MauroP

Hi, inlay decoration of tsuba no. 61 looks like shimenawa, a rope with ferns and paper stripes delimiting a sacred space in Shinto rituals.

As Luca said.

Some more stuff to give a try: 3 tsuba papered Higo, Kamiyoshi and Nishigaki. Which is which? (sorry for the pics, no others/better ones available).

You are right, Kamiyoshi (and Nishigaki) could also be candidates. Basically I never realized what clues in a sukashi tsuba make the difference with a simple Higo attribution. So I simply don't remind of them...

Hi, I didn't realized it was a kantei game. My answer was just a Gestalt guess. Anyway, I'm trying to rationalise: the theme expressed in ji-sukashi could be either Higo, Akasaka or Tosa-Myōchin. In a Higo piece I'd expect a more bold kebori, and sometime a more rich texture on plain surfaces. The Akasaka design is associated with sharp, broken lines (and dishomogeneous layered metal, wich I was unable to evaluate from the pictures). So Tosa-Myōchin, with its delicate kebori and sinuous sukashi (and homogeneous iron), should be the most likely candidate.

No. 55: usually referred as 格子 - kōshi (lattice pattern).

Tosa-Myōchin?

Hi, Kōfu jū Masayuki means "Masayuki living in Edo (Tokyo)". Efu is an alternative reading of Kōfu. Possibly late Edo period, Bushū-Itō school.

Item No. 53: the subject is usually referred as Aridōshi (蟻通し). It's a Nō play in which the god of Aridōshi shrine is represented disguised as an old priest holding an umbrella and a lantern.

Hi, I think it's just a tsuba for a bokken. Possibly this one was originally made to be mounted on a wood sword (late Edo to Showa), but I've seen some true old tsuba modified accordingly.

Luca, you have open to me a whole library of wonderful design Meiji book. Thank you!

葡萄図鐔 - budō zu tsuba 無銘 平安城象嵌 - mumei Heianjō-zōgan 竪丸形 鉄鎚目地 鋤出彫 - tatemaru-gata tetsu-tsuchime-ji sukidashi-bori 真鍮象嵌 角耳小肉 - shinchū-zōgan kaku-mimi ko-niku

Chevron-like decoration are frequently referred as sugi (杉 - Japanese cedar), but I suspect (and somewhere indeed I read about it) that it could also be a highly stylized representation of waves.

If shinchū-zōgan then Heianjō. That's the way tsuba are presently "boxed" (I doubt this classification is of any help, but what I know?). Nice tsuba, anyway.

Steve and Morita, thank you both for your effort. Once more the contribution of Morita-san shows invaluable for our community.