Study piece

[kusunokimasahige]

One of the problems with the crudeness is that we do not know if it was meant that way by the maker.

The "dents" in the iron work also in my eyes at least do not add to its beauty, though collectors may differ about that.

 

I do not know if this was water cast and then hammered out, or if it was just cast after which the inlay work was done.

 

I am not sure if any period (contemporary) price lists for tosogu still exist with depictions of tsuba ranges. A samurai would buy a tsuba, so maybe this one was made for someone who liked crude shapes, or for someone who was not too rich, problem with statements like these is that they cannot be checked of course since no origins are known. It might be compareable with some ancient Roman or Greek artefacts you might find at auction of which you can only say, yes this is Roman, or Greek, but of which you have no record whatsoever. What i mean by that is that there is no context known.

 

A lot of this information can increase or decrease value. Another example are of course mumei blades which are attested to a smith, by expert teams, and with reasonable accuracy. The problem however is that when you have a papered sword, you still have absolutely no scientific proof it was actually made by that smith, in that forge (if such a place would at all have been found and excavated) But you do have a high probability factor, which also adds to the value.

 

KM

[Soshin]

.

A lot of this information can increase or decrease value. Another example are of course mumei blades which are attested to a smith, by expert teams, and with reasonable accuracy. The problem however is that when you have a papered sword, you still have absolutely no scientific proof it was actually made by that smith, in that forge (if such a place would at all have been found and excavated) But you do have a high probability factor, which also adds to the value.

 

I think this statement also generally applies to unsigned tosogu as well. If it papers then it will increase in value how much will depend on which school and/or historical period. If doesn't paper then for tosogu the value will likely decrease. I once purchased a tsuba that was modern cast copy from someone I don't think knew that it was a cast iron copy. Once I did some research and obtained more information I found out that it was a modern (i.e. Showa Period) cast iron copy of a middle to late Edo Namban tsuba. In the end I was out around a 100 US dollars. All in all a $100 lesson learned isn't that bad. I am sure other people might have different views I am just relating my own personal experience.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

David S.