docliss

I too have dealt with Finesword, having purchased a gendai tsuba, and have nothing but praise for their service.  John L.

KOFU JU TOMOYASU (H 10165.0).  Edo, ca 1800.  Round, iron flat plate tsuba with large, central diamond shape within the rim, signed: Kofū jū Tomoyasu.

SCE. R.E.Haynes' collection, 1984.

John L.

Bump ...

Please somebody, help to resolve this query about a possible attribution.

John L.

Re.  Haynes' Index, p.1629, H.08133.0

        Kinko Meikan, p.207a

John L.

I can make no firm attribution for Ron's tsuba, but the kao bears a marked resemblance to those illustrated on pp.Y7 and Y10 of Joly's Shosankenshu.  While I am not suggesting Yasuchika 1 as the maker of this tsuba, the combination here of late Mito and Edo kinkō styles is suggestive of later Tsuchiya work.

John L.

Dear Michael, it would be more courteous to fellow members of the NMB if you were to make some attempt at personally examining your fuchi-gashira before posting fresh and acceptable photographs.

With kind regards, John L.

Oops - apparently Chinese sword guards do have seppa-dai!  That on the attached image is narrower and more rectangular than those commonly found on Japanese tsuba.  Interestingly - or perhaps coincidentally - it is similar to that on Chris' tsuba.

John L.

A question - did Chinese sword guards have seppa-dai?  John L.

Dear Chris, in spite of the reservations expressed I like it.  Please p.m. me if you decide to sell it.  Regards, John L.

Peter, much as I greatly respect your contributions to the study of the Namban group of tsuba, your recent posting has me puzzled.  By describing his first, very interesting tsuba as 'Namban or maybe Hizen' Chris is correctly reflecting the confusion regarding the nomenclature of such tsuba.  Most collectors would confidently label this as Hizen while, if submitted to a shinsa it would almost certainly be labelled as  Namban.

But what features prompt you to raise the question of a Chinese provenance - surely not Chris' description?  Personally, I fail to recognise any such pointers in this tsuba.

John L.

Thank you Ford for that detailed explanation. The more we read your posts the more impressed we become with your achievements! John L.

Ford, a very simple question ... Sentoku can patinate to a wide variety of colours, from a very pale to an olive brown. Does this coloration depend upon the constituents of the alloy, or upon your method of patination? In other words, do you personally select the coloration that will result from your repatination and, if so, how do you decide?

With kind regards, John L.

Congratulations and thanks Thierry - a lovely tsuba.  John L.

An interesting tsuba, but Namban? Surely it is a C18, Hizen guard, demonstrating a strong namban influence. John L.

Thank you both for your replies.

Ludolph's posting rather adds to my confusion since one of his four illustrated Hōgen mei includes a third variation of the Ichijo kao.  But at least we have so far seen that none of his Hōgen mei include what Joly, on p.21, iII of his Shosankenshu, describes as a 'Hokkyo' kao.  This appears to confirm Joly's contention.

So now we have three distinct kao for this artist; where do I go from here?

John L.

Valery's recent thread featuring a tsuba inscribed RAKU HOKUKYO ICHIJO with kao has prompted me to enquire further regarding the various kao of this artist.  It is generally accepted that he used two kao during his long period of metalworking, and both of these feature on certified pieces.  The majority of his work bears the complex kao that Joly identifies as 'Hokkyo', but the minority (two of a total of 24 examples illustrateed in Kinkō Meikan) are of a simplified 'n' form.

If, as Joly suggests, the most frequent kao represents his Hokkyo status, awarded in 1824, presumably this would no longer be relevant when he was elevated to Hōgen in 1863.

But, search as I may, I can find no information regarding the adoption of this second kao.  On what date, or under what circumstances did he use this?  Did it signify his Hōgen status?   Any help would be much appreciated.

With thanks, John L.

...but love your tsuba.... John L.

At last somebody agrees with me!

Lacking both the confidence and the necessary finance, I am reluctant to put my wallet where my mouth is.  But I remain convinced that Valery's tsuba, inscribed RAKU HOKUKYO ICHIJO with Hōgen (汪眼) kao (tn: residing in northern Kyōto), is a later, shoshin work of the master.

John L.

I readily bow to the expertise of those NMB members much more knowledgeable than I, but love your tsuba. My only question would be the brightness of the plate, and wonder about its patination; or is this just the excessive light reflection in your photograph?

John L.

和泉氏 入道正久と銘し - Mr. Izumi mei Nyudo Masahisa

 

A nyūdō mei is one in which the lay priest name of the artist is used, and this is usually translated as the on'yomi (Chinese 'sound reading') of the name. Thus 入道正久 would normally be read as Nyūdō Shōkyū, rather than as N. Masahisa.

John L.

明珍宗久と合作がある - Myochin Munehisa to gassaku ga aru : Collaboration with Myochin Munehisa

 

While it is acknowledged that this artist used to work on iron plates supplied by Myochin Munehisa, is it conceivable that the NTKK were able to identify this particular Myochin artist as being the maker of this particular plate, or is this statement merely an assumption based upon this knowledge?

John L.

Attached is a link to previous postings by Ian B and Ford H regarding the hiiro-do technique:

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/1724-intriguing-daisho-tsuba-set-on-ebay/?hl=%2Bhamano+%2Bnaotoshi&do=findComment&comment=13460

John L.

I wonder how many of our older NMB members remember this beautiful daishō pair of tsuba, purchased from ebay in 2007.  Rendered in hiiro-do, each features a bat, depicted in high relief shakudō, with tiny, inlaid golden eyes.  The reverse is a continuation of the textured, stone cave theme.  Both tsuba are inscribed NAOTOSHI (H 06821.0), with the left angulation of the final stroke of the 'toshi' kanji that is a characteristic of the Hamano artist.  The dai tsuba measures 6.9 cm - 6.8 cm, the shō tsuba 6.8 cm - 6.5 cm.

They are presented in a custom made kiri box with a hakogaki 'Hamano Naotoshi hiiro-do colour tsuba'.

Hamano Naotoshi was a student of H. Naoyuki, and worked in Edo ca 1850.

John L.

This tsuba is inscribed NYUDO SHOKYU (H 04024.0).  Izumi Masahisa is described by Haynes as working ca 1800, and he describes one iron tsuba by this artist, listed as #51 on p.113 of the Red Cross catalogue, and illustrated, not on pl.CII as described, but on pl.CIII.  This artist is not included in Kinkō Meikan, and I do not possess Wakayama’s book to check Haynes' reference (W-344-L-2) for the mei.  Sorry!

John L.

Dear Peter

Attached is an image of a small tsuba featuring a Dutchman and his dog, in a detailed iroye of shibuichi, copper and gold.  With a copper face and wearing a bizarre costume, the figure carries a bow.  The tsuba measures 6.3 cm - 5.8 cm, is koboshi-gata, of polished sentoku and with a slightly raised mimi.  On the reverse is a landscape, with a plank bridge across a katakiri stream.  It is inscribed HIROYOSHI with kao (H 01449.0).

Murakawa Hiroyoshi, working in the town of Mito in the first half of the C.19, was a student of Uchikoshi Hirotoshi.  This figure is an imaginative image of a gaijin as seen in the port of Nagasaki in the early C.17, and was presumably copied from a contemporary print of that period.

The tsuba was beautifully repatinated by Ford Hallam in 2008.

John L.

This set purports to be the work of Ichonimiya Nagatsune (H 06539.0) but sadly, as is so much of such work, it is almost certainly gimei. See Kinko Meikan pp.319a-322b. Sorry! John L.