Beginning Collector Of Tsuba

[Dan tsuba]

Hello all,

 

I am a beginning collector of tsuba.  I posted my "new member introduction" on 2/11/19.  I would very much like your opinion on this tsuba.

I bought it on one of the "E" sites.  Only paid around $80.00 for it so I thought it would be a "reproduction" or "replica".  I think the artwork is beautiful.  When it arrived, I looked at it and saw the fine detailing.  Then I thought, "could this be authentic" ?  It is a small tsuba (as shown in the pictures with the tape measure).  Could you please help me to ascertain if it is "authentic".  If so the maker, school, and the age of the tsuba.  I hope the pictures I took are O.K.. If not, please advise and I will take some more pictures.

Thank you all so much for your time and consideration.

 

Dan

[Marius]

It is a real, although low quality tsuba. Looks late (19th c.) Nothing wrong with that, at $80

 

School or maker? Sorry, this could have been made everywhere. If you need to categorise - "kinko" (soft metal tsuba). 

 

Good start. But buy some books before you continue. Otherwise you'll end up with loads of cheap tsuba that you won't be able to sell. 

[ROKUJURO]

Dan

welcome to the forum!

For a first TSUBA this is not bad, I think. It is an authentic one, but certainly not top of the line and not old. It has lost most of its patina so the colour of the base metal shines through.

I think you can enjoy it, but please look at many good and high-end TSUBA to get an idea of what is desirable, quality, and collectable.

[MauroP]

Hi Dan,
with 80 bucks you could even get better (rarely) or do worse (usually) on eBay, so not a bad performance for a beginner! As already pointed out, it's a pity the tsuba has been over cleaned. Anyway, if you like neat classification try search for Kyō-kanagushi.
Welcome in the forum, Mauro

[b.hennick]

It f be a sanmei awasa that is 3 piece construction held together by the rim.

[Dan tsuba]

Thank you all for your consideration of the piece, your reply's, and suggestions.  Much appreciated !!

 

Dan

[JohnTo]

Hi Dan,

Welcome to the NMB.  Sorry I’m a bit late in replying, but I don’t look every day.  I see that the replies that you got are a bit short and as a newbe you were probably looking for more info.  I’m a relative newbe myself, but I hope that the following might add to your knowledge and appreciation of tsuba.

There are a lot of kinko (soft metal) tsuba appearing on the E-sites, somewhat similar to yours with erroneous descriptive words like Mino, Goto and shakudo.  The Goto school in Mino province became very important in the Edo period as their style of fittings were required by anyone attending court.  They worked, mainly, in shakudo, an alloy of copper with about 5% gold, which produces a lovely blue black patina when treated properly.  They also treated the surface of the tsuba with a tiny punch to produce the nanako (fish eggs) finish.  Goto school fittings were expensive and not all samurai could afford the genuine article so workshops sprung up making cheaper versions.  Much like designer goods today.

Two big centres for copies were Nagoya (Nagoyamono) and Kyoto (Kyo kanagushi), but many more workshops were also producing similar fittings of various quality.  A lot of Nagoyamono have been coming up for sale recently.  These are typified by a mokko shape, so yours is probably from another workshop.  These copies did not use shakudo and so are typified by a brown patina (probably a copper/bronze alloy suitable for casting0.  They were cast from a mould and then finished by hand (applying the nanako finish, gilding etc).

Tour tsuba is probably of this type.  Look at the nanako.  Lot of work went into punching the individual marks.  Lines are nicely curved, but spacing in some parts is uneven.  Not the highest quality.  The gilded horse looks as if it has been moulded, rather than inlayed, as would have been done by Goto.  The photo of the rim is not clear, but looks like it has been gilded, rather than being a separate piece of metal (fukurin).

Its not bad for a first piece.  You can learn a lot from it.  OK, its not Goto, but you paid $80 and not $800, or even $8000.  Look at Ford Hallam’s videos on Youtube to see how quality shakudo tsuba are made.

Best regards, John

[Dan tsuba]

Thank you JohnTo,

 

Some great and helpful information, much appreciated !!   Will do as you suggest.

 

With respect,

 

Dan

[Surfson]

It looks to me like it is a genuine tsuba that was once shakudo, but lost some of its patina.  I too think that it is fine for the price paid.  

[matsuba]

Hi, I am a new in this forum and this is my first post.  I bought this iron tsuba for 35$. It was very dirty and it is somewhat damaged as you can see in the pictures. I hope someone can tell me about it especially what the kanjis mean. Most of the horizontal lines in the upper part has rusted close, one line is partially open.

I hope this tsuba is not a fake

The tsuba weighs 130 g and measures are : 7.1 x 6.8 x 0.4 cm

 

Jarmo

[MauroP]

Hi Jarmo,
probably you'd better open a topic by your own.
Anyway, yours looks like a true mid/late Edo Bushū-Itō school tsuba (it's a pity it's ruined by delamination). The signature should be 江府住 正久 - Kōfu jū  Masahisa.
Mauro

[matsuba]

Thank you Mauro for the advise and information.

 

Jarmo