GRC

Not as many as I hoped, but so far we have: Ontario: Glen (me) Barry Hennick Charles K. North West Territories: John A Stuart Phillip K. (from "the old forum") ? Christian (Chris) Malterre: currently in Germany but I presume is originally from Quebec or somewhere in France? Honorary Canucks: Stephen - for being the first one to respond lol Dale - for helping us distinguish between the types of Canadian squirrel The fact that you're on the complete opposite side of the World to us, also gets you the "honorary Canadian" badge.

Hi everyone. I'm just curious to get a sense of how many Canadians collect tsuba (either starting to collect, are actively collecting, or have already built up a collection). not my tsuba btw, saw it on YahooJ. Feel free to just say "hi" and what province you're in. If you're an ex-pat, feel free to mention where you're at now. Hi, I collect tsuba and I'm in Ontario ...why does that suddenly sound like some sort of AA meeting intro? Although, tsuba collecting could easily be classified as an addiction.

SEPPADAI AFTER (sharper image perhaps):

A while back, I tried using the flat edges of some throw-away bamboo chopsticks to get some rust off of iron, and it really didn't do much. Save yourself the time and effort, and get yourself some bone or antler... I ordered some antler tips from amazon so I could give them a try. Apparently they are cheaper than getting them from the pet store. The antler tips have little to no marrow in them so they are a harder structure overall. I used some fine files to shape the tip into a sort of sharp wedge shape (flat on one side, ,angled on the other) to make a fine scraping edge. I also flattened some sides on the thick end to make a broader scraping edge. It takes a lot of time and you need to put a fair degree of muscle behind it for iron tsuba. DO NOT USE THIS ON SOFT METAL! You'll ruin it for sure... BEFORE (had difficulty seeing the mei clearly because of rust on the seppadai): DURING: HAD LOTS OF RUST DUST EVERYWHERE SO DECIDED TO SAOK IT IN MINERAL OIL AND LOSING THINGS UP. JUST WIPED IT WITH PAPER TOWEL AFTERWARDS: SEPPADAI AFTER: Now I just have to spend many hours working away at the surfaces of each of the linear fret surfaces... It's going to take a long time, but I'm really looking forward to having this one all cleaned up

Regarding the tsuba with the thick tree trunk and plum blossoms like #165, they sure come up often... These must have been a really popular design at some point in the middle and late Edo periods. None of them ever look to be terribly old or rusted much at all, suggesting a more recent production period. I have yet to see one that is signed, and if there's ever an attribution from the seller, which is very rare in my experience, it has always been stated as Aizu Shoami. But who knows who made the "original" that then essentially became a tsuba meme to be made individually by so many nameless tsubako. Don't get me wrong though, most of them are really well done Here's a thread form July with a bunch of examples (some unusual one too):

Here are two more YahooJ examples. I didn't put links this time so I don't throw anyone under the bus... but one's got a sizeable starting price along with a buyout price, while the other already has a bunch of bids and watchers, so could fetch a pretty high price. This one is a 100% casting (there is no doubt on this one): The mei is not chiseled and the tagane-ato are not punched: both are too smooth and have the same surface finish as the rest of the tsuba. Also, if this was mounted (as suggested by the presence of tagane-ato), then where are the signs of edge-wear from the brass seppa washers that would have rubbed against the seppa dai? There's also casting seems running along the midline of the sukashi areas. Here's a mass produced cast Nio guardian tsuba (although looks great for a repro), for sure produced in the 1900s but not exactly sure when. Although it does have the same kinds of colours as the one Dale posted... maybe these ones are current productions? A much more detailed kinko one (possibly the original?) is in the Met gallery and was made in the Meiji period. Here's an identical one without the colour finishes:

I was leaning towards a "period casting" as well. It's the only way I could kind of reconcile the presence of the papers... I guess I was just "shocked" to see papers for something that looks cast. Does NBTHK give papers for period castings? Richard, you're totally right that the surface texture could be because of corrosion that got cleaned up, so the texture alone isn't a 100% lock for it being cast or not. And, just to be clear, I wasn't trying to suggest the seller was being purposefully deceitful. I can't know what he knows and what his intentions are. But ya, I didn't think through the implications of posting, and that the seller would probably be judged... I just find this situation to be a real head-scratcher because it just doesn't look right...to me anyway

I have to admit, the steel plate of the one Dale posted had me fooled when I first saw the image of the whole tsuba, even though the coloring of the painted "inlays" is very wrong (too bright and bold). But the high-res images show that same dimply, pocked surface over the whole plate, including the litlle "oni" demon. Also, if you look at the mimi (rim), there's a clear casting "seem" that runs along its edge:

and then there's the overall grey, uniform colour. as well as the fact that the surface of the flowers, leaves and seppadai all have this sort of "pocked", dimply surface that wasn't done by a hammer or punches. It looks kind of "sand blasted".

