enormous tsuba

[W K Clifford]

not my tsuba, not my hands either. But still, this one must be at least 10 cm wide, right? what school? period?

 

 

 

 

for those who want to join the bidding war:

http://www.artfact.com/auction-lot/two-Japanese-mixed-metal-vases,-meiji-period.-l-0-c-e9bad9ff52

[Soshin]

The tsuba looks like a late Edo period work of the Namban school. The kin-zogan and Chinese style dragon and diamond motifs are all classic Namban. Some people sub-categorize the Namban tsuba with a Chinese influence as Kanton tsuba. I viewed the tsuba at the Sloans and Kenyon auction house in Bethesda, MD USA last weekend. Here is the link the auction site: http://www.sloansandkenyon.com/. You don't need to register at their website to see anything. The sale was today and it is part of lot number 831. The lot is dated at Meiji period but I think that time period is in reference to the two mixed metal vases which are also part of the lot. I was sad at the fact that is was the only tsuba up for auction this weekend. Hope you find the information helpful.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

David S.

[pcfarrar]

I've got a Koretaka sanjin Jakushi tsuba that is just a touch under 10cm. Does anyone have anything bigger?

[Marc BROQUIN]

Hello all, :D

 

I share the determination of SOSHIN; it seems to be a NAMBAN nunomezogan tsuba.

 

You have an other example in the Illustrated Catalogues of Tokyo National Museum related to Sword guards p.159 #509.

 

Yours is much bigger and the nakago ana with this strange surrounding motif makes me think to a naginata tsuba.

 

About the age, I would likely say end of 17th to mid 18th century, according to the museum book.

 

Best :D

Marc

[Marc BROQUIN]

Hello all, :D

 

To give an answer to PCFARRAR :

 

I post therewith an AKASAKA tsuba I saw at the last DTI. it is shown in actual size in the DTI catalogue. It is more than 14.5 cm !!!!

 

So yes I have seen much bigger !!!

Incredible size

For which use ? Difficult to say

 

Best :D

Marc

[W K Clifford]

tsubas of this size, if never mounted then i understand they are collectibles like gold watched not meant for actual use. but the intriguing thing about the specimen i posted above is that it was clearly mounted, using obviously very strangely shaped seppa. what could it be mounted on? perhaps extremely long tachi? i do not think pole weapons are a possibility, it would look comical.

[sanjuro]

No Dachi perhaps?

[watsonmil]

Keith,

" No Dachi perhaps? ", .... Yes Dachi and a VERY big one ! :D Sorry I couldn't resist !

... Ron Watson

[sanjuro]

Ron.

 

LOL I asked for that I suppose and I needed a smile today in any case. :D My thoughts on this are it is too large for a nagamaki and would be ungainly and look ridiculous on a naginata whose tsuba are usually quite a bit smaller (about wakizashi size would be the largest ones I have seen). A No dachi would suit this size admirably, even a comparatively smaller nodachi of say five feet blade length would not look amiss with this size of tsuba.

[W K Clifford]

odachi is the only thing i can think of, but i could not find any picture online of a fully mounted adachi that sports a tsuba of this size. one example that did come to my mind is this sword carried by Kikuchiro in Seven Samurai, played by Mifune. there are a few shots in which the tsuba on that sword is shown, i'd bet it is over 10cm across.

 

however, this tsuba above was made in mid Edo period. if it was made for an odachi, then what was that odachi for? maybe for use in religious rituals?

[sanjuro]

A few No dachi are resident in various shrines around Japan and are used periodically for ceremonial purposes. As far as I know however, these swords are quite old. I am not aware of any swordsmiths of the edo period that produced No dachi, but that doesnt mean there were none. If the tsuba is indeed a No dachi tsuba and it dates from the Edo period, then the only thing that comes to mind is a sword made as part of the frequent antiquarian movements which were scattered throughout the Edo period. My bet would be a shrine sword of some description. Interesting speculation...... :D The Chinese look to this tsuba and the unusually shaped seppa that caused the wear pattern on the seppa dai intrigues me. The fact that the tsuba has hitsuana and that the kogai hitsu ana is plugged also adds to the mystery.

 

We could of course be totally off the mark with all of this...

[Martin]

Hi,

 

I actually don´t think that there is a wear pattern caused by the Seppa-Dai.

In my opinion this looks like part of the design and was inlaid in silver :?

 

You often see those Seppa-Dai decorations in Namban Tsuba.

 

Just my thoughts though....

[sanjuro]

Martin you are right. My first impression was of a wear pattern, but on closer examination (like higher magnification) it appears as though the shape of the seppa dai is almost certainly inlaid.

[W K Clifford]

you are right, Martin! this was a gold watch then...

[Jacques]

Hi,

 

Looking at the nails, it could be a woman's hand, that makes this tsuba not so enormous

[Soshin]

  Martin said:

Hi,

 

I actually don´t think that there is a wear pattern caused by the Seppa-Dai.

In my opinion this looks like part of the design and was inlaid in silver :?

 

You often see those Seppa-Dai decorations in Namban Tsuba.

 

Just my thoughts though....

I think you are completely correct Martin. That type of design is very often around the nakago-ana of Namban tsuba. I have a earlier Edo period Namban (Kanton subtype) tsuba done in classic Namban-bori carving style of a with the similar style of decorations on the seppa-dai around the nakago-ana. I would consider it one of the hallmarks of this type of tsuba. My Namban tsuba is of normal size for a katana.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

David S.