Spartancrest

Thank you all very much NMB at its best! - I have passed the new information along to the Walters Art Museum so hopefully their records will go on to help many more people in the future.

The Japanese also make true trivets, this one with several elements including a tsuba , bridle and stirrup. https://m.facebook.com/NambuIronwareOitomi/photos/basw.AbpwlJTHSdywk70AxN501IvEAHe3J3F9epuOs4Ac3tZaERC-XaixrB_HJDCdulhnL9BAk39KeqaXfVKtUW1kU2VPLpx7eW_g4UNCvlF_zZAn6qtVmKimW-Q2Gf3SOyAL8r-jK9TCu5QxQ30wTfIplEXB.165471436131953.183949027476902.184646630791241.502231861910583.135406702377779.1644913685844439/135406702377779/?type=1&opaqueCursor=AbqAn7b1dBuzO0m3fKUMw7wCZEAQv8fIKGFLsJttoV4Z2XI30jSDMRutgcOKfv-sxVQo5LFFOoMLw9GzcZA2CqiIvhh5S5cIT7je5cXkf6uQmIJIgcmfQVfiaiyQYvfCVjoHhtZI8iHUi5qxeuo6hlQpN85ZRI1gl6cH_fhlXuAQfSA70JjTfAW5bWZfJRgXJ4ZNMPAZ2B3MB0qQyPBFOID-KPizn9ITmz1RBd2bs9jJgPXxMXNlq9p0HUYm3XPRsGmj0R0uhIrtfUvmJ8xv5vX_4eFSednDaj5Sq7u3Zpw50SWeMdNUrHi_Ju8a2U6YjXk9qhwGPN4OvNXJ3FxU2QnZZKm4v5wzUyuwMHBTwggPDx56yVVMyicikjgSvVEhC59BlI5AMBHZOS3gdX8FGc3pZTdi8ocoEwg0-Cp7tm-oYEUS8v1kymWFF_KlTfa_GRPqiRoMXcQTp0bAq5U4eGeiM3XslqZ3dVQawjZHYxkXlAVQpgrUQdcONEX6KQQ5Ectln4VvvPtgoVyj-2Pykttsk9s-hor9LZr2vQiyd6Eb6SI9KVFF3v4pUC1cFdPvorkQSTTwe8x49lj54CTcFaQAi-jQrCS0d6u1VeSXevoNEwnZoUKcYGKAVnVxmKp3g3Hg0CMDkM5h7YxZobSZqKuCrcZLQi2p0xRgjZPklnX5l3rbpF__1QOmEhN50C_g2DXjjqdE1lD0mKen78ca-t_xxvSmEzeipVqPkrFe4DITUE6lUIkaxzGlf5NDAaFilx5qRbc6qPOA-oDrM9_11vq8O4r8biuOLDJ2iISor872COu1JdBYs770eNSB9-FPDxGLpfyouM5tYhNTu5NPgqMJ2iqtTCg_hh2X-0gM5d_SASCt2fve7H8GsL4pe0cjqKkf1Zp7ZB3Q7IN1w0ovFdRVf0xsg3RDPEe9-GxLG6_-JcRrkR4kXJImR96QA8X4h1D31NxiJ5xrrwomkdxzfS_0zR2rLCDpbPwA05TfoqMC3xWhr2X8vTAy1BPj194Oiolwa3jnm7sqjCNA8LzebNKhEeh6YJ1VqSsHay15z8b9qYjqyy3eGJKOSeo8T9Jendd_5ZIeBEksUxV_6v7kUmtjGqHwuGmb9J40R1_ELfxyIg Sorry for the excessive link size it won't open otherwise. https://aucview.aucfan.com/yahoo/w1050681298/ Also for the heavy drinker you can still get a tsuba bottle opener - in an age of screw caps! They are rough and ready but the old skills are still used.

The museum has done it again - this one is incomplete I think it is a date? Missing three characters. Any Idea's? Mauro's last post helped fill the bottom kanji with this one also - Once again thanks Mauro.

Jean, taken from Marcus Sesko's book - "Handbook" of Sword Fittings related Terms. The photo is the best I could do. Good one Mauro!

Fantastic Mauro! I will have the Walters Museum make a correction [one of many] and they need a spell checker as well! Thanks very much.

I am struggling to see any similarity with the last character in this image, is it once again a sort of short-hand version or does it represent the wrong kanji? 芳園刻; [Transliteration] Hôen kizamu; [Translation] Engraved by Hôen. Thanks in advance.

