zanilu

Thank you to both of you Marco and Steven! To avoid scratching as a intermediate and temporary solution I have replaced the nails holding in position the fake nakago with soft wood pegs kept in position by interference (i.e. they are a little bit larger than the hole and forced into them). Luca

Hello to all of you Just a little question since we are talking about the properties of wood related to tsuba storage. I was plannig to replace the lining of a tsuba box, I mean the part with the cloth lining and peg on which the tsuba is resting. Most of the boxes I have seen use wood that does not look like kiri at all. It generally looks like ply wood even in the most expensive boxes I have bought in Japan or from Namikawa Heibei online, the cheap boxes use even cardboard. Following you reasoning about qualities of kiri wood for tsuba storage also the wood to which the lining is attached should be kiri wood. Am I right? Or for this part plywood is ok? Regards Luca

Could not be that this tsuba was used as a keyhole cover plate as happened to some in the end of 19th century? Even though there are no nail/screw holes on the side of the "nakago ana"? Just an afterthought. Luca

Hi Cristian I was pointing toward a Early Edo dating do you concur? What is the opinion of the other NMB members? Also it seems that the general consensus is going toward delamination. Than you to all of who posted a comment here! Luca

Best wishes to all of you!

Hi Richard I didn't touch the brass, except for handling the tsuba while removing the rust. After removing the rust I washed it with cold water and a mild soap. A good part of the shine of the brass is in the lighting, seen under direct sunlight the brass color is darker but not as dark as in the original pictures (the original pictures where off a bit wit the color too). Most of that dark color was actually dirt that went away by washing. As usual you posts are full of information, you give me a lot of things to ponder upon, thank you! Luca

Yes Pete that was my first thought too. But what I have found so puzzling is that the blisters are not empty or full of rust. Upon probing their interior with bone splinters I found under a thin layer of rust the what look like the same metal of the hira-ji with what look like the same patina.

This tsuba shares with both references an almost identical design of chrysantemum petals on the mimi and with the second one the same stilyzed lightling design on the body (raimon). On the hira-ji of the omote side on the left of the kogai hitsu-ana there are two small inlayed circles On the reference of Otani the same kind of inaly is also present close to the wave thus it could be probaly interpreted as droplet. In analogy the two circles of FT-0082 could be inffered to be rain drops given the presence of the stylized lightnings of the raimon. As for the two references the hira-ji of this tsuba shows also a surface finish looks like ishime-ji to me (but I defer to your judgment on this). Close to the top part of the nakago-ana, on the omote, and on the edge of the kogai hitsu-ana, on the ura side, there seems to be traces of layering as consequence of folding and fire welding of the steel. The patina is uniform and in very good conditions except of a few spots on the mimi and on the hira-ji and have a dark brown/chocolate color with red undertones when seen under sun light. On the ura side hira-ji there are three damaged areas (or so they looked to me initially) that seems, at a first cursory analisys, to have been subject to de-layering of the iron as consequence of corrosion or damages due to blows. On this particular feature I would like to have the opinion of you NMB members, at first I mistook these regions as damages but on a deeper analysis I have start to wonder wether these can be an intentional part of the decoration. The extent of the "damage" expecially the one above of the nakago-ana tip and the one close to the kogai hitsu-ana is so great that the surface of the "burst" part protrude from the surface of the iron by an extend comparable to the thickness of the plate. Given the extent of the protrusion one would have expected to find a cavity under the protruding region that is not there. There is no cavity just iron with a patina that is identical in color and texture to the rest of the hira-ji. Damage from blows seems also unlikely in view of level of deformation of the metal on the ura and the absence of any trace of visible damage in corresponding spots on the omote side. Could it be that those "damages" are rather made on pourpose as part of the ishime-ji desing of the hira-ji? However if part of the desing why have them only to the ura side of the tsuba, visible only when the sword was drawn? I am open and grateful, to any comment from more experienced NMB member on this puzzling, to me at least, aspect.

Hi to all and a Happy Christmas to all of you. This maru gata tsuba have a chrysanthemum petals design the inner surface of the dote mimi and of scattered stylized lightling on the body of the tsuba (hira-ji). Both motives are inlayed in brass flush with the surface (shinchu hirazogan). The dimensions are 75.8 mm x 75.0 mm and a thickness of 4.2 mm at mimi. I had it cheap on Yahoo Auctions because it was not in the best of conditions with a good deal of rust. Though it cleaned up nicely, what do you think? Based on one reference found in Otani and a NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papered tsuba I think that my tsuba can be classified as Heianjo Zogan.

IMO they can be classified as mid range Hikone bori, i.e. Soten inspired copies made in different places around Japan when there was a high demand for this kind of tsuba. One of such places was Kyoto where other tsuba school were hired by Soten to fulfill the orders received, or so the common wisdom goes. I like especially the one with the dragon. Even though not mainline nice tsuba nonetheless. Regards Luca

Done!

