Small katchushi tsuba

[Marius]

Nice, deep patina and well executed mimi. Inlays in silver, gold and shakudo, representing a hunter shooting a bird.

Small, granular tekkotsu on the rim.

Could be Edo, maybe earlier with later added inlay.

6.8 x 6.5 cm. Thickness 2.5 mm at seppa-dai, 4 mm at rim.

[sanjuro]

Marius.

 

Not trying to be a royal pain in the butt, but can you post closeups of the inlay please? I have not come across this type of stylisation before and it intrigues me. I rather like this tsuba. My gut feeling is that the plate is earlier than Edo.

[Marius]

Not trying to be a royal pain in the butt, but can you post closeups of the inlay please? I have not come across this type of stylisation before and it intrigues me. I rather like this tsuba. My gut feeling is that the plate is earlier than Edo.

 

Keith,

 

you are not :-) I was thinking earlier than Edo, too, but the inlay looks Edo, at least IMHO. I will try to do macro pics, but not earlier than next week, as I am away now.

[IanB]

Mariusz, The Deryk Ingham sword collection in the Royal Armouries' collection has a fuchi with exactly this image - a scarecrow with a bow and a rope with a bird rattle on it. The fuchi, is of shakudo nanako with gold and alloy inlays and is on a wakizashi with a horn kashira, the artist has lacquered the bird on the kashira.

Ian Bottomley

[Marius]

Ian,

 

I would say this is a fisherman, dressed in a straw rain coat. But the scarecrow version is very appealing. This would be a sophisticated scarecrow, mimicking an archer. Perhaps to scare off cormorants?

[Marius]

This lovely, little tsuba is now sold. That went fast :D

 

Thanks for looking

[IanB]

Mariusz, If you look carefully you will see the 'figure' is actually mounted on a pole. It is much more clear on the fuchi because it is larger in size and has more detail. On this you can see it is made using a straw raincoat and a farmer's hat. Also the bird rattle on the fuchi can be seen to be made of lengths of bamboo. You can see these are marked on your tsuba. A very nice tsuba and somebody has got a good deal.

Ian

[Marius]

If you look carefully you will see the 'figure' is actually mounted on a pole. It is much more clear on the fuchi because it is larger in size and has more detail. On this you can see it is made using a straw raincoat and a farmer's hat. Also the bird rattle on the fuchi can be seen to be made of lengths of bamboo. You can see these are marked on your tsuba. A very nice tsuba and somebody has got a good deal.

 

Ian, I thought this was a synthetic representation of a hunter, hence no arms, legs and details. But surely, you are right, thanks for the info

 

The person who has got the deal is a real gentleman whom I like and respect. I am glad it was him who got it :-) Since I will not be able to ship before Wednesday, I may take some close-ups and post them here.

 

Brian, maybe you would like to move this thread to the "Tosogu" section?

[Brian]

Done. I also think this is an interesting theme. I assume the scarecrow was used to scare off birds (they were able to identify an archer?) and when that didn't work, I assume a rattle on a rope did the trick with noise everytime the wind blew?

Nice looking iron. I wonder if this was indeed later embellished, or if originally made like this in the style of an earlier katchushi? Seems small for an armorers tsuba.

Perhaps our magnetic metal fans will ellaborate

 

Brian

[IanB]

By chance I stumbled upon this painting which I think settles the matter.

Ian Bottomley

[Marius]

Ian,

 

lovely print, thanks

 

There is no doubt now that you were right from the outset. Thanks a bunch for clarifying this. Pics will follow next week (macros).