Soshin

Thanks, Grev, your tsuba is similar to my tsuba. The iron and workmanship look identical. The size of the tsuba is smaller at 7.4 cm high by 7.4 cm wide. It is 3.0 mm thick at the rim (mimi 耳). The thickness of the plate increases towards the center (seppa-dai 切羽台). Together they would be a great dai-sho set. I noticed that there isn't an extra mark on the ura side of the tsuba. What I might be looking at on my tsuba is not a marker's mark, but a collector's or owner's mark. I have another tsuba in my collection from an old Japanese collection that was published as a tsuba oshigata book during the Meiji Period. All tsuba in the book including my tsuba have a small collector's mark that is a circular red dot of lacquer of the same type at approximately the same place on the omote side of the tsuba.

I picked up this new tsuba at the Chicago show. I purchased it from Boris Markhasin of Tosoguya. The tsuba came with NBTHK Hozon paper attributing this tsuba to be a work of the Hoan school. I learned recently that the tsuba has a mark of the ura side along the right side of the seppa-dai from a Facebook post. Currently I am unsure what the meaning of the mark is. It might be a workshop mark but that is just speculation without conclusive evidence. I have seen another tsuba using the same technique with this similar type of mark before, but having more historical evidence would be nice. Many characteristics of the forged iron plate construction would point to an Owari Provience origin so I can understand the NBTHK call to Hoan. I have read that not all Hoan tsuba were signed especially in terms of the first generation and second-generation work. More photos can be accessed on my website here: Tsuba Otaku | Reflections of a Not So Empty Mind. Here are three images.

Having a well-made plain design stand for both a smaller and larger tsuba would be a nice option in my opinion.

To move this post to be back on topic, the New York Token Kai regular scheduled meeting yesterday was a very enjoyable experience. The meeting was well attended, the weather was genuinely nice. If you live anywhere with a 3–4-hour bus or train trip away from New York City I would recommend attending a club meeting. Highlights of club meeting included a presentation by Markus Sesko on the swordsmiths of late Rai School of the Yamashiro Tradition and Michael Shane experience on this trip to Japan to doing various Japanese sword related actives. I brough the two new acquisitions to my collection and one tsuba that had recently received a Tokubetsu Hozon appraisal paper from the NBTHK. Check the website of the New York Token Kai for all future club meetings (direct link below). Meetings (ny-tokenkai.org)

These gold menuki passed. I don't remember the attribution as I sold them at the show and gave the NTHK-NPO worksheet to the new owner. They are nice but time to move on.

The storage of the tanto looks fine to me. I generally like to inspect and oil my blades at minimum four times a year as the seasons change. If I examine the sword or show someone the sword I will clean off old oil and reoil the blade before putting it away. Where I live the temperature and humidity levels change with the seasons.

This is an important bit of information. The development of red rust so quickly indicates that surface of this tsuba was never in a stable state like you see on many antique tsuba that has a stable patina on its surface containing primarily black rust.

I made it back home from the show and need to unpack on Sunday before the work week. It was a great show. I sold two items and purchased two new items. The universe is in balance.

From my experience of having owned some papered Kanayama and Ko-Shōami tsuba, what is most important in telling the difference is the detail and characteristics and the distribution of the forged iron. What I have seen in Kanayama tsuba that are thicker at the rim and thinner toward the seppa-dai and that they would have rounded square rims (kaku-mimi-koniku 角耳小肉) versus a more pain round rim (丸耳). Also, with Kanayama you would have many large iron-bones (tekkotsu 鉄骨) appearance the of the iron bones. I see that in your Kanayama tsuba example above along with the large strong iron bones along the rim. Thank you for sharing your nice Kanayama tsuba.

I am getting packed up for the Chicago show now. I cannot wait. Here is the set of tsuba I am bringing to show and tell.

The very last photo I can see the true yakiba ( 焼き刃) more clearlly from habori polish. The shape of the temper pattern is a saka-gunome (逆互の目) that is low and close to the edge. I would agree @Matsunoki attribution to Mino-den and would add that the tanto is likely one of Sue-Seki schools circa the late Muromachi Period. I hope you find this additional information helpful.

While the nakago looks worked on and adjusted a fair amount. This is an unfortunate widespread practice of Japanese sword dealer the world over. I would tend to agree with many of Ray Singer's comments. Nice Tanto with great ji-hada which you would expect to see in a Nao Shizu School sword. Thank you @MJS for sharing.

