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A couple from shibuiswords.com that are described as wabi-sabi.

Yes, pictures were what I was looking for and descriptions if you feel like it. My hope is to learn

As the subject states, I have been trying to study up on this and find examples very helpful...

Can you provide dimensions (height, width, and thickness) ?

Just for comparison purposes. Attached is a papered Nishigaki from the Japanese auctions. Perhaps not the best picture but I don't see much detail in the leaf.

Curious as to what the attribution would be for this one? Maybe an independent (amateur) work? Dimensions : 67.2 mm tall, 61.2 mm wide, and 3.90 mm thickness

Yeah, with schools borrowing designs from other schools it certainly makes it challenging to come up with the correct attribution.

Pete - Interesting. Both schools have the same design and very similar execution? Or is it that the one at nihontocraft is wrongly attributed? http://www.nihontocraft.com/Higo_tsuba_22.htm

Yeah, I could not find another school that did that sort of pillowing. It is a pretty cool effect.

I have to say that is a really nice Tsuba. What era do we think it is, I assume some part of Edo?

Florian - Great call, you nailed it! What threw me off was the "pillowed" rim as I had not seen that before. Check this out, attached pic is from nihontocraft and what a well taken care of Higo looks like. Pat

Found another one that is a bit of a head scratcher. If you look closely at the bottom of the tsuba, you will see what appears to be inlay that has been covered in, I would say something like lacquer. Some sort of floral inlay. The rim is tapered as well. Dimensions : 73 mm wide by 74 mm tall (3 mm @ rim, 4 mm at seppa dai) My thoughts are it is a Heianjo or maybe even a Kaga due ti tapered edge. The really rough looking iron work might be explained by corrosion, I am thinking?? I failed to find another tsuba that looks like this one so my only explanation is corrosion and then someone putting lacquer over it. But looking forward to what y'all think... Though now that I think of it, I suppose Shoami would be another possibility.

Hamfish - I agree that one is very inexpensive but I already picked up #2 and it came in recently and am very happy with the condition. In fact, it is in such good shape I really question how old it is. Hoping it is because someone took really good care of it... Pat

Barry - Yeah, I could see the top one being a caterpillar. Which one do you think is the bat? The winged one that I thought was a bird?

Floria - Yeah, thanks.. I had mistakenly thought they were the same. Pat

What would you say is the motif on the attached Tsuba? My initial thoughts was it is just another one of those 3 Clouds Tsubas. However, the shape next to the hitsu ana does not look like a cloud at all but, rather, very much like a bird? Also, the top shape looks rather strange for a cloud with its angles and what appears to be "comma" like shapes on the ends with one larger than the other. The 3rd shape is the most cloud like, IMO. Dunno, what would you all say? Also, would you say this looks like a Shoami school piece?

Ahh, very nice! Thanks Steven.

Another similar one... Desciption : Animal, insect, pine tree and maple leaves design I assume they are speaking of the inlay versus the sukashi which is what my question is about!

The first example is from an expired listing on Ebay, think the description stated Arabesque which I am struggling to see. The second Tsuba shares the double curved prongs(?) though, in the first they curve outward and in the second they curve inward. My assumption is they have similar meaning but maybe that is a stretch.

Just over 300 USD. Very nice looking Tsuba!

Attached is a Tsuba that recently sold. I was wondering what school this would attribute to? I was thinking possibly Ko-Katchushi though I can not read the paper. Anyone? Dimensions : 8.6 / 8.4 / 0.43 / 112G

I sometimes see Tsubas listed for sale that have been papered but they do not provide any sort of English translation for important things like the attribution. Is there a site or book I could use that would provide this?

Florian - Good points indeed and I also noticed the size is a bit smaller than what you would typically see for Ko-Katchushi.

I noticed another thing on this Tsuba which is related to a previous responder to this thread : I see evidence of Amida Yasuri on both sides. But most of it appears to have been removed (filed or maybe worn) away. Perhaps this Tsuba was originally just a fairly plain Amida Yasuri themed Tsuba (signed Toda Hikozaemon) but when the fancy new carving occurred later, it was done on the wrong side? May be a stretch here, just trying to make sense of it. Pic attached showing the remnants of Amida Yasuri on the signed side...

Brian - Thanks, because that would not make to much sense to me.