Spartancrest

If it is convention not to create beauty, then to hell with convention! Great job! [But could you take the images with a less camouflaging background ]

Thanks very much Kyle. Doh! I should have picked the Kinai just by the style! I do favour the Myochin though, fantastic mokume and the roosters are beautifully done. [Pity it is not mine!]

Can anyone give a translation on these two guards? Thanks in advance.

BaZZa and all. Please be aware that many of these images are freely available from many museum sites as they are mostly in the public domain - you need not pay alamy for images that are in the public domain. The Metropolitan Museum of Art https://www.metmuseum.org/search-results#!/search?q=tsuba [Some images are not in the public domain so you should check before use, either the images will have [OA] Public Domain or a disclaimer " Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded."] This is not the most user friendly on-line museum (Which is why I did the two volume book!) The Walters Museum https://picryl.com/topics/tsuba+in+the+walters+art+museum?page=1 [you may need to search the museum site itself for extra information and more views] and others like the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design https://risdmuseum.org/art-design/collection?search_api_fulltext=Tsuba&field_public_domain=1&has_images=1&field_type=All - it is a little obscure and the images are poor.

Some information on Vajra here. https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/electric_universe/thunderbolt16.htm

This may be just a design coincidence - https://www.jauce.com/auction/s1030120689 but the open ended 'Vajra' caught my attention. This one not namban.

David, I like the oddball as well - sometimes it is like a lucky dip - I think you can find all sorts of replacement pieces for your Koshirae. You may need to talk with some of the blade experts but there are options with redefining the Kissaki. [Ko, or Ikubi ?]

Is there anything under the first layer of wrap? I believe some tsuka had special paper as a replacement to ray skin, I presume a form of oil paper? David was there a tsuba with that mounting?

Just from a quick search both these guards have similar elements to your example and are both Kanayama. https://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/holbrook-tsuba/h307-kanayama-tsuba https://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/holbrook-tsuba/h308-kanayama-tsuba

Happy New Year Bob - that is the best decorated 'Kazoo' I have ever seen on tosogu!

Once again if you look long enough you 'stumble' onto other examples with the hooked end. Auction site from 2019 - I do wish they would give a side view and just a hint at what the style is called - difficult to search for something without a name.

Kyle: Do you have any reference date on "Robert Held" and when he used the term? With Graham Gemmell's article from 1973 that makes two references to the term - it is pointing away from spontaneous generation and must have started somewhere. I do also remember the term was used in reference to "advertising" the skill of Kabuto/Armor makers, but even though I know it exists I can't track it down [not since a 'Ransomware' attack on my files several years back] kabutoshi, kabuto shi　兜師 helmet maker https://edoflourishing.blogspot.com/2013/10/

Geraint, that is certainly very possible the nakago-ana would be the correct shape then - and that makes it a lot easier to cut an even outline, and you get two done at once. Jean C. , you are also likely correct, perhaps a meiji or later cast copy? The dot pattern is not true nanako is it - looks machine generated.

Chris: Zombie tsuba do smell a bit funky! Mark: Maybe they had already been buried?

If you are going to 'bury' them send number one to me! I've brought back worse than that.

Do you know any magicians? Number one might make a recovery but number two looks terminal to me.

I found this very blurry image as part of a Christies auction - the caption "tsuba of Bookend form" is a little odd, but so far no one has come up with a better name. https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-1799450

An update on this post [from above] Posted December 8 Robert, It is only quoting the auction notes that often get scrambled by Google translate - and which are never to be trusted. Eiju seiryuken is a much more accurate translation, though the kao is often different. I have a rusty version on its way from Japan with half the mei obliterated. Why would you do that? What are the chances of another guard of similar size and also having part of the signature erased on the same side? https://www.jauce.com/auction/b1027079438 The question still remains why? x2

Jussi : I haven't found very many references at all, which is exactly the problem. Any translation from one language to another is always an interpretation and usually falls into a convention - the more people use a translated term the more it is accepted as factual, but it still originates as a "best guess". It is not helped when a language like Japanese has multiple meanings for the same word or multiple words for the same thing. [ English is a pain in the same regard, as I am sure you know ] Perhaps ヘルメット風 [Helmet style] could be a better name?

Way back in 2020 I posted an item that dealt with 'Kabutoshi ' tsuba. At the time I could not find the reference material for the attribution. Posted April 16, 2020 I noticed these some "time" back ! I like the 'Kabutoshi ' but it looks pretty modern. https://www.ebay.com/itm/The-one-and-only-antique-Tsuba-Clock-in-the-world-with-registered-utility-model/402223763540?hash=item5da6679054:g:hGQAAOSwIL9elToI My mind is playing up is 'Kabutoshi ' the correct term ? The only reply was from Piers. Dale, are you thinking of Katchushi? Piers D 平常心　Heijoshin As it has turned out Piers and I were both correct. In 'Arms and Armor Annual' edited by Robert Held 1973. ISBN 10 0695804073 ISBN 13 9780695804077 There is a section "An introduction to Japanese Sword Guards" by Graham Gemmell [then the assistant Cataloguer of Japanese Art for Sotheby & Co.] Page 82 he lists under 'The main schools of tsuba-making' KABUTOSHI (Fig.5) See Katchushi, of which school Kabutoshi is a part. Example shown imitates the manner in which helmet plates overlapped. I am happy that I was not imagining the term even though it had been rattling about my head for about 37 years [counting from when I actually read the book in 1983] Perhaps Kabutoshi could be a 'New' term listed in tosogu glossaries? For anyone interested the 1973 edition is still available - The article comprises 12 pages. https://www.biblio.com/book/arms-armor-annual-held-robert-ed/d/730355754?aid=frg&gclid=Cj0KCQiAqvaNBhDLARIsAH1Pq538OQzvaa1jibse7bzy4JPFB9QrNIqoc6Aiu5n3cGuZVy3Q9ZtMPFIaAnBbEALw_wcB

I would just like to draw some attention to a huge number of Menuki and Tobacco pouch ornaments selling at the moment - it looks like some ones life time collection is being auctioned off? Some very nice pieces mixed in with F/K . https://www.jauce.com/user/hatune2nd?&n=100&page=1

Both examples are Chinese - and not very good at that - when you see a date or name cut into the blade just above the habaki, give it a miss! I can't read the kanji but I bet it says something like made in 1650 which is total BS.

Jauce [https://www.jauce.com/] has many of the same listings as Yahoo and Buyee - I have found their site easy to navigate but the fee system is a big drain on the pocket, having said that I have purchased a great deal of items at a quarter of the price of ebay and other auction sites - including several good buys at 1 yen would you believe. Jauce allows you to describe your own purchases as far as customs is concerned, I have never had a problem with any antique purchase other than with swords or offensive weapons. Tosogu and Koshirae can be shipped easily.

I would like to give Gary a plug [promote] for his latest book which has just been listed- https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/403359851899 He has some great examples, some of which have been published before and more never before seen. [I am glad he didn't call it a beginners guide - it looks more for the experienced collector and I hope it does well for him]

I would like to give Gary a plug [promote] for his latest book which has just been listed- https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/403359851899 He has some great examples, some of which have been published before and more never before seen. [I am glad he didn't call it a beginners guide - it looks more for the experienced collector and I hope it does well for him]