From the additional images I am still standing by the call of Akasaka School. Everything looks consistent for that school's work in terms of the plate construction, distribution of the plate metal, and thickness and shape/style of rim. This other tsuba is a nice later Akasaka School copy of an original Higo openwork design which was very popular by the time the Akasaka School was making its copies in Edo. Still, what a great find at a flea market. Keep up your excellent work and enjoy this hobby.

@Yves55 not really clear what you are referring to in the above comment and the with the single photo vital details of the rim are not at all clear. With that said what I think you are referring to are visible layers in the iron of the rim. That is just one of few important kanei points for the Akasaka ( 赤坂) School circa middle to late Edo Period. I say your tsuba is likely the work of the Akasaka School but would need additional photos (clearly showing the details of the rim) or to see the tsuba in person and allowed to examine it under good lighting. I hope you find my comments helpful in your study. What a very nice find at a flea market!

I personally hate auctions and like to avoid them if possible. I prefer purchasing from independent book dealers like Grey Doffin (Japanese sword books and tsuba – Japanese sword books and tsuba) for example see his reply above. I also sometimes purchase books by him directly from Markus Sessko (Markus Sesko | Japanese Arms and Armor). I would also check out and get familiar with the Japanese culture, history, and language. A good online resources dictionary is Jisho (Jisho.org: Japanese Dictionary). if you would like to go a bit deeper with your studies. I hope you find this information helpful.

Nice tsuba thanks for sharing. I have a nice tsuba with similar large size, plate metal distribution (niku-oki 肉置), and style of craving (maru-bori 丸彫) without the brass inlay or the soft metal rim cover at NBTHK shinsa this year. I think it will be attributed to Kamakura (鎌倉). Not completely sure about your tsuba, but I think it would also get the Kamakura attribution if submitted to the NBTHK. The inlay and soft metal rim cover was all likely added later.

It was a nice tanto with an unusual shape. Thanks for sharing.

I completely agree, it is a good point to keep in mind as a collector. The same thing can alos be said about the Shoami School as well. The techniques used were so numerous across all the many different regional Shoami schools. When you just examine signed examples, you see an extremely broad range of techniques unitized.

While the subject and design are the same, I am seeing a substantial number of differences in the exception of the design between the two tsuba. The first being the use of a fair about of openwork in the negative space, but also the details of fins, horns, and scales.

Hello Colin H., Nice tsuba and in answer to the above questions I think your tsuba looks to be the work of the Ito School of Musashi Province (around Edo) circa the late Edo Period early to mid-19th Century.

Hi Florian, I was thinking that originally as well in my original writeup after recovering it from my archive last weekend. The Suhama theme mentioned by @ROKUJURO is interrelated to mochi. I was thinking of mochi or suhama during New Years. I did come across this entry in Wikipedia about Kagami mochi (鏡餅, "mirror rice cake") as a traditional Japanese New Year's decoration. Kagami mochi - Wikipedia

While temple bell or Bonshō (梵鐘) theme is a common theme on Kanayama tsuba with my specific example I don't think that is the theme. The stylized profile of a temple bell is different than what ia seen on the left and right sides of my tsuba. Below is a photo of a temple bell example from Wikipedia. It is the large bell at Ryōan-ji a Buddhist temple in Kyoto and a photo of my tsuba for comparison purposes.

Hi Daniel, The overall finish to the forged iron plate which is casued by an extra heat treatment plate is called (yakite shitate 焼手仕立). I would agree the design is remarkably like my tsuba. Thank you for posting a photo. I was thinking the design of my tsuba and your posted tsuba is that of stacked rice cakes (mochi 餅) in stylized profile. Thanks, NMB this topic allowed me to better focus my write-up about this wonderful tsuba.

It has been months paying for this tsuba and now I finally have it completely paid off. Here is a view of the Kanayama tsuba made circa the late Muromachi to Momoyama Period in the noonday sun through my skylights in my study. It measures 7.7 cm round and is 5.4 mm thick at the rim and thins toward the center. It was previously in my collection, and I was able to photograph it in detail. More photos and information will be up on the homepage of my website (Tsuba Otaku | Reflections of a Not So Empty Mind) the first of April. Feel free to discuss it politely and let me know if you have any questions.

I have purchased more than a few swords and sword fittings from them over the years without any problem from eBay and directly. They are a high-volume lower quality dealer. As I mature as a collector, I have purchased less and less from them, naturally selling many things from them out of my collection with my own business. Buying less had nothing to do with their service, which was always great to me, just my natural progression as a collector.