Tom Lindeman

It is very cool indeed! I can imagine the maker fitting the brass wire into the groves "just so". Nice tsuba! Tom

That would explain why the signature matches so well!! Thank you again for the input as always. Tom

I found this PDF article from this message board and it looks like I have a very close match with b) and f) below which are authenticated by NBTHK. Very interesting. Thank you all for helping me understand my find more deeply! https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.nihontomessageboard.com/articles/Soten_Study.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwit9Legg6ftAhXDPXAKHXlmA7QQFjAQegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw35J9kN1WXJY7dqHBmUJv Study of a SŌTEN Tsuba - Nihonto Message Board

Thank you very much for the information everyone. "Proceed carefully" is definitely the plan. @Yasaka Azuma One of pictures you posted is definitely my piece. Can I ask again what you meant by "surprising to mistakenly show the buyer the signature of the work" I am not sure the signature on the Tsuba is genuine, but shouldn't the seller show the buyer a signature if there is one? I will try to find an antique shop near me where I can get some help caring for this. I am not seeing anyone recommend wax. 👍 Thank you!

Hello friends, I recently acquired this Tsuba that is said to be from the Akita Shaomi school, but that is not 100%. Any guesses from those who have seen Tsuba similar to this? The signature was auto-translated to Eshu Hikone Ju Mogarashi Soten Se. Also, I have been reading alot of your great posts on cleaning, soap vs oil vs wax, what kind of brushes, soft metal vs iron, etc, and it is that later that I need some advice with. Is this "soft metal"? How would you best clean and preserve this? The antique dealer said to wipe the rust with a soft cloth, but not the black rust. You are a great group of people and I am happy to join the community! I am in Nagano. Tom