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Nobuie ...


Tsubafan

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Hello,

I am a freshly registered member of the forum, even if I have been reading it for quite some time.

I have a strong interest in Japanese art in general with a focus on Netsuke and Nihonto and have been collecting Nihonto for around 15 months now. I acquired a few swords in koshirae in the past 12 months and was lucky enough (maybe!) to buy an entire collection of Tsubas.

I am doing my 1st post to share one of the tsuba of this collection because it puzzles me a bit, I have been doing some research but could not find anything near this shape, size of mimi etc...Moreover it is signed Nobuie.

It might well also be an old casting as I can see some bubbles on the surface. But why bother casting an "unknown" design?

All in all, I am in need of some insights of the pillars of the forum.

 

Size is: 8 x 7,5 cms

Thickness is: 1 cm !

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

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Louis,

welcome to the NMB board!

These 'bubbles' are not necessarily from casting, but may well be from an acid treatment (YAKITE KUSARASHI) to produce a naturallly corroded looking surface.

I do not want to make a guess if your TSUBA is cast as I would need to hold it in my hands. But if my old eyes still work, there seems to be some layering visible in the NAKAGO-ANA, which would be a strong sign of a hand-forged plate.

As far as the signature is concerned, there is room for speculation. As I have heard, from 100 NOBUIYE signed  TSUBA, 99 may be just 'in the style of', but not necessarily from the NOBUIYE 'workshop line'.

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Thanks guys for moving the thread and welcoming me.

A bit more background on the collection might be necessary. It used to belong to a Japanese fellow who has lived in France. I believe he spent maybe 30 years collecting those. He has now passed away and I was able to buy the collection from his son. (around 35 pieces, there might be others to be found...) 

The collection is very heteregeneous (unless there was a thread in collecting those but I am definitely not in position of finding it as I am no expert in this field) and composed of some lesser known smiths. I will share some of them in the near future, the ones worth discussing !

Many thanks.

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Louis A

 

The worm eaten wood MIMI and the tortoise shell pattern on the HIRA are common Nobuie themes and he is also known for his irregular shaped Tsuba.  I think you may have a good piece. Would like to have it my hands to feel - - - not sure you would get it back though! :)

 

Dale from Tassie

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Louis A

 

The worm eaten wood MIMI and the tortoise shell pattern on the HIRA are common Nobuie themes and he is also known for his irregular shaped Tsuba.  I think you may have a good piece. Would like to have it my hands to feel - - - not sure you would get it back though! :)

 

Dale from Tassie

Dale,

unless you are ready to make 20 000 miles to handle it, it is going to be difficult ;-)

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My guess is that both of these are 19th-century Bakumatsu Period revivalist pieces.  The mei in both cases seeks to copy that of the shodai (hanare-mei) of the Momoyama Period, but details in the way the mei is done indicate it isn't that of the master.  Of course, the work itself departs considerably from what we see in the shodai and nidai. 

 

19th-century revivalist works often copied the great tsubako of much earlier times (Nobuie was a popular target), sometimes combining motifs and other features (rim structure, dimensions, etc...) into one tsuba but frequently overdoing it. 

 

IMHO, these pieces here are "valid" works in their own right (i.e. they are products of their time, forged rather than cast, and appear serviceable) , but perhaps not brilliant examples of tsuba art. 

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

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Curran/Pete?

Hmm....interesting one.

 

Pete is the more comfortable with original Nobuiye signatures (A). I defer to his opinion when dealing with one of those.

Since these aren't that, I thought it might be one of the Other Nobuiye ( B ):  Akasaka Nobuiye, Echizen Nobuiye, Owari Nobuiye, or Kaga Nobuiye.

 

Brian asked, so I got out the Kinko Meikan.

It didn't match the better known Other Nobuiye.

-- Not (A) and not ( B ).

Steve's attribution to 19th century revivalist or copyist works © is a better answer.

 

[ A, B, C, D, => I'm obviously taking too many exams.

--Self mockery there--. Later gents.]

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Merci Thierry.

Thanks Steve and Curran.

It is easier when the artist writes some facts like "based on Nobuie" or simply puts a date on the tsuba. 

Like this one, last one of the collection related  to Nobuie (at least with a written reference, there might be others but I don't know yet):

 

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Mei should read:

 

Kōka San Nen: Year three of Kōka (1846?)
Uma Shigatsu bi: April in the year of horse
 
Nobuie No Katachi o Motte: With the shape created by Nobuie
Myōchin Kuninao Saku: Created by Myōchin Kuninao
 
Size: 9 x 8,4 cms
 
I could not find any info on Kuninao...
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  • 1 year later...

Louis,

 

Three very interesting tsuba.  I have three that are identical to these, so unless someone is into 3D printing you sold these at Bonhams, November 2017, Lot 73, together with six other assorted tsuba (interesting Kaga Yoshiro that I hope to post soon).  It’s a pity that you did not include the boxes, but nonetheless I am happy with the purchase and to be their next guardian.

 

The signatures on the two ‘Nobuie’ tsuba appear to have been made with the same type of chisel as the Momoyama, ca. 1600, Nobuies.  There were later generations of Nobuie in the Myochin school, so just because they signed their works is the same way as their illustrious ancestors does not necessarily mean they are fakes, just basing their styles on the ‘greats’ and to promote sales to the gullible.  OK, the likelihood is they are deliberate fakes!  If you take Japanese signatures at face value then Nobuie, Omori Teruhide, Kano Natsuo etc must have made about 10 items a day, to judge by the number of ‘signed’ kodogu appearing for sale.

 

Also at the auction was a genuine Nobuie (NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon).  This was described as having ‘granular tekkotsu to the rim’.  I looked very hard (and I’m short sighted) but could not see anything that I would describe as tekkotsu, it looked like a fine ishime finish to me.  I’ve seen coarser bones produced by a cremulator after a cremation.  I mention this as the third tsuba that you showed (Myochin Kuninao copy of a Nobuie) has all sorts of lumps and bumps around the rim, see attached photos (sorry about the focus on macro).  These are what I would normally identify as tekkotsu (the types vary in shape and size).  Are they genuine, or did Kuninao use some other technique to create lumps when copying the Nobuie style?  After all lumps and bumps cannot be tekkotsu unless they are made of iron differing in hardness from the bulk material.

 

Thanks Curran for the identification of Kuninao.  That’s what I was looking for when I first searched the Notice Board for info on Kuninao.  The tsuba is engraved with waka poems.  Anyone good at reading calligraphy style hiragana and translating Japanese poems?

 

Regards, John

 

(just a guy making observations, asking questions, trying to learn)

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