Bob M.

Item No 221 Daisho pair of Iron Tsuba 7.28 cm x 6.96 cm x 0.53 cm & 6.83 cm x 6.52 cm x 0.48 cm Subject of Aoi Leaves signed but not translated - look to be Bushu / Choshu ? Item No. 222 Iron Tsuba 7.69 cm x 7.63 cm x 0.52 cm Akasaka - difficult to make out subject matter on this - there are possible hints of Mantis and other bugs. Hazard a guess anyone ? Smooth , intact patina.

Item No. 219 Iron tsuba with gold highlights 7.27 cm x 6.97 cm x 0.46 cm Subject of blossom on water - can anybody read the signature , please ? Bushu Masatsune ? Nicely done compact design giving a real sense of flowing water. Item No. 220 Iron Tsuba 8.07 cm x 8.12 cm x 0.43 cm Subject of kiri mon in positive and negative silhouette Very dark , almost black patina - not a casting !

Item No. 217 Iron Tsuba 7.04 cm x 7.10 cm x 0.34 cm Subject of temple bells ? described as ' Monyo Hoan '. Item No. 218 Iron Tsuba with brass 7.03 cm x 6.99 cm x 0.48 cm Described as ' Onin / Katushi / Higo ? 17th Cent. ' Comments ?

Item No. 215 Iron Tsuba 7.79 cm x 7.69 cm x 0.55 cm I have no idea as to subject or school on this one - ideas ? Item No. 216 Iron Tsuba with brass 6.48 cm x 6.20 cm x 0.42 cm Described as ' early 18th cent. good luck Ko Shoami ' Brass liners to both Hitsu Ana . Sunburst effect surface finish - seems to have been mounted on numerous occasions.

Item No. 213 Iron Tsuba 7.38 cm x 7.33 cm x 0.64 cm Item No. 214 Iron Tsuba 7.60 cm x 7.38 cm x 0.58 cm Both pieces with the subject of snow covered pine trees ? Item 213 in very heavy build, could this be another Sado ? Item 214 I wondered at first about Hayashi , but somehow it seems too crude . Excellent patina on both. As usual , any help gratefully received.

Although we never met in person , I had the pleasure of dealing with and speaking to him on numerous occasions during the first decade of the 2000's . Apart from the sword dealing side , we got on very well and had arranged for him and his English girlfriend to stay with us on their forthcoming trip to the U.K. Unfortunately , their relationship foundered and the trip never happened . Indirectly of course , he sent me down the Tiger Tsuba path , when I bought the Katsuhira off him. Ford later recreated it's missing twin as seen in his video. Lots of other tales to tell ... They can wait for another day . My condolences to his family , friends and business partners . Once again we find ourselves robbed of a great talent and personality before his time. R.I.P.

Item No. 211 Iron Tsuba with shakudo , brass and gold 7.93 cm x 7.88 cm x 0.45 cm Described as ' Echizen Nobuie ' Is this another Akasaka Nobuie ? With lots of detail including ' sun burst ' engraving , sprinkled with gold flecks , arabesque carvings ,Hitsu Ana liners in Shakudo and brass , nicely upset split rim and deep ,chocolate brown patina. Someone ' went to town ' on this one - with the amount of decoration , possibly for a merchant rather than a samurai. Item No. 212 Iron Tsuba 7.50 cm x 7.30 cm x 0.50 cm Subject of Chrysanthemum flowers and leaves, thought to be Kyo Shoami mid to late Edo. Very dark grey , almost black patina,

Item No. 209 Iron Tsuba 7.68 cm dia. x 0.51 cm Subject of bridge - described as ' Owari Gojo Bridge ' Mid Edo A classic sukashi theme , good condition and patina. Item No. 210 Iron Tsuba 7.62 cm x 7.46 cm x 0.68 cm Subject of foliage - ' wind blown branches ' Akasaka 5th generation. Smooth , intact , charcoal grey patina.

Item No. 207 Iron Tsuba 8.30 cm dia x 0.32 cm Subject of Monkey toys - described as Ko Toshu Kukurizaru - NBTHK papered Typical large diameter , thin plate Item No. 208 Iron Tsuba 7.58 cm x 7.30 cm x 0.35 cm Described as NBTHK Hozon Hoan Appears to have some age - mounted multiple times , good patina.

Item No. 205 Iron Tsuba 7.91 cm x 7.74 cm x 0.28 cm Described as ' Kamakura Circles' does this make sense ? Thin plate , seems to have some age to it . Has been mounted several times at least . In good order with intact patina , archaic shaped Hitsu Ana and single Uda Nuki Ana. Item No. 206 Iron Tsuba 7.39 cm x 7.14 cm x 0.52 cm Subject of insects and flowers Bushu School NBTHK papered

Thanks for the responses - Glen , don't worry about saying what you think , especially as you are quite right , this is cast . I said at the start of this thread that it would be 'warts and all ' .This is one that got through from the recent old collection purchase from about six months ago , without proper scrutiny on my part. John , I think you are probably correct about the made up name - sorry to have given you a wild goose chase. The thread was started on the 25th Feb. last year and has been kept alive by the interest of board members - I thank you all. Best Regards Bob

Item No. 203 Iron tsuba 7.21 cm x 7.14 cm x 0.45 cm Sukashi Iron tsuba described as ' Koshoami Middle Momoyama '. I have no way of knowing if this is correct - opinions please ! Appears to have a deal of age - some of the design elements are smoothly worn , making for a tactile piece. Item No. 204 Iron Tsuba 7.53 cm dia x 0.44 cm Subject of Buddhist symbolic weapons - Vajra . Signed Akitomo ? Not shown in Genealogies , does he have an entry in Haynes or Wakayama ?

