Tsuba Maker or Examples of Similar Tsuba

[Krystian]

Hello, 

 

I just bought this tsuba. As you can see It is damaged and I wanted to do some work on it (not me personally but a specialist). I would like It to look as similar to the original look as possible. That is why I am looking for similar tsuba for reference. Thanks to the forum I already now the name of the maker: Haruichi-sai or Harukazu-sai. However I can't find this maker in Haynes or the internet!. So if you could help me find his work or examples of similar tsuba it would be great. 

 

 

I would like to start with color of the dragon. It is made of silver and I don't know If It should be "silver" or should I use patina to make it dark/black.

 

I also wonder about an original color of iron. 

 

 

Thank you in advance for all comments. 

 

Best Regards, 

 

Krystian 

[Krystian]

Only similar design tsuba I could find are Tanaka School. So I think I will proceed with assumption that it is or is inspired by Tanaka School.

[Henry Wilson]

Contact Ford??

[Steves87]

Good question Krystian,

I wonder if any Tsuba which is inlaid with silver should have a dark patina. It seems strange that a metal such as silver would not be kept 'shiny'.

[Henry Wilson]

I think silver naturally tarnishes to black.

[Steves87]

Yes, I guess what I meant is, was it created with that in mind, or, created to be 'kept up' with maintenance (to not be black)

[TETSUGENDO]

Hi Krystian,

 

Henry is right in his reccomendation of Ford Hallam, this aesthetic is definitely one he is extremely well schooled in, he will know exactly how it should look.  As I don't have access to all my reference material, I can't say if he is a direct associate of the school, if not he was heavily influenced by it.  Your photos are not good enough to see the details of the nunome work, but many direct members of the school laid it down using  a 'Y' shaped punch, if you can see this detail It could provide confirmation.  It's a very nice piece in good condition, excepting some rust and a bit of unfortunate vandalism.

 

-S-

[Krystian]

Thank you. I will make some better quality pictures and conntact Ford Hallam than. I will also post them here. 

 

I will also look for Y shaped punch on nunome zogan. Thank you for that tip Steven. 

[Krystian]

Some more pictures. I have made them with strong flash and with added contrast so you can see everything clearly. 

[Krystian]

Based on those pictures I think that silver was patineted black. So for now I will just clean it and leave silver as it is. 

[TETSUGENDO]

Krystian,

 

If your planning on having someone work on this...DON'T clean anything!   Much better pics, thanks.   Its a promising looking piece, a couple of questions, is the rim part of the piece, or is it an applied fukurin?  Also, could you please give us the dimensions?

 

-S-

[Krystian]

The rim is part of the tsuba, no fukurin. They are 69 x 60 x 5 mm. However I still think It needs proper cleaning:) 

[TETSUGENDO]

Thanks for the photos, measurements and response Krystian.

 

-S-

[Ford Hallam]

The dragon does look to be in silver, but blackened silver finishes, which are produced by using sulphur, were evidently not an aspect of metal finishing used in the past.

 

And as Steven suggested, don't do any cleaning if you intend to have a professional deal with it because a microscopic examination before intervening allows for a more detailed and subtle understanding of the piece and what it might have been intended to look like. DIY cleaning tends to destroy a wealth of valuable evidence.

[Robin]

Are those remains of black urushi on the plate?

[Ford Hallam]

Are those remains of black urushi on the plate?

 

Unlikely, what we're most probably looking at is silver sulphide. It has a tendency to 'grow' beyond the immediate edge of the actual underlying silver that it is consuming.

[Robin]

Thanks Ford.

 

[Bazza]

Just into this thread.  Robin, I agree with the people who are suggesting you do not clean this in any way at all and Ford's comment on this is pertinent.  Save it all until Ford can get to it - after the restorations I have just sent him via a friend!!!!  I like your tsuba very much and the signature style IMHO adds much to the piece.

 

Best regards,

BaZZa.

[Robin]

Just into this thread.  Robin, I agree with the people who are suggesting you do not clean this in any way at all and Ford's comment on this is pertinent.  Save it all until Ford can get to it - after the restorations I have just sent him via a friend!!!!  I like your tsuba very much and the signature style IMHO adds much to the piece.

 

Best regards,

BaZZa.

 

Don't worry...I won't. btw..it's not mine. 

[Krystian]

Thank you all for comments. I value greatly each and every information you shared. 

 

 

In my opinion though this piece is not valuable enough to send It to Ford who is one of the best in the field and works on some of the best tsuba I have ever seen. 

 

 

While it is similar to Tanaka School tsuba I do not get the same "calm" feeling as I get when looking at real deal. So I think that it is worth around 1000 - 1500 $ at best. 

 

 

Based on that I will have it restored here in Poland by a friend of mine who is a great tsuba maker and hopefully thanks to the experience he will gain on this and other projects one day he will also be recognized as a professional tsuba restorer.

 

 

We will offcours try to get as many valuable information about how to proceed with this tsuba as possible. 

 

 

I will share photos of this one when it is done.

 

 

Thank you again. 

[Krystian]

Here are pictures of this tsuba after cleaning. We decided not to touch the iron base. Just clean it together with the inlay. 

 

This was a learning exercise so If possible please comment and be as harsh as possible. In the future I would like to avoid as many mistakes as possible.

 

Thank you in advance for all the comments.

 

This time pictures where made with strong direct flash light to show all the details and with reflected light to make it nicer to look at. 

[Tanto54]

Dear Krystian,

 

I can tell that you worked hard on this, but you asked for our honest thoughts....  In my personal opinion (so feel free to ignore it), I think that it looked much better before you cleaned it.  One of the primary goals of cleaning this tsuba should have been to stop the active rust, but it appears that the tsuba still has active rust on the plate.  I would have just boned the active rust, lightly cleaned it with a soft brush, water and a very mild soap, waxed it lightly (using Renaissance Wax) and left the rest alone.  I imagine that there will be as many different opinions as commentators.

[Krystian]

and some pictures taken with the phone. Flash might have made a silver a bit brighter than it is. 

[Krystian]

and some pictures taken with the phone. Flash might have made a silver a bit brighter than it is. 

[Krystian]

Thank you for your comment George. A lot of people think that I went to far with this one so you are not alone. I will remove the active rust. However I wanted It to look as good as those tsuba found on Yuhindo: 

 

https://yuhindo.com/hagiya-katsuhira/

 

and other webistes with highest quality items. But It seems I went to far accorind to many.

[PietroParis]

Hi All,

 

Apologies for the slightly off-topic question: where does one buy the bone (?) to remove rust from metal?

 

Cheers, Pietro

[Bazza]

I get mine from my wife's Sunday roast lamb leg!!!!   Works a treat...

 

BaZZa.

[Tanto54]

Everyone has a favorite (bone, antler, ivory, etc.) but I like old ivory the best (don't want to kill any Elephants, but I think it's OK to use antique discarded ivory).  If you can find someone who tunes pianos, they may have some old ivory keys available.

[b.hennick]

+1