tsuba / no 4

[raaay]

this tsuba again i have owned for a long time ,but i have lost the information that came with it .

 

it was in a well knowing private collection in the UK some years ago

and i purchased through a contact from a collector friend of mine.

 

and i must admit this one , is one off my favourite tsuba .

 

i think it is - sakashi ? circa 1700.

 

any opinions please , date , school , etc

 

 

 

Bit late i know ! / but tsuda - dia 80mm x 3 to 4mm thick

 

thank's again .

 

ray.

[Ford Hallam]

hmmm, the little birds make me think Ko-Owari. What are the measurements?

 

Quite elegant too.

 

Ford

[Rich T]

Owari, but I would not think Ko, Edo more likely. Also, the geese in the older Owari ( Muromachi and the likes ) were generally bigger and rounder, though I know not always. Another point here is that older Owari are quite heavy in design, large, bold, bigger than life where this is pretty fine. This could also be Kyo because of that.

 

Is there anything in the mimi ?, tekkotsu or masame hada ?

 

I think probably mid Edo by the looks of the iron ( late 1600's to early 1700's ) And yes, it is definitely sukashi :-)

 

Rich

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Rich,

 

you're probably right on the age, now that I think about it. I also wondered if it might be Kyo-sukashi first, but the birds swung it for me, then I simply went to Early Owari because it was more delicate .

 

regards, Ford

[Curran]

Kyo-sukashi.

1725 to 1800 is my call.

 

Rich is da king. Not much to add.

If the plate is (probably) thinner, I'd probably put it later (1750 to 1800).

 

Ps. Your Umetada plate patina is entirely consistent with that of other Umetada tsuba I have seen from that period.

A few years ago I owned a similar style Umetada by Yoshitsugu. Distinct patina. Gray black, and somewhat slick as if it had somehow been burnished.

 

Curran

[raaay]

thanks again for the replies on this tsuba

 

now that it has been sugested [ kyo sukashi ] it has jogged the

old memory banks , that is what it was sold to me as ,but ??

 

as you can tell , not used to posting and describing items properly allways forget important things measurements etc.

 

And something else that springs to mind after all the years off collecting ,

because i have been sword orientated and probably a bit tunnel visioned

i have never realy appreciated what i have ,in my small collection of fittings , now looking at them in a different light !

 

will try to post latter !!! some measurments

 

regards

ray.

[Ford Hallam]

I just came across this Kyo-sukashi tsuba, in a book by Kazuo Iida, which appears to share some similarities with the one we're discussing. Although I must admit that the slightly more squarish seppa dai on Ray's piece still makes me think Owari.

[Rich T]

It is a common theme amongst Owari, Kyo, Akasaka and Higo among others. Being Ryohitsu Shitate makes me appreciate the Kyo Sukashi call

 

This is papered NBTHK Ko Akasaka

 

Rich

[Ford Hallam]

Hi Rich,

 

I can see that as Ko-Akasaka, particularly the more pointed seppa-dai. Would'nt have been handy if they could have simply marked them all with their date and place of manufacture . I suppose this could lead one to have a closer look at the development of Akasaka and how much they imported from Kyoto sukashi work.

 

thanks, Ford

[Rich T]

This is from the Sasano collection, it is Owari ( Muromachi ) and I think the Akasaka comes more from here than Kyo. Higo also take from this design.

 

I have attached a Higo Nishigaki image as well.

[Martin]

Hi,

 

just found the piece Ray´s Tsuba reminds me of:

http://www.artswords.com/Kiyosukashi2.htm

 

Also described as Kyo-Sukashi

 

cheers,

Martin