Sukashi - Suhama?

[Marius]

Dear All,

 

the sukashi on this ko-kinko tsuba - is that suhama (beach)? Or maybe hirute? (drawer handle). Any ideas of what this shape is and how it is called? Google would produce poor results... The second tsuba has a similar sukashi, said to be bracken...

[Henry Wilson]

I think the sukashi on the ko Kinko is a family mon. Suhama 州浜 or "sand beach" is very different and is more of a typical kogai hitsuana shape. Example of the shape can be found here:

 

http://www.nihonto.com/5.1.09.html

 

I love the second one. I eyed-balled it many a time on Yamabushi antiques. Nearly bought it once too.

[Marius]

I think the sukashi on the ko Kinko is a family mon. Suhama 州浜 or "sand beach" is very different and is more of a typical kogai hitsuana shape.

 

Thanks :-)

 

Just to make things more complicated, I have found a "suhama" design here:

 

http://www.shibuiswords.com/BITsuba2.htm

 

One of the tsuba on this page is described as:

 

Tenpo tsuba for katana, thick iron plate, mokko gata, 8.65 x 8.00 x 0.50 cm, two hitsu ana, unclear stamping of combined dai-tsuchi, sukashi design of suhama ("sandbar" which is a mon), and ko-sukashi of two batons/counting sticks.

[cspage]

I'm surprised the obvious hasn't yet been mentioned...M-I-C...K-E-Y...you can take it from there.

 

Do I really have to sign this?

 

Ah well...

Colin

 

P.S. I've also been looking at these tsuba for a long time. Yamabushi Antiques is a great site for very interesting tsuba.

[Marius]

I'm surprised the obvious hasn't yet been mentioned...M-I-C...K-E-Y...you can take it from there.

many thanks :? I have been looking exactly for this explanation

 

Any ideas besides "the mouse"? I would really like to know WHAT this design is...

[Henry Wilson]

I would dare to say that the description on the Tenbo site is wrong and the design is a mon.

 

Have a look here. Second and third line down:

 

http://eps.crest-Japan.net/natural/index_en.php

[John A Stuart]

Young bracken coming up from the ground do look like fiddle-heads (the pommel of the bracken-fern sword) and this may be a double representation of that, but, this also reminds me of the stylised ginger 茗荷, myouga found quite often. Myouga is an homophone for the word that means 'protection of god' and is also the symbol of Madarashin, emancipation of worldly desire. Maybe? Most have on the convex and concave sides a little pointed protuberance though. see here http://www.johnstuart.biz/new_page_7.htm John

[Soshin]

I think the sukashi on the ko Kinko is a family mon. Suhama 州浜 or "sand beach" is very different and is more of a typical kogai hitsuana shape. Example of the shape can be found here:

 

http://www.nihonto.com/5.1.09.html

 

I love the second one. I eyed-balled it many a time on Yamabushi antiques. Nearly bought it once too.

 

 

I would agree with Henry I think the design is a kamon. I have seen similar designs in a iron piece in Gai So Shi by Robert E. Hayes specifically item #12. The tsuba date to the Muromachi Period. Go to the following link and look up the item in detail as there are high resolution photos on the web: http://www.nihonart.de/index_en.php.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

David S.

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Mariusz,

This sale just showed up on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ANTIQUE-SWORD-WWII-WW2-Japanese-DIGNITARY-TROPHY-/290525819022?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43a4b0308e

The badge on the tsuka is definitely a mon; looks quite similar to your tsuba's sukashi.

Grey