kyushukairu

Thanks for the tip, Brian. I wondered why they were not showing up in the thread. I've now converted them to jpg and re-uploaded all the images.

Late Akasaka crane and tansu handle 60x58mm £120

Yagami 1000 Monkeys 69x58 £150

Yamashiro Umetada Tree rings? 82x82mm £180

Kenjo? Kamon in silver zogan 76x76mm £260

Tempo Daoist talisman Signed Sanada Tempo (真田天法) Very uncommon to see signed Tempo tsuba 92x86mm £260

Jakushi Chinese landscape Done in Hikone-bori which is very unusual for Jakushi Signed Jakushi (若芝) 70x61mm £280

Bushu kamon Kuroda clan kamon (wisteria) 74x71mm £280

Kanayama Ruler/ carpenter’s square Abundant tekkotsu 75x75mm £450

Ko-Shoami (Muromachi/Momoyama) Aoi mon Shakudo inserts around the seppadai 80x80? £500

'll be moving from Kyushu to Akita in March, so I'm having a bit of a clear out. I'm parting with a few pieces which no longer fit my collecting interests and to reduce the amount of personal effects to be transported. *Although I'm currently in Japan, and EMS is the only way to send to UK, Europe, and North America, and costs about 3300 yen (£20), I'll be returning to the UK next week to sort out some things and will be able to post from the UK to lessen the postage cost. As always, a donation will be made to the board for any sales made here.

Mino/ Uchikoshi Shibuichi Sennin and umbrella 61x45mm £250

Bushu Broken wheel and vines Shakudo with gold inlay 70x65mm £350

Mino-Goto Autumn foliage with dragons around the mimi Shakudo nanako Custom box 66x60mm £600 IMG_2226.HEIC

Chinese sage Rihu and waterfall Shakudo migaki - katakiri-bori Signed: Ishiyama Mototada (石山基董作) 76x76mm £600

Nagasaki Shippo Shishi and botan Yamagane (copper) with enamel 79 x 77mm £650

I'll be moving from Kyushu to Tohoku (Akita) in March, so I'm having a bit of a clear out. I'm parting with a few pieces which no longer fit my collecting interests and to reduce the amount of personal effects to be transported. I've listed kinko (soft metal) tsuba first, and will post a second list of iron tsuba shortly. *Although I'm currently in Japan, and EMS is the only way to send to UK, Europe, and North America, and costs about 3300 yen (£20), I'll be returning to the UK next week to sort out some things and will be able to post from the UK to lessen the postage cost. As always, a donation will be made to the board for any sales made here.

David, the writing on the nakago is actually ‘sasa no tsuyu’ [笹の露], which could be translated as ‘bamboo dew’. This was apparently a popular name for swords, and refers to the sharpness of the cut. It can be interpreted to mean cutting one’s opponent as soon as the saya has been discarded, or a cut which drops one’s opponent's head, like dew on a bamboo grass. See here for the source: https://meitou.info/index.php/笹露

Steve, DTI was good to me. I heard a lot of people complain about the prices (and it was suggested they were adjusted to accommodate the inflated American dollar). I mostly looked at fittings, and there were certainly less lower priced items than in 2019, but I managed to get a couple of bargains after a bit of bartering.

Whilst bamboo is a decent call for the mimi, another possibility is a 16 petal chrysanthemum. Also, whilst this tsuba is certainly Shoami, it’s more likely to paper to Kyo-Shoami (oval seppadai and oval hitsu-ana are a kantei point). Another possibility is Ko-Shoami - the hollowed seppadai and small indent for the kogai (on the righthand hitsuana) suggest this has some age to it, though there should also be abundant tekkotsu for a Ko-Shoami attribution. As for the ‘Heianjo sukashi’, Akasaka could be a possibility, based on the lamentation lines. Early Akasaka are often sanmai (three layer) construction. It’s difficult to tell if that is the case from the photo though.

Following the discussion of Naruki Issei, there is currently one of his tsuba listed on yahoo: https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/t1064296472

Glen, That tsuba is certainly not Tenpo work, though simply displays the same theme - Taoist talisman (which each represent a mountain). It’s signed ‘Munetaka’ (宗孝作),and although the sekigane is in the same style as the Tanaka school, I looked up the smith and it seems there seems to be no such association.

The stamps are Taoist talisman of the ‘true form of the five peaks’ (五岳真形図). According to legend, Taishang Daojun (a Taoist god) created five great mountains, and from which a mystical map of the world was created. Each of the five symbols represent one of those mountains, and Taoists believed that they will be greeted and protected by the spirits of the mountains when they travel with these talisman. I have a very similar tsuba which is signed ‘Sanada Tenpo’ (真田天法) [signed Tenpo tsuba are very uncommon] and measures 92x85mm

Grey, I think the reading for your tsubako is ‘Toshimasa’ (寿雅), and the location is given as ‘Suruga kuni’ (駿河国)

It’s a lovely tsuba, isn’t it, Jesse? The artist’s name is read as ‘Jochiku’ [如竹] (of the Murakami school). The surface texture, termed ‘chirimen ishime’ [縮緬石目], is a kantei point for the Murakami school, as are insect motifs (especially butterflies and dragonflies), so the work is spot on for the school. The craftsmanship itself also appears to be done to a very high standard, and it has previously been published, so I’m sure it would have no problem papering again. The seller seems to be fairly new to Yahoo, but they have been listing some big names and high-end items (some papered, some not). It would be interesting to know if they are an old collectors or a new dealer. I’d also be keen to see those fk sometime, Curran.