An Old Tsuba?

[TheGermanBastard]

Hello NMB Member,

 

here is another piece of old iron that has been sitting with me for a while

 

It belongs to a simple Handachi Koshireae that housed a good sword.

 

Bearing such a simple design and being very thin I wonder if it is an old piece? (Koto)

 

Thank you,

 

Luis

[vajo]

Nice one Luis. I would say mid muromachi.

Rim lower 0.3 cm?

Have you tried to read the signature?

 

Best

Chris

[ROKUJURO]

Luis,

MEI seems to start with TADA-. 

I think this is a later EDO revival piece, aiming to look like KO-TOSHO, but a really nice one!

[Marius]

A tsuba that would look nice on a koshirae. Simple iron, go stone shape. Interesting mimi. A nice Edo piece reminds me a bit of later Hoan work.

[Higo-san]

Hi Luis,

 

the mei could be Tadatsugu. Tadatsugu was an Umetada school artist working around 1700. Therefore, I agree with Jean regarding his Edo period attribution - however, I disagree with the term "revival". At least to my non-native speaker ears, the term "revival" has some bad connotation to it. Since we do not call a Masahide sword "a koto revival piece", I would suggest to simply call this tsuba a (not Ko-) tosho tsuba (even though I do not know whether or not Tadatsuga was also a trained swordsmith) or in fact an Umetada mon sukashi tsuba.

 

Best,

 

Chris

[vajo]

Great guys, i allways enjoy your knowledge. This board is better than any school lessons! 

[TheGermanBastard]

Thank you very much for your kind help in determining this Tsuba. It is greatly appreciated.

 

As you can tell from the images the Tsuba needs some good cleaning fr removing some rust.

 

So do you think it is worth the time / effort?

 

Thank you

[Marius]

Luis, 

 

yes, definitely. Please proceed cautiously and don't overdo it. It is too nice a tsuba to allow the patina to be damaged.

 

Here is a thread:
http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/12837-restoring-the-sheen-of-iron-tsuba/?hl=%2Brust+%2Bclean+%2Biron+%2Btsuba