kyushukairu

Many thanks, Greg. Lots of lovely pieces still available

Echizen Kinai tsuba now sold

Ko-Shomai/ Kyo-Shoami Sun rays and myoga 76 x 75mm £160 As per Ko-Shoami/ Kyo-Shoami above. A strong theme of a six spoke wheel (intentional wood grain on the spokes) with stylised myoga encircling the kozuka and kogai ana. The theme most likely represents the Dharma wheel, which has six spokes to represent each of the six realms of existence.

Owari Geese in flight 67x67 £260 A classic Owari design with rounded rim and a theme of geese in flight, stylised in the shape of a diamond. The theme could be interpreted as a symmetrical represention of the flight pattern of Geese, which fly in a 'V' shape. As expected, there are tekkotsu around the rim, and the nakago ana shows significant tagane, which is often seen on early iron tsuba. The rim, however, is not perfectly round, as there is a a slight bend in the tsuba which could be straightened out.

Higo Thunder 80 x 76 £280 A rounded rim encircling a diamond with silver nunome-zogan bordering the inner diamond to represent thunder in abstract form. The smooth, almost muji hada is reminiscent of the Kamiyoshi school, though it may also be classified as late generation Higo. Nevertheless, the theme is simple but elegant, as is characteristic of various Higo schools.

Ko-Shoami/ Kyo-Shoami Myoga Kamon 76 x 75mm £280 The attribution is based on the the koban (oval) seppa-dai, the coarse jigane, and the tekkotsu in the form of lamination lines and protruding knots of iron, both of which are characteristic of well made Ko-Shomai and Kyo-Shoami tsuba. The theme itself is ‘myoga’ (茗荷), or Japanese ginger. This theme was favoured by the samurai because another reading of the word ‘myoga’ is ‘divine protection’ (冥加), and was used as a crest by various clans.

Echizen Kinai Seashells 71 x 71mm SOLD Signed ‘Echizen ju Kinai saku’ (越前住記内作) with ura mei (on the reverse). The signature and workmanship is indicative of Nanadai Takahashi (7th Gen.) the last generation of the Kinai tsubako. Nanadai Takahashi is known to have produced smaller tsuba and also had a unique mei. The ‘nai’ (内) of Kinai is written as ‘iri’ (入), and his ‘saku’ (作) is referred to as ‘umbrella saku’ because is carved with an extra stroke, giving the apperance of an umbrella (人). He was born in 1818 and was known as ‘Meijin Kinai’ (名人記内) meaning ‘master’ or ‘expert’, based on the quality of his work. Abundant ‘tekkotsu’ forging lines around the rim show this tsuba was well forged.

Tempo tsuba now sold.

Ko-kinko Amida yasuri tsuba now sold

Kamiyoshi tsuba now sold. I’ve also just added a photo of the Akasaka tsuba with its kanteisho - it was issued in August 2020

Many thanks, Brian. I’ll remember that for future posts! Just sent you a PM, John

Thanks Bjorn. I have now changed the text color. I had written the text before and copied it into the forum, but it came up in black and as the forum is grey it wasn’t easy to see, so I changed the text to white to contrast against the background. However, a friend also informed me that he received an email notification with white text on a white background. Hopefully it will be more visible now!

Ko-kinko Chrysanthemum 58 x 56mm £120 A very small and fine yamagane plate which, from the carved nakago-ana appears to have been mounted on multiple swords through it’s life. Stylised chrysanthemum with 12 petals. There is a small crack on one of the ‘petals’ at the bottom as can be seen in the photos, though this does not detract from the aesthetics of the tsuba.

Bushu/Choshu Kuroda kamon 75 x 71mm £320 A heavy iron plate with fuji (wisteria) carved in relief, which is often seen in Choshu work. The fuji is styled in form of the Kuroda clan’s kamon (who were a prominent samurai family who ruled over Fukuoka and Himeji). It is very likely that this tsuba was made for a samurai of the Kuroda clan.

Akasaka Crane and pine 70 x 65mm £420 *This tsuba comes with NBTHK kanteisho attributing it to ‘late Akasaka’.* A very pleasing design with a crane and pine trees in abstract form. The surface of the iron is very smooth and reminiscent of the Kamiyoshi school, the design is also in the Higo tradition, as is common in late Akasaka work. Comes with a box and pillow.

Shoami Wild goose and the moon 85 x 79mm £280 A large, well forged iron plate with great iron work and a pleasing patina. The silver goose is done in takabori and contrasts well against the sukashi moon and clouds, which are decorated with gold and silver nunome zogan.

Tempo ‘Daishi’ (大士) 95 x 90mm £280 Very large iron plate with excellent surface treatment and a rich chocolate brown patina. It is unusual that this tsuba does not have any kozuka of kogai ana, and as such remains unaltered from the original plate. The hot stamp bears the characters for 'daishi’ (大士) which can be read to mean 'great warrior'.

Thank you for your kind words, gentlemen. The following are still available - Namako and dragon in clouds tsuba in fitted box £280 - Nagoya mono tsuba £80 - Nara school fuchigashira £180 - Kamon fuchigashira signed ‘Naoteru’ £180

I came across an interesting signature on a guntō today. The sword was posted on FB by someone who supposedly inherited it from his grandfather. My attention was immediately drawn to the engraved cherry blossom, which I have never seen on a gunto before. Below which is written ‘Tōkyō Kaikōsha (東京偕行社). After a little research I discovered that Kaikōsha was an ‘old boys‘ club of sorts for retired officers. However, it also seems that they manufactured and sold military equipment, though I was unable to find any other examples of the cherry blossom or organisation’s name engraved on guntō. Has anyone else encountered one of these before?

Kamon fuchigashira signed ‘Naoteru’ £180

Nara school fuchigashira £180

Gotō style kozuka with a theme of plum blossom SOLD

Kozuka with mythological figure and tiger. Signed ‘Yokoya Soyō’, the signature is of the 5th gen. Kiryūsai Sōmin ー SOLD

Nagoya-mono £90

Shakudo Katakiri-bori tiger in bamboo SOLD