Help Identify This Tsuba

[Prewar70]

What can you tell me about this tsuba.  Only pictures I have so far.  Thank you

[Curran]

_Place name_ ju [artist's name on other side is illegible].

From the look of it, it is probably one of the visible grain tsuba often done by the Myochin school.

 

Condition is not very good.

[Prewar70]

i looked up Myochin and indeed it does look similar with the open grain and texture.  Safe to say nothing really special about this tsuba?

[Stephen]

I think it would clean up nicely

[Akao]

Yes we recognize mokume, I would say late Myochin too

[k morita]

Hi,

 

Sashu ju (佐州住), Sashu means Sado island.

Toshi  XXX (利　XXX).

 

[Prewar70]

Thank you K Morita. There is some good information on shibuiswords website regarding Myochin school. Based on these limited pictures, what is there of the signature does it look correct? Late Myochin or early, is there a guess to timeframe? Is there any significance to the Sado Island signature. Thanks for all the help

[Brian]

I think this might be classed as a Sado (island) tsuba rather than a Myochin one. Sado is a small school of tsuba makers.

[Brian]

Morita sama, could this be Toshiuji?
http://www.shibuiswords.com/haynesTsu71.html

[Akao]

Thanks very interesting !

[Prewar70]

Damn Brian, that looks pretty darn close. Good find.

[Curran]

Ah, Sado Island-  penal colony, then goldmine boom-town, and modern day tanuki reserve.

Interesting place with an odd evolution of history.

 

I wouldn't have guessed this for Sado Island tsuba, as most have a dark shipwright - ironworker feel to them.

*Not* a very large group, but sometimes interesting.

Brian seems to have nailed it. Thanks to Morita-san for yet another Japanese lesson.