Marius

Something tells me Satsuma. Edo. Just a feeling...

David, this looks like a katchushi tsuba, but it could be made by any shool in the katchushi style. How thick is it at the seppa-dai?

John, there will be 26 tsuba (two have been already posted) and 11 kozuka. I have dropped Brian a line, asking him if this is OK. Again, strictly pro publico bono, no commercial background whatsoever. As for drawers - these tsuba and kozuka come from the Muzeum Archeologiczne i Etnograficzne (Archeological and Ethnographic Museum) in Łódź, and they have been most likely part of the collection of Henryk Grohman, a famous pre-war industrialist and art lover. All the tsuba and kozuka have been given into deposit of the District Museum in Torun, where a permanent exhibition of Japanese art is being organised by Pawel Czopinski, with some assisstance from our Society (allow me to translate it as the Polish To-ken Society). Glad you like it

Dear All, allow me to explain that I am posting this second (and will be posting subsequent) tsuba on behalf of the curator of the Torun District Museum, Pawel Czopinski, whom our nihonto society has managed to get excited about nihonto, kodogu and woodblock prints (I am working on cha-dogu as well ) Pawel's kind help was essential to an exhibition we have organised - http://gomabashi.blogspot.com/2011/05/p ... ition.html Pawel is in the process of uncovering tsuba from various Polish museums - before WWII there have been some serious collections in Poland, which have been since scattered and bits and pieces now rest in museum storage. If you and Brian, our Admin, do not object, I will post tsuba and other nihonto related items here on a regular basis, asking for your opinion about school, age and motif. I am ignorant when it comes to Edo tsuba... Please rest assured that this there is no commercial background to that. I hope that once catalogued, these tsuba will find their place in some big exhibition. So, here we go: a kinko tsuba, the motif of which is most likely Fujiwara Hidesato and the Dragon King. Higher resoltuion pics are here: http://gallery.me.com/mariuszk#100568 Thanks for your time and effort

Franco, I would say it is a stick and a gourd (traditionally used to hold medicine).

The seller is Mike Yamaguchi, one of the most honest dealers you can find. Just ask him about any blade he is selling and he will reply, being absolutely honest about its condition and whatever you ask for.

Gentlemen, Thank you I am very impressed, as always

Thanks John :-) The pupil looks like a monkey, though?

A curator from a Polish museum has asked me what this tsuba is in terms of school and motif, so I have come to the experts, knowing myself nothing about Edo kinko. Will you please give me some comments? Higher resolution pictures are here: http://gallery.me.com/mariuszk/100562 Thanks for your time

To wrap up - it is a mass produced tsuba, late Edo/Meiji. Low value, possibly around $100, or whatever someone pays for it on eBay.

Marcello, this might be an alloy, on your last pics it looks like shakudo. I any case, please do not expect a heated discussion about this tsuba - there is nothing special about it. Sorry to be blunt, just trying to explain the silence in this thread. All that could be said, has been said about this tsuba.

Low-res picture makes it a bit hard, but I should say it is a Late Edo piece. Never mounted, it seems, but WHY not Japanese?

Curran, I would disagree. Which one do you think is non-Japanese?

Well, here is the first comment - this tsuba looks cast. I am not even sure if it is cast iron - it could be some alloy.

Gents, I do appreciate all remarks regarding the motif, but whatever it is, I am still in the dark as to age and school....

I know it quite well, have discussed it with Boris :-) Nice piece. I still fail to see tombo in the design of my tsuba. IMHO it could be a round tansu lock plate plus four hirute handle drawers around it.

Henry, thanks for the input :-) I haven't seen this as tombo. Interesting thought.

I have a tsuba in my collection which I am unable to identify. Judging by the shape of the ryo-hitsu ana it could be quite early. The outside edges are very well rounded - almost tapered. No tekkotsu. 7.6 x 7.5 x 0.4 cm at seppadai, 0.25 at mimi What do you think of it?

Christian, you can say that they have the same provenance - they (tsuba and swords) are organised in collections. The number of items was too small to have a meaningful structure (like period, school, master, motif, etc) so whole collections are being shown here. Yes, it is a nice exhibition in a nice setting in a lovely medieval town. For NMB members - another reason to go to Poland :-)

Henk-Jan, would you mind quoting some sources? Might be an interesting read.

The Japanese Sword Section of the venerable society of Ancient Arms and Armour (which I have the honour to be a member of) has organised the second nihonto/katchu/kodogu exhibition in Poland. After our 2011 exhibition in Krakow was hampered by the flood (despite being closed most of the time, it managed to attract 8,000 visitors), we have now the second one in Torun. Here is some brief information for those going to Poland (no, it is not Holland, we have vodka, they have tulips): http://gomabashi.blogspot.com/2011/05/p ... ition.html

Stephen, I have well deserved it, even a reply so harsh, as it had no smilies Thank you for acknowleding it was the first time I have been rude. It shall be the last time. And no, I will not commit seppuku, I will be just more cautious when giving opinions. Probably too much whiskey today. I will never ever post after a bottle of this stuff Apologies

A scarecow, I suppose. I think Ford Hallam (or someone else) has posted a tsuba with this motif.

shame on me, then I'll use a sword without a horimono for my seppuku, just in case it might be an ato-bori Still, allow me to think it is a bad horimono. Good pics (high resolution) will prove if I am right or wrong (I am not sure, of course). BTW, I think a more courteous reprimand would not harm anybody. I may not know what I am talking about, but you could have put this in a more agreable tone, sparing me the embarrassment that comes with such a merciless exposure of my blatant lack of knowledge. This could have been done without blunting the edge of your criticism - I think in such a case it would be called politeness. On the other hand, I must admit I have transgressed the rues of civility using the word "crap". For this, please everybody accept my apologies. I have deserved your remark. Thank you for that I will use more caution in the future.

Chris, all motifs are more or less typical, that is they have been repeated with various degree of skills. I don't expect to learn anything (if I can, I shall be delighted) and the post contains only my musings on a nice tsuba which has its motif repeated in a simplified way. That is all, and there is nothing more to it. I am not trying to reinvent the wheel, I just wanted to post two items for comparison.