Spartancrest

For Roger. Darn good choice to aspire to! Nice one in the Walters Museum as well.

Mark S. Who or how can anyone define a 'proper' collection? Two tsuba could be called a collection [albeit a small one]. Basing your collection on is probably the most honest and important way to do it. Go for it!

Sorry but can someone explain why this tsuba would be awarded Juyo status when it was made in some numbers - possible Shiiremono, or may even have been made in Sri Lanka?

Michael, where did you find number two? Just noticed it is top row far right, the nakago-ana gives it away. Only two with dimensions which is a pity. [I can't see one being bigger in only one dimension - it may be a typo or bad measurement?]

I would tend to go along with Jean & Curran - try getting someone to make a quality tsuba today, the cost of labour would be prohibitive compared to what you would pay for an antique piece. It would seem that the sheer number of tsuba available does factor into it, there are stories that at the turn of the twentieth century tsuba were sold by the barrel load or for pennies apiece. As collections took off and collectors increased in number, demand started to dictate prices a lot more. But I can also see that many pieces particularly in auctions can sell very cheaply one day and almost identical ones can fetch thousands the next. I have yet to see any real consistency with prices or find the rationale of what makes one more expensive than another based on a like for like comparison.

Hi Pippo, I think the guard was originally made for a practice sword - sometimes called 'dancing sword' Mozoto 模造刀 The background surface is in a very poor imitation of nanako-ji. The 'sekigane' [if you can call it that] is poorly done and lopsided in the nakago-ana. The rendering of the birds is pretty poor - overall not something collectable unless you are into 'retro reproductions'. I think a lot of swords were stripped of their correct fittings and replaced with sometimes more decorative replacements to catch the eye and sell to the novice. I hope the blade is better, tsuba and fittings were designed to be replaced so it is not a big deal to refit with something better. Good Luck.

They are that unique Asian breed "Him-a-layer"

The dimple at the bottom of the seppa-dai would suggest that at the very least three are copies [more likely all four]. Why would you make a 'mistake' four times? Other details are not the same, such as the part of the signature immediately above - would this suggest the signatures were added after the casting or just the die wearing out? Bob, it is nearly impossible to tell authentic pieces in isolation, some copies are just so good. It is only when they start to multiply that they start to stand out - a good visual search of similar pieces will often lead you in the right direction but finding them can take a long time.

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