Geraint

Dear Jean. Until very recently I have associated Heianjo zogan with Heianjo school and I am coming to think that this is not adequate. As a parallel Kaga zogan, representing a flat inlay technique, can be found on tsuba from all sorts of schools, not just from Kaga. That speaks to your point about Heianjo zogan found on plates from other schools. Recently we had a thread on what was initially proposed as Heianjo zogan but the argument for Washida was compelling. What I am coming to is the distinction between technique and school. Heianjo zogan = technique. Certainly an image search for Heianjo tsuba brings up a wide variety of brass inlay as well as some very doubtful attributions by auction houses and others. From what I have read recently Heianjo sukashi and Kyo sukashi are hard to differentiate, this is going to make me look at everything labelled Kyo sukashi more closely but I doubt that I will be able to spot the difference. I will be interested to hear what others have to add to this. All the best.

Thank you Francois!

Dear Florian. By coincidence I was researching down the same rabbit hole recently and was looking at this article. I agree some illustrations would have been helpful, perhaps they will appear in time. As the site is run by Eliot Long and Robert Haynes in collaboration, and as Mr Haynes is the most authoritative writer on the subject in the West then I would say that the theory is certainly to be trusted, we all wait for more detail. All the best.

Dear Ben. Welcome! From your images this is cast iron. Contrary to what you have been lead to believe most Japanese tsuba were made from forged iron plates which were then worked into the design intended. Softer metals were also used, the favourite being shakudo, a mixture of copper with some gold that allowed it to be patinated to a rich black which contrast most beautifully with gold when used together. But I digress. On one side of your object the central hole is in line with a groove in what would be the seppa dai in a Japanese tsuba; the bit where the hilt meets the guard. This suggests a guard for a double edged sword. Not entirely unknown in Japanese swords but very rare and not usually mounted with anything like this. Tsuba like guards were used for swords throughout most of Asia, my suspicion is that this has nothing at all to do with Japanese guards though I cant comment on the idea that it is some sort of good luck token. Here is an excellent resource on Asian swordguards written from the point of view of Japanese collectors. https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Community/Asian-Export-sword-guards-and-Nanban-tsuba-564035753684007/ And here are a few tsuba for comparison; http://nihonto.us/TSUBA%20LINK.htm There are many other sites included in the links at the top of the NMB homepage. All the best.

Nor in the UK apparently, what a shame! All the best.

Thanks for this one, Peter. All the best.

Dear Chris. I confess that I am guilty of looking at cloud formations and defining them as hamon. It happens quite unintentionally, just the other evening I looked out of the window and was heard to mutter, "Sudareba!" I'm sure that I am not the only one..............I hope? All the best.

Well, I found the other one. Sothedy's, 31st March 1993, Lot 240. It is a different sword to the example above, same hand made the koshirae but the blade has a dragon horimono, no gold inlay, and is signed, Umetada Hikojiro koku do saku. I don't have the prices realised for this sale but the pre sale estimate was £35,00 to £40,000. Almost makes this one look like a bargain. All the best.

Dear Ian. Bet you can hardly wait for that parcel to arrive then! An almost identical example appears in Masterpieces of Meiji Metalwork, a catalogue produced by Barry Davies Oriental Art in 1991. They reference two others, one sold through Christie's from the Hartman collection and another in the Behrens collection. (I have seen one other which sold through a major auctioneer though I can't pin it down in my references at the moment). Although this auction wants the blade to belong to THE Umetada Myoju the Barry Davies catalogue says, "Myoju was a member of the Togo family, a pupil of Araki Tomei, working in the late Edo and Meiji period." They seem to fall into that category of work which reaches a market outside the normal sword collecting field, fabulous Meiji metalwork attracts serious money. (Of course it could all be the same one, passing from collection to collection. Makes more sense in some ways though if this is the case then it has seen some neglect since appearing in the Barry Davies catalogue where it was in pretty much pristine condition.) All the best.

Dear all. "If there is a mizukage, that'd be the dead giveaway." Careful with this, not always the case. See here and scroll to the end. http://www.ksky.ne.jp./~sumie99/utsuri.html Mizukage is also a feature of some smiths work. All the best.

Dear Rodriguez. Hawley lists one Kaga Kiyoshige working around 1592, Kaga Komatsu Kiyoshige, though it does not suggest the no Kami in the mei. Might this be the guy? All the best.

