Yep, remnant silver within the hatchwork channels... I'm still surprised by the the full coverage into the seppa-dai area... but also, the hatchwork is in the tagane-ato. so perhaps the silver is a later addition?
Yes, it looks like there is nunome zogan hatching all over the plate... including the seppa-dai. I don't think the patina has been stripped, but we are actually seeing the remnant silver. The photos are not great, but I'd be quite confident that this is the case. Can you get us some better pictures to confirm it is silver nunome zogan and not stripped patina?
Hi Steve, good looking Tsuba. I think the guys have this under control, but just wanted to say hi from another Steve K....
There used to be another Steve K (aka Tetsugendo) about 6 years ago. Not sure what happened to him, but he was very helpful for me when I first joined.
Very interesting!
I can see crossovers between both Jakushi and Soten for sure... Like the trees are very much Jakushi style, as with the nunome zogan on the hill/mountains. The waves carvings and the humanoid figures are a lot more Soten/Hikone style, in my opinion. A few examples showing relatable features that I can give are below. Ill be watching this thread closely!
Not saying it's Nara, but Nara also did the mei panel like that.
I'd have said it is a Tanaka that has lived a very hard life at one point, if the plate background was anything to go by. The kuchi-beni have been highly deformed by multiple nakago fitments, and the extra sekigane added
Not too dissimilar in depiction, but the well-known online dealer who I acquired it from described it as Kiri.
I really like your Tanto hardware, quite rare construction on a few levels.
Dale's Utsushi book really is an important collation of Tsuba information. I realise there is no way for a published version, and this is a proper shame for the community.
Like those "shattered" lord of the rings movie swords that you see encased in a table (or something), this could make a good Tsuba version of one of those!