Here's some places where the mimi "spills" into the area where there should have been a chiseled groove. And some general casting flaws, like "voids" that are missing from the surface. And...WTF? What happened here at the hitsu-ana that has a whole canyon-sized divot missing from its edge, and the divot has smooth rounded edges all over it. That suggests it was poured as molten metal, and not the result of some sort of chipping damage from a chisel.

For starters, you can see brush strokes on the sekigane, and the color doesn't even carry through the middle of the tsuba, its just on the surfaces.

Dale, I think this one is a new low... comes complete with NBTHK papers!!!! A "lovely" 100% CAST tsuba with sekigane that was painted on! https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/s1021396810

and i've seen a few of these tsuba-shaped "water dripping devices" now: TSUBA Vintage Katana Japanese Sword Guard 78x78x20mm 65x65x20mm 2 set TE102 | eBay I have no ide how they used in real-life but i'm curious... does anyone know?

An interesting use of a Nanban tsuba to create a mandala around a jade Buddha placed in the nakago-ana. Complete with a nice wood display stand. https://www.ebay.com/itm/265411679393?

oops... it's been a while, so I lost sight of the fact that it was for sukashi crabs... thanks for the reminder Dale. I also like the tsuba-dome-ana on the Boston one because they look like the target of the crab itself. Very cleverly done

Geraint beat me to the punch on BOTH points! For the first one, you can see someone tried to push out the metal at both ends of the seppadai with a chisel at first, then realized they couldn't stretch it far enough, then resorted to adding in the copper inserts to get a perfect fit. The Sado one with the cross and four crescent moons is an eye-catcher for sure Nice patina on it too. Don't know if the motif gets any more complex than what it is at face value. I also think your Eiju carp and wave tsuba is a nice design that is well carved.

There were many koshirae with fittings that were intended for ceremonial use and would have never seen a battle field. With 400 years of relative peace in the Edo period, I could totally see someone mounting a tanto with a stone tsuba. It sure would have made a statement if that's what you were going for. I think all the museum pieces are tanto sized. I haven't seen one that would fit a wakizashi or katana.

Very cool, thanks for that!

The secret function of tsuba...

That one is carved out into a solid plate to look like a whole kabuto helmet. Very cool tsuba. In zooming in, I just noticed that along the seppadai, the tsubako put a series of circular indents, as if there were actual flush-mounted rivets holding it all together! That's some pretty amazing attention to detail, considering that if it was mounted on a sword (which it looks like it never has), then you'd never even see those little details. Only the owner and the maker would ever know... unless it ends up in a museum and posted online lol Anyway, Piers, your post prompted me to look through my images and I found a similar one, but not as detailed as the one you posted. Love the "grab-ring" that was put on this one. I'm not too familiar with kabuto design variations, but does anyone know if that could represent some sort of ring to "hang" your helmet from, or some place to attach something to the helmet?

and a nice crab on a leaf kinko tsuba:

Just found this gem from Akasaka, Tadashige (signed), in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

Looks like a Heianjo school tsuba with a "water wheel" theme, but it has lost the majority of its brass inlays. It would have been a real looker in its day. From the shape of the hitsu-ana (the tall narrow oval hole), my hunch is that its an early piece with a fair bit of age to it. Pretty cool to think of how long it's been around, and how many swords it's been on. Nice piece of history there so don't feel shy about it.

By the way, I was just reading somewhere (the source escapes me now arg...) that a lot of the early Nanban tsuba had some christian motifs & symbols among the designs, but that a lot of them were destroyed once the practice of christianity was banned in most areas of Japan, when Japan went into their period of isolationism.

Yup, blows my mind every time Dale