Thank you all for your input. I will look more deeply into this tsuba keeping all your comment in mind. Luca

Another prominent feature is what seems to me the traces of folding of the plate. These are mainly visible on the region of the nakago-ana, in its thickness and of the walls of the puddle sukashi. This folding over reminds me of similar traces on another tsuba in my collection (Ex Haynes and Long collection) classified by Mr. Haynes as a late Muromachi Katchushi tsuba. Being a novice in this field I would like to have the opinion of NMB more experienced members on this tsuba and if it is possible to put a date on the plate at least. Thank you for your attention. Luca

Hello to everybody I have just acquired a new heianjo tsuba (with recent NBTHK Hozon certificate). Dimensions 85.9 mm x 85.5 mm x 3.5 mm thickness. As per recent posts by Mr. Hallam is seems that shinghu zogan can not be dated before approximately 1620. Thus this settle my mind on the dating of this tsuba, at least for the zogan part. According to common wisdom the first Onin/Heianjo tsuba where updated Tosho or Katchushi with the addition of some brass to shine them up. This information made me look deeper in the iron of this tsuba. The sukashi design of this tsuba is perfectly in line with what usually found of Tosho or Katchushi, even though the number of them make me think to later specimens. The iron surface is rather rough in certain region suggesting corrosion. The same roughness can me seen on the mimi and on the internal surfaces of the sukashi. Looking at the rim I see mainly the effect of corrosion and no traces of tekkotsu, even though I may not able to distinguish it from rust or other forms or corrosion since I have no experience with it.

I have received the V2 pdf file from Grev about an hour ago. I skimmed through it and everything seems fine. I like it, it is a good reference for a lot of schools and contain not only outstanding pieces but also mid range stuff like the ones most of us can really afford to by. Thank you Grev. Luca

John, Steven Thanks for the information. Just grouping the characters differently makes more sense! I had assumed that the 角 kake was for the square sukashi and the 文 for the umebachi. Always learing from NMB! Luca

Hello guys I have a small problem translating the description from this NBTHK paper for a Heianjo tsuba that has just arrived from Japan. The part that baffles me the most is the part highlighted in red: The text in kanji should be: 一つ 角 文 櫂 桷鉢 透 葡萄 棚 図 鐔 That should sound like: Hitotsu Kaku Mon Kai 桷 Hachi Sukashi Budo Tana Zu I have more or less figured out the meanings of: 角 = Kaku = This should stand for the square sukashi. 文 = Mon = Flower like mon (5 large and 1 small circles) 櫂 = Kai = This should mean puddle or oar and this match the third sukashi cut out. 透 = Sukashi 葡萄 = Budo = This should stand for the suemon zogan grapes 棚 = Tana = This should stand for the bamboo rack supporting the grapes also rendered in suemon zogan 図 = Zu = Drawing 鐔 = Tsuba What is eluding me is the meaning of the two kanji 桷鉢 I have found that 桷 should mean something like bucket 鉢 should be bowl I have tried to find the meaning of this two kanji combined together or with the neighboring kanji but I have no luck. I have no knowledge of Japanese whatever. I can barely count the number or strokes and do some googling so I hope that someone more knowledgeable than me can help to solve this problem. Thank you in advance Best Regards Luca

Hi Grev. Just a question. I have bought the pdf version of you book. We will be able to download it from lulu or we have to PM you directly? Nice book by the way. A lot of reference tsuba, I like that! Luca

Thanks for the answer Grev Luca

Hi Grev I really enjoyed your book. I have bought a pdf version. For those who have bought the book in pdf the revised vertion will be available for free or at an additional price? Regards Luca

Ford the more you say on the subject the more I am eager to read your book! Luca

Ford what you are saying is really interesting . The results of your studies go against the "common wisdom" for Heianjo and Onin tsuba, especially for Onin. This also clash with all the attribution to Pre Edo eras and all the considerations made for such attributions! I mean all considerations about shape, thickness, quality of the iron, hardness of the iron, shape of the hitsu-ana and so on often used to give an era attribution not considering the age of the brass patina. Unless we embrace the notion that all the Onin and Iron tsuba with a pre-Edo attributed age are made in Edo period by inlaying pre-existing iron only tsuba. If we have to revise our dating of Onin and Heianjo tsuba according to your studies then we have, forcibly for the sake of the scientific method, to put under question also the aforementioned criteria. This would have a major impact on our small world of collector and amateurs of Japanese tososgu ! Regards Luca

Thank you for the explanation Ford. I have to deal with iron and steel corrosion in my job and I found the subject fascinating. Even more so, it seems to be, for non ferrous alloy. I can't wait to see the book. Regards Luca

Ford thank you for your comments I have to admit the more of your comments I read the more I am eager to put my hands on your upcoming book about alloys and patinas on tosogu. Any news about the release date? This means that the brass patina is more due to the zinc than the copper? If successive patination and cleaning deplete the surface of the inlay of zinc this means that the percentage of zinc oxide in the patina is higher compared to the percentage in the base alloy? Does this means that the formation of zinc oxide is faster than copper oxide and then the formation of the zinc oxide hinder the formation of the copper oxide? Otherwise if the patina has the same composition of the base alloys then the patina formation and removal will not change the surface composition. Just another question. By using XRF to get the composition of the inlay you are testing the patina on the surface of the inlay or the X-Ray are able to get deeper into the metal and give you the bulk composition? Regards Luca