Item No. 202 Tsuba in sentoku with copper , gold and shakudo 7.13 cm x 6.58 cm x 0.49 cm Subject of eagle hunting a monkey. Signed Hirochika ( Haynes 01300.0 )( Thanks, George ) - Mito school , early 19th cent. Fine detailing with tiny inlays of shakudo ( eagle's talons ) , golden eye and shading above the eye . See Item No. 119 for a different version of the same subject by Hiroyoshi , also Mito school. In fact , both the maker of this piece - Hirochika - and Hiroyoshi were in the Mito school and are shown next to each other in Sesko's Genealogies - it is tempting to speculate that in real life they may have occupied adjoining work spaces also and co-operated whilst producing the same design...

Item No. 201 Iron tsuba with gilt 7.86 cm dia. x 0.48 cm Subject of Wisteria unsigned - mid Edo ? Nice , delicate carving showing the progression of flowering down each stem. The rim is possibly a fukurin - very difficult to tell.

Item No. 199 Iron Tsuba 7.50 cm x 7.03 cm x 0.55 cm Akasaka Nobuie , 19th cent. revival piece. Item No. 200 Iron Tsuba 7.44 cm x 7.12 cm x 0.68 cm Subject of either crane or mantis, Akasaka ? 18th cent.? Nice , deep, almost waxy patina.

Item No. 197 Iron Tsuba with brass inlay 7.81 cm x 7.78 cm x 0.45 cm Subject of waves and fans - looks to be around mid / late 16th Cent. - any ideas on school - Heianjo ? In good order with very few losses to inlay. Item No. 198 Iron tsuba with copper/brass and mother of pearl 7.48 cm over corners x 0.88 cm overall thickness Subject of rain dragon and pearl Unusual design , heavy piece . The mother of pearl eyes really show up well in low light conditions. Ex Clarence McKenzie Lewis Jr. collection

Item No. 195 Iron Tsuba 7.38 cm x 7.43 cm x 0.48 cm Subject of bird in bush - thought to be Mid Edo Akasaka More classic design work - the piece looks to have remnants of lacquer on its surface. Item No. 196 Iron Tsuba 7.15 cm x 6.80 cm x 0.55 cm Subject of Paulownia ? Akasaka , 18th Cent. Good , deep patina. Sorry , Program has reversed images again...

A little late , I am afraid - Item No. 194 Tsuba in yamagane with gold , silver and shakudo 6.67 cm x 5.72 cm x 0.48 cm Subject of Setsubun ritual . Signed Jo-I Nagaharu - 19th Cent. This wakizashi / tanto sized tsuba appears to have been mounted at some time . It shows soybeans being thrown about with great relish during Setsubun - an unimpressed Oni hides and watches . The word for bean - mame - is also a homophone for ' destroying evil ' in Japanese , hence the association of bean and setsubun. Illustrated in Hawleys' Sword Fittings in Southern California publication , somewhere near the back , No. 1409 , I believe.

Item No. 192 Iron Tsuba 8.18 cm x 7.94 cm x 0.52 cm Myochin Mokume Ji . An unaltered original condition guard ( without additional hitsu-ana ). Strong mokume grain pattern also visible in the mimi. NTHK Kanteisho papers Item No. 193 Kozuka in shibuichi with gold , silver , copper and shakudo Subject of Benten and attendant under a flowering cherry tree. Very finely detailed scene of Benten reaching out to her attendant , who is carrying a Biwa ( traditional Lute ) wrapped in a Furoshiki cloth for travelling. The piece painstakingly engraved and inlaid , signed Hamano Naoyuki ( Hamano School , 19th Cent. ).

Item No. 190 Iron tsuba 7.94 cm x 7.88 cm x 0.57 cm Subject of snowflakes - Kyo shoami Mid edo Good colour / patina Item No. 191 Iron Tsuba 7.10 cm x 66.2 cm x 0.65 cm Akasaka Kiri & Tomoe - NBTHK papered

Re Item Nos. 188 & 189 Sorry , no papers for either of these ... Rgds

Item No. 188 Iron Tsuba 8.07 cm x 7.18 cm x 0.61 cm Akasaka axe and lightning / pine tree theme , this time in first master , Tadamasa style. Item No. 189 Iron Tsuba 7.24 cm x 6.93 cm x 0.48 cm Soto design of paulonia and window , Akasaka or perhaps Nishigaki ? Good , lustrous patina

Item No. 186 Iron Tsuba 7.77 cm x 7.62 cm x 0.47 cm Subject of grasses and dew ? Akasaka , Mid Edo. Item No. 187 Iron Tsuba 7.38 cm x 7.26 cm x 0.52 cm Subject of axe or hatchet and lightning . Akasaka , Mid Edo . Two classic subjects with typical Akasaka treatment .

Item No 184 Iron Tsuba 7.92 cm x 7.26 cm x 0.55 cm Traditional style and motif , possibly late edo Item No. 185 Iron Tsuba with gold details 8.22 cm x 7.71 cm x 4.40 cm Subject of fruit , leaves and tendrils , small dots of gold as water drops nicely carved from the solid plate . Unsigned , Bushu - Ito ? Mid to late Edo ?

Hi George , Hi Pietro , Many thanks to both of you for this interesting ' adjunct ' to the thread. It seems that you have both come to a similar answer although by different routes and at different speeds . Your willingness to research the subject is surely an example to us all and is , in large part , one of the ideas behind the thread. Please continue to look at the thread from time to time and pass on any views / comments - it is MUCH appreciated. Best Regards Bob