aizu Shoami?