Dear Florian. Is the habaki foil covered? In any event it looks fine, how does it fit to the blade? If it is a good fit then it's fine. Best case here is that someone took a shine to a nice tsuba and whipped it off, replacing with this one and an extra seppa to make up the slack. Worst case is that someone has got hold of a blade, habaki and saya and made up the complete sword. The quality of fit between all the parts and a close look at the aperture in the tsuka where the nakago fits will confirm one or the other. Either way enjoy the sword. All the best.

Dear Steven, Assuming you mean kitae ware? If so then it is not so much a crack as a delamination, or more properly a lamination failure as it has probably been there since the sword was forged. If you can feel it but can't see it then it might be a fukure. If it is not a clearly discernable flaw and the issue is over the whole bladed then it might just be coarse hada. For an excellent summary see here, http://www.ksky.ne.jp./~sumie99/flaws.html All the best.

Dear Mark. Please add your name to your posts, you can auto add in your profile. It is always difficult to tell from photographs but there are a number of red flags here. Have a good look at this one, https://www.aoijapan.com/img/sword/2010/10172koshirae.jpg Look at the pommel, the guard, the washers and the blade collar, (kabutogane, tsuba, sepps, habaki in Japanese) It is especially hard to be objective when family service history is involve. However you are not many miles away from the Northern Token Society, or you could go for the Token Society of Great Britain. As soon as all this ends you could go along to a meeting and show them your sword for educated confirmation one way or another. All the best.

Dear Florian. This is a useful book for you. https://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/books/b710-mino-and-supplement-cox Nice sword. All the best.

Fairly sure that the apparent kakumune is a trick of the angle on the photograph and that this is in fact iori mune. (Seen better in the video.) All the best.

Welcome Lance. As has already been said the two character mei is Kunihiro, a name often seen on plain iron tsuba and although I have not looked into it in any detail it seems that this might be a studio name rather than an individual as there are so many of them. However, the decoration is not typical and looks to owe more to the late tsuba makers so this is possibly an original but rather plain tsuba, (though the mimi or edge treatment is nice), that has been decorated by another artist. Can't make out the smaller mei yet but I am sure someone will, perhaps the name of the decorator. All the best.

Sounds OK to me Chad, enjoy All the best.

Dear Ken. I can't recall seeing one either so given that jumonji are fairly rare to start with I would say yes it is. All the best.

Dear Chad. Nice little yari, shape would be called hira sankaku, three sided The kerakubi, the bit at the base just above the tang, is not long so I agree with Ken that it is probably Edo period. No signature on the tang? To have a look at a few more try here, https://www.aoijapan.com/japaneseswords/kenyarihinawaju/ All the best.

Dear John. If you go to your profile you can auto add your name to your posts as we all do. I really like the sword, sweet koshirae (Mountings) as well. These smiths started in the Koto period but I agree this looks Shinto so probably your best guess is the Hiroyoshi whose work period is around 1684. This lockdown is a pain but when it passes there are members here who would be happy to look at it for you and tell you what they can, depending on where in the UK you are. If you are not already a member of the Token Society of Great Britain and/or the Northern Token Society then look them up. Cornwall is closed to holiday makers at the moment but if you ever get down this far let me know. All the best.

Dear John. As Moriyama san said, the name of the smith is Hiroyoshi, followed by saku which means made. Hakushu is the place where he made it, so roughly, "Hakushu resident Hiroyoshi made this." Stick with it, it gets easier gradually! There were several generations so a date would be approximate, and of course there is always the possibility of the signature being a fake or gimei. Some more photographs of the whole blade at right angles to it would help as the shape can indicate age. There were smiths of this name working from about 1500 to 1600s. Fascinating, isn't it? All the best.

Dear Ron. Nice set! You are correct in that often deep relief carving is done by pushing some of the metal forward from the back, the punch marks that you show. However there is a difference between punching into a mould and repousse work. With the former the mould provides the shaping of the piece, with he latter all it gives is raised surfaces to work on. I have seen images of menuki being worked, if I can find them I will add them. A scroll through some of Ford's videos will add all that is needed, I'm sure. All the best.

Dear All. Just for the sake of clearing up some ideas, this smith is Tamura Masayuki, Shinshinto, see here, https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/lot.1090.html/2007/Japanese-works-of-art-prints-paintings-l07680 Shinobi ana is a feature seen on swords in periods other than Showa. All the best.

Dear Steven. Have a look in your other thread about this sword. Markus has him listed as 1854 - 1860, Tamura family. All the best.