Okan

Hi fellas, Just acquired a Yagyu (most likely) tsuba, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on it - starting with the period maybe? This one is a bit out of my league. 4mm mimi - 7.7cm thanks a bunch.

Modern cast

It's pretty easy when you trust your eyes and the dealer or person.

No offense! @Jacques

Very nice find, Geraint, very good condition as well.. Here is my tsuka:

Hope everything is going well with our little Tasmanian devil!

Where is Dale? @Spartancrest (He hasn't been online for the past 2 weeks..) Anyone know?

Hoi Lex, I did. It was a pretty similar experience to NRT and HND but I would say KIX was the fastest...

It is not Ishiguro.

Alex, one more for you.

PM Haha!

The best one I had was the Kaga tachi koshirae..I'm sure you remember it @Alex A (it’s gone now). Here are a few more...

When I saw the title I thought someone had found an Ichimonji..and then this.

Hi Steve, I don't know but you are most likely right. I have read everything about San Diego wreck and conducted extensive research on shipwreck tsuba, as I’ve encountered them(iron) before. - But thanks for sharing.

Another very interesting one. It belongs to a friend. I couldn’t figure out the mei, but my gut says it should have been on an important sword.

Here is a 28..Momoyama probably but I'm not sure.

Wanted to share a swordsmith tsuba(Igo no kami Kinmichi) that was once covered with urushi. Luckily, we can still see some remnants of the old lacquer.

2nd gen. General shape of the hamon and Toran midare (I was going back and forth between Terukane and Sukehiro)

I can. But why? Get better soon!

Kanesada maybe? (Echigo)

Actually, I was the one who was trying to be nice to you. I was simply giving you an advice, why do you take it as an insult? Also, are you going to attack everyone who ask you a question? No wonder so many people added you to their ignore list. Well, I'm joining them..no need to waste my time with you.

What does my age have anything to do with this?

@Dan tsuba Unfortunately, people in the West often romanticize the samurai. In the late 18th and 19th centuries, they didn't care much about their sword fittings—or even their swords themselves. Low-ranking samurai were struggling just to feed their families, let alone worry about the fittings. If they owned more than one pair of tsuba, they would sell them at second-hand markets to make ends meet. In Tokyo, markets in areas like Kanda and Honjo were especially popular for this. It was very easy to find a set of tsuka, tsuba etc… In the 18th and 19th centuries, samurai made up about 5-6% of Japan's total population, but a quarter of them were jobless. There are records of samurai buying swords from second-hand markets in Kanda, finding proper fittings, and reselling them for profit—just like Japanese dealers do today. High-ranking samurai usually owned more than one daishō. Instead of changing out their tsuba, they would often have more than one set, allowing them to wear something fancier, or maybe a tachi, when appearing at court. Some of them also collected swords and I’m sure they had some daisho tsuba sets as well. Also, gift-giving was common among high-ranking samurai, and they often received gifts from their lords. Head of the house and their sons typically received “very good" swords and most of the time in a very good koshirae. That being said, these type of questions won’t help you move "onward" in your tsuba studies. Instead, focus on the tsuba itself—time is precious. Okan

@GRC @Tcat Yup, I had one from late edo..1853 to be exact...

Here is my good old Masayoshi.