Spartancrest

You might find Tsu da ro in Gion district in Kyoto - it is both a restaurant and antique shop. Closed Monday and Tuesday open from 13.00 - 18.00 Address is 570-121 Gionmachi minamigawa, Higashiyama-ku Kyoto 605-0074 http:/www.tsudaro.com No link to the antques, but I bought two tsuba there a few years ago. http://www.teramachi-art.jp/en/shop-info/antiques-center/

I worry about the hitsu, both are rather oddly shaped. Something made very fast and not finished very well. I can't find another like it so it could be a one-off or hobby piece?

Couldn't they think of other designs? The design can be found in "Chōsen Gafu" I do think a price tag of over a million yen is stretching things - print your own papers they will likely turn out more accurate!

I have seen "stones" on tsuba as well as coral but not Jewels as such. Check this thread.

Could be either a Nodachi / Odachi? Also possible to be a Temple offering but less likely as it has been mounted. Regardless a very nice piece!

Jason have you checked this PDF? It is a great source of information on Tempo.

Jake is right - you can never just stop at one! [I guess if you did, you wouldn't actually be a collector, would you ] Oh I love those import taxes on secondhand goods - NOT!

Steve I tend to agree - Wow there is a lot of nunome hatching on that guard, I wonder if it may have been a presentation piece to start with? Double sekigane at the bottom of the nakago-ana suggests to me it has some age, as it was mounted at least twice. The outline shape I like a lot, Kawari-gata? Also looks like the shape of either a Sake pot or lidded jar. Better first buy than mine!

A shape used in porcelain as well.

Sorry my fault - I rarely venture anywhere else.

This has to go in! https://www.jauce.com/auction/c1200944659 ¥26,000 seems a little bit expensive but I really know nothing about the value of habaki.

スパルタンヘルム Mouthful - It might take longer to say than the length of the reign!

Going from Grandmaster to Emperor is a shock - I will need to change all my letterheads - get a new crest made and get used to people bowing before me! The rest of the lower classes will NOT be getting a Koku increase!

Honestly Curran the $2,000 an eye was worth the money - I was so bad I could no longer drive - Glasses only help for so long. Now I don't need glasses at all and I watch the satellites going over every night - heck I can spot an eagle ten miles off - I wish I had eyes this good twenty years ago! Wow how is this for being

So getting both cataracts done was worth the money!

Machine made, there are a few spots [literally] where the laser has dropped spots of metal on the design. Nakago-ana is a little "off" and the seppa-dai is slightly depressed. Not Meiji in my opinion and fairly recent. Still, could you make it yourself for 40 euro?

https://www.jauce.com/auction/h1200411455

https://romanceofmen.com/pages/oseppa-in-Japanese-katana-terminology Like this Kai-gunto with the more decorated pattern over a plain core [PS. this image shows the sword was assembled wrong, as it has two O-seppa on the one side of the tsuba! ]

Florian could be on to something here. There is a similar tsuba in the Metropolitan Museum https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/32182 With fat heart shaped "fans"? This from another tsuba found on-line - not sure if it is a fan or some sort of commemoration plaque? Then there is this where the whole tsuba is that shape. https://www.mokumeganeya.com/e/mokumeganetour/2019/08/28/find-mokume-gane-chapter-20/

Very likely Ko-shoami [Ko just means "early"] the texture of your piece would certainly give the impression of an early or old piece. I just found this one as well https://japanesesword.com/archived-pages/2017/9/22/shoami-tsuba Just described as Shoami - but it looks ancient to me! It is very close to yours in size. Hey they never made just one!

I just thought the large hitsu/riohitsu are a major design feature, exactly what they may represent can be difficult to work out. I found this one in one of my Japanese books "TSUBA KANSHOKI" - page 96 - the design says "Bag", sukashi. Koshoami .

One very similar in the Metropolitan Museum of Art https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/34912 it is decorated in "Kaneiye" [Kaneie] style with an indistinct signature. Inscribed on the obverse: 山城國伏見住金家 Yamashiro no Kuni Fushimi-jū Kaneie (Kaneie, resident of Fushimi in Yamashiro province) You might need to look also at Saotome? As well as shoami - https://yakiba.com/tsuba-saotome/ Justyn I agree with Jean - I don't see it as Nobuie. - but the design looks like it was used by a lot of schools - - so who knows? This one https://tsubashi.com/product/nobuie-boars-eye/ States the signature is "Nobuie" however the text description states several times that it may not be by Nobuie. "Much confusion and contradicting information about Nobuie, even among high-end collectors. Impossible to say whether this is 1 st generation, 2nd generation, student, forgery, or part of a school of smiths that all signed “Nobuie”. I think many people claiming they have a 1st or 2nd generation Nobuie tsuba, really do not know what they are talking about. Even with papers, one cannot be sure, as the consensus about Nobuie changes from generation to generation. My guess for this tsuba is that it is neither 1 st nor 2nd generation, but possibly would be accepted as “Nobuie” school."

Is this design worth displaying? I do like the rich colour. https://www.jauce.com/auction/n1199846986

I had to get the microscope out to find these four birds - I don't have many with birds other than a Myochin "sparrow" which are kind of dull and boring to look at. [JMHO] https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/40135-flock-of-birds-in-june/

I have another thread dealing with just this issue https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/49404-museums-are-not-always-a-good-spot-to-learn/ I have to say though, that the Museum of Vancouver does its best to rectify any mistakes - if they are made aware of them. People should not be afraid to notify any museum if they notice anything wrong. [The Vancouver has a lot of typos and bad spelling in its descriptions, it also sites some "Expert opinions" that are not "EXPERT" at all.] For instance DB 504 has the RESEARCHER'S / EXPERT'S REMARKS : In Kaga this inlay pattern was commonly used on the bottom of abumi (stirrups) as a brass inlay design. It is called shippo pattern, the same as the cloisonne pattern from China. Unfortunately the pattern is actually called "Asanoha" which means Hemp pattern - https://project-Japan.jp/asanoha/ - Shippo is very different. So much for experts! The Frog/Toad tsuba DB 403 states twice that it is Iron, The iron plate of this tsuba was cast not forged. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION Iron; roughly oval; frog carved in the round in relief; no signature legible. where they get the Copper and Silver alloy idea from is probably lazy copying or "cut and paste" at some time, the "iron" has no patina and looks silvery - They may have thought it was a silver alloy due to its appearance? Clearly they didn't read the other entries!