Spartancrest

Yes Chris they are cheap and nasty - but how is it they turn up at the same time- why not weeks apart or even years? I have seen plenty of single tsuba turning up at once but not two from two sellers - the fundo element is also a strange coincidence. JMO

Two sellers in two different cities in Japan selling two guards at the same time that are almost identical except for tiny details that show they are not the same pieces. What are the chances? eBay seller - https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/144833371573 https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/144835360522 Jauce/Buyee etc. - https://www.jauce.com/auction/x1074206578 Also you might notice the "fundo" synchronicity with the sukashi guard and the other guard. ["fundo" is easier to see on the left example]

Of course Huish was writing for people who didn't necessarily care about the differences in iron and likely not metallurgists. As has been stated "hard" is a relative thing - I defy anyone hit over the head with a cast iron rod, as opposed to a wrought iron one, to be "conscious" of the difference.

Harking back to the letter sent by Huish to the Japanese Weekly Mail - and being way off subject - see what a difference ten years can make. So is this an aspiration still held by collectors today? To have as close to a thousand examples tucked away in drawers? - - I have a long way yet to go it seems.

The one I found is very similar to Bob Morrison's Posted March 24, 2021 I wish he had asked me to find a match, . . . still looking for a closer match to Grev's!

Steve very good work - I told everyone I was no good at reading kanji. One here by the same maker. Signed "Karatsu ju Masakuni" (Masakuni of Karatsu region). https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/three-Japanese-iron-tsubas-one-signed-edo-period--3-c-2b141a99fc#

I am sorry no one has answered your request for information so far - maybe this will help? https://www.touken-matsumoto.jp/en/product/shousai/TSU-2448 At least the style is similar and three of the kanji match. I am not good with translating mei but I can usually find very similar pieces. There are a number like this signed - Masataka I remember there was a thread with this type of design or school but I can't track it down. A similar design in the Powerhouse Museum Sydney but the signature is not the same [The museum did not bother to translate it.]

http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/tsuba.htm CAST TSUBA COPIES, REPRODUCTION AND FAKE TSUBA During the late Edo, Meiji and Showa periods there were many cast copies of early tsuba made for the export market. These should not be confused with earlier originals. Cast copies will generally have casting flanges on the inner edges of the hitsu-ana and/or sukashi regions and bubble pits visible on the flat surfaces. There are antique cast iron (kettle caster) tsuba, although it is debated if such ever existed, and antique cast copper/bronze (kagamishi) tsuba; however good, authentic examples are rare. There are also numerous modern made fake tsuba and copies of old tsuba on the market today, many coming from China / Hong Kong / Shanghai and sold on various online auctions. The collector must be aware of these modern copies and fakes. Do not confuse them with the real Japanese tsuba. I would draw your attention to the first four words. As for kettle makers making tsuba - we certainly have kettle tsuba don't we. Not to be confused by this crap - as the man says above. See the post for Posted December 15, 2018

Rice cracker tsuba - https://www.satofull.jp/products/detail.php?product_id=3086046

This one is not as detailed as yours but shows similar traits. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/403442365331 small birds and myoga [ginger plant]. The one you have looks like it has some remnants of gold nunome on the flower heads. I am surprised that other people with more experience have not commented? I am not a student of sukashi guards. A Maru Akasaka with same elements - https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/294587055864 It doesn't give the thickness of the guard but it looks relatively chunky? 6-7 mm?

https://www.jauce.com/auction/e1073501843

I tend to agree with Jeans assessment - the Amida-Yasuri is not 'master' level, there is some gaps in the lines and spacing problems. The ategane are made in a more refined way and made much later than the guard. JMO

Grev, there is a similar tsuba in the Cleveland Art Museum number 1919.385 The image is a little difficult to make out the face of the rider but his hat tilts in the same direction as yours - his attendant is on the ura side. The museum just describes him as a "Traveller"

Axel, the term you are looking for is "Amida Yasuri" the Halo of the Buddha. Very faint and delicate on that piece. I think amazing skill, can you imagine working your way around and coming up short or too long in the spacing? Getting the depths all the same- like I say amazing, yet you need a microscope to see it!

This is way outside my speciality [if I had one] but for the gun enthusiasts I think this might be of some interest. https://www.jauce.com/auction/g1073036673 Regards. Oh and this little piece might interest someone - https://www.jauce.com/auction/p1073034812

Difficult to see under all that dirt. I don't think it belongs with the rest of the military koshirae, [some of the sword people will correct me if I am wrong] do you have any provenance on it? Tentative idea is that it is 'Akasaka' or Heianjo-sukashi? Kaku-gata sukashi. [square shape pierced] [If I am way off I am sure I will be told and am very use to it! ] Is it possible to get a larger image? Some text from the Ashmolean Museum collection. "The earlier Akasaka guards closely resemble the pierced work of the Heianjō and Owari workers. Later productions display a number of striking features, such as clean-cut fret-piercing in positive silhouette of designs leaving little of the iron in reserve, the addition of a slight engraving finish, a rounded or rather tapered edge to the guard, and, in some of the more recent specimens, the semi-circular enlargement of each end of the tang-hole, as if to take a plug (not supplied) of abnormal size. Enrichments of other metals are entirely absent."

Xander, I see you wear plastic gloves when handling your tsuba. While most people don't bother very much as the tsuba was often meant to be handled and even gets a lot of its patina in this way - some can be damaged by handling Steves87 and I have been doing some research on just that subject and he is forwarding that information to a professor who is doing a paper. I found one example yesterday which shows fingerprint damage in an upcoming auction. So good for going the extra effort in care of your collection.

Colin I have seen the same sort of thing - some references call the figure a Tatar "Dattan" or even a "Corean" - I think most are a guess. Pity they don't have something written on the guards This image from my collection of utsushi book. The common feature in this case is the dog. That darn dog is still getting around - this time on a kashira!

Arnaud, you may run into a lot of trouble narrowing in on Pre-Edo guards, as such patterns and styles persisted and were made right up to the end of the Edo [and indeed forgeries are still being made today!] Separating very early guards from more modern pieces can be extremely difficult - On the other part of your questions - No museums can not be trusted with their attributions, some are very lazy and ascribe what they were told by their donator who were either guessing or may have passed on the 'sales pitch' from where they in turn procured them. Like Grev. I have done a few museum books and there are plenty of mistakes with descriptions. On a side note you will find some museums that don't even give dimensions, so you are left to your own devices even to work out how large and how thick each piece is. Welcome to the board.

Something out of the ordinary - https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/134330481486 Not a tsuba, but a wooden 'bell' or gong.

Another possibility for you - https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/45222 Monk Renshō Riding His Horse Backwards. A hero of the Genpei War (1180–1185), real name Kumagai Naozane

Hi Grev. I have been having the same trouble. I bought a Hamidashi tsuba two years back with the same design and since then have found a few more pieces but no real clues. The image on the left is my hamidashi, edge on - the flat surfaces are plain. The other shows a fuchi with the design as mounted on a tanto. Sorry not much help - but you are not alone.

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/sieben-tsuba-schwertwaechter-205-c-6af47fdbb1 This one caught my eye what do you think - Shachi or dragon? Hizen?

Found yet another but the image quality is so poor there is a possibility it has already been recorded. From a Christie's auction back in 1998.