Spartancrest

Pietro Is this the same guard?, https://www.lot-art.com/auction-lots/Iron-sukashi-tsuba-NBTHK-Hozon-Origami-Shoami-School-Japan-1603-1868-Edo-period/26601365-iron_sukashi-01.6.19-catawiki It shows the opposite side to your picture.

I have found the origin of these replicas https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vtg-chicago-field-museum-tsuba-monkey-1858300739 The 'Alva Museum Replicas. Inc, N.Y.' operated from 1948 -1990 run by Alfred Wolkenberg. The company specialized in mass produced copies of a huge range of diverse museum pieces. Tsuba pendants etc. turn up manufactured in the 1970's. Nice to know where they originated from. The original guard is to be found in the 'Field Museum of Chicago', the images available are limited to some old black and white card references https://fm-digital-assets.fieldmuseum.org/1435/610/130774_CardScan.pdf The detailing of the reproductions is extremely good, the one giveaway difference is the pin and hole in the raised hand of the reproductions - not seen in the original.

Matching Menuki? https://gramho.com/explore-hashtag/kandatoukodo

Barry There is the same line on the example with the red background [not shown in picture] The slight differences may indicate a separated daisho set, At a guess NBTHK probably got this one wrong - or do they award papers for castings these days!

Robin & Yas I have compared the two examples you posted - Due to the slight lighting differences it is difficult to tell if in fact they are of the same guard - possibly years apart, or if not the identical guard then they are so close with the same tagane marks they must be cast from the same mold.

Brian Yes you can see why he took it from one home to the next, He also commissioned a Tsuba window. [80cm x 110.5cm] In a similar vein The A.A.Vantine & Co. produced an interesting lampshade in the 1920's. [As the guards are all identical it is likely they were produced just for the lamp shade and not genuine tsuba]

This monkey has had a good scrub, but it can't be said to be 'clean'. https://www.zentnercollection.com/items/1426669/Japanese-Antique-Silver-Tsuba-Monkey You will notice all the features of the museum reproductions. Particularly the sekigane as molded in cannot be real. if this is truly silver I will eat it - not that I could afford this apéritif!

Chris It makes me cringe too! Victorian and Edwardian clutter! I bet he never had to do the dusting! Still would have been nice to pick through! If you look close even the fire tools have tsuba guards - guess that much is practical?

I have come across this very interesting Blog site, that will either make you weep, or cheer the ingenuity of ultimate recycling. I like many collectors, like to display my collection but I don't know anyone who lives/lived within their collection as did Louis Comfort Tiffany. http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/59036 Please look at the images at the highest resolution, If you think your walls are covered by tsuba, you will be surprised how far earlier collectors outstrip us.

Pietro The thickness of the hitsu outline [thicker than the four joining bars], to my eyes make this the major design element of the guard and there must be a meaning to it, Yas's crest theory may well hold water.

Piers It is a pity that 'Unique Japan' don't know this fact. I have two guards of this design, so the design is also not 'Unique' as the above would have you believe.

I have seen reference to the box shapes on the guard being called 'Masu', originally a container measure of rice, when it was a common form of currency. The design of the hitsu then becomes something more than standard hitsuana? WIKIPEDIA : A masu (枡 or 升) was originally a square wooden box used to measure rice in Japan during the feudal period. Masu existed in many sizes, typically covering the range from one to (一斗枡 ittomasu, c. 18 L) to one gō (一合枡 ichigōmasu, c. 0.18 L).

Richard G. That notion of consignment pieces makes sense, as does the 'get them in the door so they can look around' - 'No one likes to lose money' is a a very funny human concept, [having Aspergers, I can sometimes put myself out of that group] The accumulation of money is meaningless when it's purpose is to spend on what you need. What people really mean is they want to have more than they can spend. The free trade economy. [That is what keeps a small group (and getting smaller) at the top and a large group (and getting larger) at the bottom,]

Richard George & Rich S. I think there should be an old, tired tsuba orphanage set up for retired Tosogu - people could donate their neglected pieces and visit on weekends. I have always thought that even the destroyed, by incompetent past owners, have lessons to learn from - This thread was started to show the disparity in pricing, my threat to purchase the cheaper version was not entirely serious [i don't like the design at all]. I have noticed since the Covid outbreak that prices are on the move upward at an accelerated rate, is this just profiteering or increase demand because people are stuck at home with less to do? I have followed some of the Japanese auction sites for about ten years now and I can say that some items have been listed for that length of time! The prices were ludicrous at the time and remain ludicrous now, how can a dealer be so silly to not know their price will never be met? Is it a case of 'I paid this much for it, so it must be worth more now'? - As custodians of these things we don't really 'own' them we are hiring them for a time and selling on the lease to the next custodian.

Ken Condition is important to me, a freshly minted piece with no history of actual use, is not! Give me something that a warrior used, over a pretty piece kept in a draw for a hundred years, any day. There has always been two types of guard on offer, side by side through history - the ones used by the men who did the fighting and the ones used by the men who profited from it. Forgive me if I prefer the the former. However the real question remains what are you paying for? The answer seems to be the piece of paper, as many a papered example can also show corrosion and age related degradation. We all also know that on occasion the paper attribution would be better used to wrap fish and chips because even God gets it wrong sometimes. Shinken Money is the problem - not the solution, I seem to remember the human race did quiet well with out it for five million years - give or take an eon.

Papered V's non-papered. Just what do you pay for? These two examples are selling right now, the disparity in price is a joke. That little yellow piece of paper must really be worth something because the objects themselves don't reflect the value for money. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Tosano-Kunijumyo-Chinkin-Toshio-Late-Edo-period-Certificate-attached/392858980313?hash=item5b78384fd9:g:B20AAOSwr5Fe~Twf https://www.jauce.com/auction/o404593427 I am thinking of buying the cheaper piece, it looks like the real thing - and I can always supply my own coloured paper.

I think your guard is close to the 'Lock' pattern, I have seen these also described as 'Kites' and 'Cruciform'. I think too many guards are described as 'Hidden Christian', The Japanese had many cross shape designs that had nothing to do with Christianity.

Now I know what to do with my old thick TV. screen - and it doesn't cost $10,000 ! [May be sacrilegious though, it's a Chinese TV.]

Though a little dated, Henri. L. Joly's 'Legend in Japanese Art' is often a good source for themes, particularly as this book uses many tsuba images for reference. Print on demand copies are reasonable cost wise.

Just an update back in 2007 a 'Bronze' guard of the same design turned up on Worthpoint. https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/Japanese-bronze-tsuba-1820353372 Boxwood

An almost identical guard to that of the original post is going for auction soon on https://www.jauce.com/auction/v706865241 With some enamel spots. The design turned 90 degrees.

Robin. That is too nice! Let me know if you want to swap ! [i too have some doubt on it being Myochin]. Grev. has some nice Dragons as well, you should get in contact with him. I have come across a similar design to the bird and maple leaf guards, mentioned in the first post - perhaps someone can identify its mei? https://www.jauce.com/auction/d320270866

In the last few months I have managed to pick up two 'Serpentine' guards, one in Iron last night. Difficult to judge from the auction images, I will have to wait for its arrival to determine how it was made. Not too concerned as the price was not very high. My collection now has three of this design and in three different metals.

I like the Myochin "Hachiman bird" the treatment of the beak and eye are not the usual way they are done.

It could as likely be the result of simply dropping the sword and landing on something hard, I was tempted to say it was glanced by a bullet but the metal would have bulged only in one direction. That won't buff out you know