Tsuba translation

[tiarnol]

I am an anthropology student who is doing a museum display case full of Japanese swords and i am needing some assistance in translating some writing on a tsuba. All of these swords and tsuba are from our university museum. How do i go about figuring out what time period i'm dealing with? I am researching these, so if anyone can tell me where to look for information

I would appreciate any help i can get! Thank you so much! Also, any suggestions you might have are very welcome!

~Tiffany

[Ludolf Richter]

Hi Tiffany,the signature ("mei") reads

Goshu Hikone ju Soheishi Soten

(Hikone in the province Omi;Soheishi is read by some authors as Mogarishi and a few read the name as Munenori,but "Soten" is widely

acknowleged,the normal "sei"=made,following the signature is missing).

Father (Haynes index H 08942) and son ( H 08943) worked in the first half of 18th Century.The high-relief-carving invented by Soten I is known as Hikone-bori and was very popular.There are only a few pieces existing that definitely had been made by Soten I and II,the vast majority (auctions/museums/private possessions) are forgeries,while some better Tsuba my have been made by students of the above masters.Ludolf