Dan has used the word "fun" four times - I think he means it as just that! Still no one has come up with a word specifically for studying just "Tsuba" - not the all inclusive "Tosogu". This could also be extended to the exclusive study of Fuchi, Kashira, Kogai and every other minutiae of the Japanese sword. Is it the Wests fault the Japanese terms are so broad? Like as has been said, they have had over a thousand years to come up with the terminology - where is it? This really is fun!

Ph.D. in Kawari-gata?

I have one problem with this - "However, you can’t use another language to form a new word". Then we can't use Latin or Greek - they are other languages, are they not? Someone will need to go back and work out the "rules" again because as with most of English, the rules don't make sense! Some words are a blend of both Greek and Latin! Try some Anglo-Saxon or Celtic? Trouble is they did not have "removable sword guards" - or as we like to call them "tsuba" So any 'ology' would have to have the word "tsuba" or else it is a study of fixed guards. - It gets technical doesn't it.

The last example I showed is almost identical to one posted back in February 10 There are minor differences between the two, so minor I am convinced both are cast - for example the hitsu outlines are thicker in one than the other but other details are the same.

One last try with a lighter background - you start to lose detail at some point. Ian I would go with Fords image, less damage and fewer creases - but hey I might get half sued.

I can attest to the incorrect interpretation of "tsuba" by the Japanese - I got some very strange looks from a few antique shop owners in Japan a few years back- I knew the word had several meanings including "brim" as in brim of a hat and as mentioned "Spit" or "Saliva" but I can always blame my Aussie accent for the "mistake" - "Have you any spit for sale?" would tend to raise a few eyebrows even here!

Yes, sorry the only image I had was taken at an angle. I like the way the sukashi is outlined in both cases it really shows the design off better.

Grev I am still looking - this is something similar I have seen a few of - but still not close enough. described as "Kyoshoami" twigs and chrysanthemums.

This one is described as "Powerful Shachi figure" - he looks rather smug or condescending. https://www.jauce.com/auction/c1070365266 The ura is rather smooth looking and I would not be surprised if it were cast.

Too bright?

Great Ford - and no water damage and fewer creases - I might have a play with this image and bring it out a bit more. Mulberry paper is a little dark for me!

Piers, here is the list according to Robinson. Sorry it is not a PDF.

Work this one out if you can - the original print is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art - listed as under copyright restriction on one link and Public domain on another? What happens can you be half sued? https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/855670 - can't use "rights restricted" https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/56927 - can use public domain. Perhaps someone should let them know - not me!

Okan, I took the liberty some time back to "clean the image" as much as possible - boy I wish they had not folded the original! There is a plate in the back of B. W. Robinsons book.

I am not a sword collector but that is very good detective work Thomas. I wonder if Lisa is still waiting on this information? You might try a PM and let her know.

Darrel I have been talking to the Walters Art Museum for a short while, they have been very helpful with supplying images and information on a book I am about to release on their collection - specifically their tsuba collection. The person to contact is Laura Seitter lseitter@thewalters.org The museum sometimes takes a day to answer any enquiry but that is complicated by the time zone differences for me. Give it a try I am sure she will put you through to any relevant curator. Laura Seitter (she/her) Imaging and Rights Coordinator (410) 547-9000 ext. 245

Thanks Colin - I am of the same opinion, as the chisel used for the signatures is very much thicker on one than the other. There is a big difference in the quality of the 'worm eaten rim' and I would have thought the Wakizashi would have the more 'showy' display. The signatures also translate slightly differently - not what you would expect if they were made at the same time? [Signature and Place] 越前府住　廣次作; [Transliteration] Echizen fu jû/Hirotsugu saku; [Translation] Residing in Echizen (province)/made by Hirotsugu [Transcription] 越前府住　春田廣次; [Transliteration] Echizen fu jû/Haruta Hirotsugu; [Translation] Residing in Echizen (province)/Haruta Hirotsugu

I am doing some research on a "pair" of tsuba, but the way the mei has been cut strikes me as very odd in comparing the two. Both these guards are from the Walters Art Museum and are described as a pair - what opinions would you offer? The guard on the left is 77 mm and the one on the right 65 mm in Diam. Thanks in advance.

Richard, could the rim represent stylised clouds perhaps? At least it would fit in with the flying birds.