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Steve Waszak

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Steve Waszak last won the day on September 7 2018

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    San Diego, california
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    iron tsuba, up to early-Edo

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    Steven Waszak

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  1. Certainly appears to have the features associated with Kanayama work: prominent tekkotsu, smaller dimensions, a yakite finish to the surface (though the condition of the guard, perhaps due to rust damage, makes it harder to be sure about the finish), symmetry in design, motif, and rim structure. As you note, Steve, the tsuba's condition is less-than-ideal. Not sure what, if anything, might be done to improve this. Some gentle ivorying may have a positive effect. Nice tsuba in many ways, though.
  2. Interesting perspective. From my point of view, this tsuba at Choshuya (no-doubter Shodai Hoan) is significantly underpriced. I don't know that I'd call it a crazy undershot, but this tsuba could/should be more in the $10,000 - $12,000 range. I doubt this will last into February. I'd grab it immediately if I could.
  3. Hi Hannes, Yes, you may very well be correct. This guard certainly is reminiscent of Nakane's work.
  4. The second of the tsuba is a somewhat smaller, but more robust work in terms of its thickness, measuring 7.65cm x 7.6cm x 5mm. The sukashi openwork features a scalloped design, and so is rather less severe and spartan in its expression than the first example. This piece, too, would suit a Higo koshirae admirably. $550, plus shipping.
  5. On offer here are two iron sukashi sword guards. They are clearly works out of the Higo tradition, and may be more immediately tied to the Hirata workshop. These are both deceptively simply pieces, featuring well-worked iron and rather classically Higo expression. I will present photos and dimensions for each tsuba in separate posts. The first piece here measures 8.4cm x 7.95cm x 3mm. It is a relatively large guard, and would be an excellent fit for a Higo koshirae. Ito Mitsuru's fantastic series of books on the four main Higo tsuba traditions -- Hirata, Shimizu, Nishigake, and Hayashi (and Kamiyoshi) -- includes an image of a piece he attributes to Hirata which could be twin of the present work. If a large, spartan, Higo expression is to your liking, this sword guard would fit the bill. $550 plus shipping.
  6. Weekend price drop to $875, plus shipping.
  7. Offered here is an iron mokko sword guard signed "Nobuie." I do not believe this is the work of either of the two early Nobuie masters. The mei features details that appear to combine characteristics of the signatures of the Shodai and Nidai Nobuie, and the work is clearly expressing the aesthetic sensibilities we associate with the Shodai and Nidai. I believe this dates to the early Edo Period, and could, perhaps, be the product of a Nobuie workshop that had some association with the early smiths. This guard presents with a strong kikko (tortoise-shell) motif done as a pattern over a plate finished in expressive tsuchime. The rim is of uchikaeshi form, as is usual with Nobuie mokko sword guards, and is in excellent condition. Interestingly, there is a very similar work included in the Nobuiye Tsuba Shu, the collection of rubbings of Nobuiye tsuba by Nakamura Kakudaiyu published in the 19th century (see photo of the present tsuba alongside the piece from the Tsuba Shu). The work included by Nakamura is mumei, so no direct mei comparison is possible, but it is clear enough that the aesthetics involved are closely related. Dimensions are 7.9cm x 7.5cm x 5mm at the mimi. $950 plus shipping.
  8. Excellent find, Peter. Just downloaded the article for reference. Many thanks.
  9. Bump, with a final price drop on Tsuba #1, now $425, and Tsuba #2, now $775 (plus shipping). These are really good prices on tsuba of this quality coming out of the Higo tradition.
  10. Offered here is a fine iron kuruma-sukashi tsuba, likely dating to the Bakumatsu years of the late-Edo Period. I attribute this sword guard to this time because in the 19th-century, the Bakumatsu era witnessed a strong revivalist sentiment in the area of swords and sword fittings, with several notable smiths working to produce evocative utsushi works echoing the aesthetics of the classic sword guards made in the Momoyama Period by masters in Owari Province (Nobuiye, Yamakichibei, and Hoan). This particular piece is mumei, but absolutely aims to capture the powerful expression of the masterpieces made by those Owari greats in the late 16th and early-17th centuries. This tsuba, too, features a sort of "worm-eaten" texture over the surface of the plate, likely a nod to the Tea Culture sensibilities that dominated the aesthetics of the Momoyama years, where principles such as Sabi, Yugen, Mono no Aware, Wabi, Shubusa, and others were not infrequently manifest in upper-level Buke fittings. I think another, but less likely, possibility is that this tsuba IS of the Momoyama years. The more conservative call here is for a Bakumatsu-Era piece. The condition, color, and patina on the tsuba are excellent. Dimensions are 8cm x 7.5cm x 3mm. $375, plus shipping.
  11. Sorry, just seeing this now. This tsuba has been SOLD. Thanks for the kinds words once again, Marius!
  12. This is a really fine early Umetada iron sword guard. It presents with a floral motif (species of flower unidentified), with a single hitsu-ana for the kozuka. While at first glance a relatively unassuming tsuba, the color, patina, very subtle and deft hammerwork, together with its condition make it an excellent piece. I am moving this only because it doesn't fit in my collecting focus (Owari Province works), as the above features warrant its being a keeper. The color is a deep blue-black, which is not commonly encountered in iron tsuba, where more of a rust-colored iron is the norm. I have included a photo here of the tsuba next to an entry from Sasano's "Early Japanese Sword Guards: Sukashi Tsuba," where he identifies a very similar work (including the nakadaka shape, where the seppa-dai is thicker than the rim), as "Ko-Umetada," and locates that tsuba in the mid-Muromachi Period. I think his dating here is a bit ambitious, but have no problem putting the present piece in the Momoyama Period. This is an elegant, graceful swordguard that I am sorely tempted to keep, despite its not fitting in my collecting focus. Measurements are 7.8cm x 7.7 cm x 6mm at the seppadai, 4.5mm at the rim. $475.
  13. No problem. I actually have seen papered Yamakichibei (real ones) being auctioned on Yahoo, and have even won a few of these auctions myself. But I have seen some pretty eyebrow-raising NBTHK attributions, so from my experience, papers do not guarantee an accurate call on some of these pieces. I have also seen genuine early Yamakichibei guards without papers in these auctions, along with many, many gimei pieces, needless to say. Unfortunately, it doesn't work to rely on papers to provide 100% accurate attributions on sword guards. I've seen the same tsuba papered to two different makers/schools when it was submitted several years apart. This isn't to cast aspersions at the NBTHK; it's simply to recognize that they are fallible, and so, we have to do our own homework on these things.
  14. Gimei, low-quality copy, I'm afraid. Not even close to genuine. Just goes to show the value of these green papers.
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