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Posted
Happy Holidays to everyone. Especially Brian for his hard work.

 

Here is me with my present. Can anyone tell what it is?

 

And a Merry Christmas to you, Henry :D

 

This is a beautiful tsuba. Well done, Santa! :clap: I won't comment on what it is, as I have read about it elsewhere :lipssealed:

 

If you know where to get similar tsuba, do let me know :lol:

Posted

Hi Henry

A very happy Christmas to you too!

After much study and research I think what you have is something called a tsuba :?

best regards

Paul

Posted
Can anyone tell what it is?

A funny looking hat? And an old teacup saucer?

:glee: :rotfl: :glee:

Kidding. Awesome early tsuba there. Kagamishi?

 

A merry festive season to all.

 

Brian

Posted

Merry Christmas!!!

 

Can anyone tell what it is?

 

A beautiful tsuba, seems kagamishi to me.

 

 

It looks however like something that wasn't initially intended to be a tsuba and later modified for the task; am I wrong? apart for the recess on the ha zone of the seppadai, I see two small holes on the nakago ana sides

 

Posted

Kagamishi it is. Here is some more information from Jim Gilbert.

 

"Kagamishi Tsuba

Kagamishi tsuba are cast from a bronze alloy. The name suggests that they are the work of mirror makers, but the work is usually rather different from what is seen on mirrors. The dating of these pieces ranges from Kamakura to Muromachi. Kagamishi tsuba are seen with regular geometric designs and with more organic motifs. There are not many examples to study in the US. It would be worthwhile to compare an analysis of the metal of Kagamishi tsuba with that of mirrors from the same time period."

 

This tsuba is a bit special as it has papers from the NBTHK which papers it to Ko Kagamishi as opposed to plain Kagamishi. This makes it quite old and is dated to around the late Nanbokucho to early Muromachi period.

 

I don't think it is a modified mirror, unlike the one below, because both sides are pretty much identical and does not look like an old mirror anyway.

 

 

The two holes in the seppa dai were probably made to hold seppa spacers to the tsuba.

 

The tsuba is covered in a coat of what appears to be old lacquer and there is a beautiful brown tinge to it.

 

And finally a later Kagamishi tsuba to compare. This one is mid to late Muromachi and while charming, does not have the same sense of age as the Ko Kagamishi.

 

 

 

Take care all.

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Posted

Merry Christmas Henry! I am more of a iron tsuba person but what a wonderful early Kagamishi tsuba. Thanks for posting detail information about it.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

David S.

  • 1 month later...
Posted
Here is another Kagamishi that I missed out buying a few years ago. I think it was priced around 200 dollars.

 

http://www.finesword.co.jp/sale/kodougu/htm/841_880/859/859.htm

 

 

What is a very wonderful tsuba for just two hundred dollars! :shock: Pick up many tsuba like that at such low prices then I can stop my day job and just start collecting full time. Well maybe not but I can still dream.:lol: Thanks for sharing the wonderful and low priced tsuba.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

David Stiles

Posted
Here is another Kagamishi that I missed out buying a few years ago.

 

 

Henry,

 

I am not quite sure that this is actually a kagamishi tsuba. It looks cast, to be sure, but otherwise it is not round as the kagamishi in Sasano's booklet (one exception there is mokko, actually) and the decoration is pretty unusual.

 

Whatever it is, it is a nice irogane ko-tsuba :D

Posted
Trust me, it is Kagamishi. Not the best quality, but none the less....

 

OK, not that I disagree, but here is an opportunity to learn :-) The kantei points for kagami-shi, please?

Posted

Hi Mariusz

 

The kantei points to me are as follows:

It is made of Yamagane. It appears to be cast. It has a dote mimi. The motifs are classic to Kagamishi.

 

The quality is not very good which is not a surprise as most Kagamishi tsuba were probably mass produce. The motif is quite weak which is probably due to the model it was cast from deteriorating from use.

Posted

But what else Do You see here?

 

Christian,

 

I am just trying to be a contrarian ;-) It is probably one of those later (Momoyama) kagami-shi tsuba with surface to remind rotten wood. I must admit I don't like this tsuba, although I am a great fan of kagami-shi guards. Maybe that is why I don't want it to be a mirror-maker's tsuba :glee:

 

Henry,

 

I agree with you. All the kantei-points are valid. Your conclusion with the deteriorated mould seems absolutely valid.

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