Jesta

One thing that did occur to me was that if these are foreign ships then the cross might be a symbol to denote that. It could be artistic shorthand for “foreign”, but that is really speculative…

My knowledge of nautical history is severely limited, so I can’t say whether it would be a foreign ship or not. I would say that it doesn’t need to be a capstan: tillers, bollards, and other items on boats and ships of all types also have a cross design. See here as a quick example: My best guess is that art like this (as with other cultures) adopts a relatively standardised shape to depict a certain type of thing (e.g. a ship) with certain key items that help identify it to the viewer. Given the number of things the cross-shape could represent I’m afraid that I can’t see the crucifix as being a more parsimonious hypothesis. Happy to have my mind changed on this… I am interested in why the extreme curl on the bow of the ship was included. I can’t think that this is representative of Portuguese ships of the time (or others that I have seen in pictures), unless it was a super-stylised form that had become common for some reason.

This came up in an earlier discussion: (see page 3 for ships) It appears that the cross-like shape is more likely to be a capstan or other ship part, rather than a crucifix. Occam’s Razor would indicate that this is a more likely explanation…

The signature looks way too clean and clear for the wear on the rest of the tsuba. The Sothebys one is a good example, there the signature is not raised and clear.

I am training my eye for bad tsuba… This one cropped up in my Reddit feed. My initial instinct is that is a modern fake. Can anyone tell me if I’m right/wrong on this? My reasons are: 1. Feels off… hard to say for sure, but it doesn’t feel quite right. I realise that this is non-falsifiable, but hopefully it will become clearer below. 2. The figures seem to be crude and unrefined. There are crude and unrefined figures on genuine tsuba, but these feel really poor quality. 3. The carving of the design and the signature doesn’t look sharp enough to have been carved, more likely to have been cast. 4. The damage around the nakago-ana feels like it should be linked to multiple mountings, but there is no wear on the seppadai. The damage also feels inauthentic. 5. There are weird cross-hatchings all over the tsuba which don’t seem to serve a purpose. 6. I haven’t seen colouring like the green and white on the figures on an authentic tsuba. Have missed anything obvious, or mischaracterised anything?

It would make sense for this to be something more decorative for the wealthy non-samurai to have bought. It’s for a smaller sword, so something that could be carried by non-samurai in the Edo period. It’s not very high-quality, but attractive enough to be appealing, either as a present or just as a nicer piece on a sword. I think that it has been mounted at least once (there is a small mark at the top of the nakago ana), but doesn’t seem to have been remounted, so it probably was not highly-prized.

Thank you all for the insights so far. If it is a fake, then they have gone to a whole lot of trouble for not a huge reward… The wear pattern and the rust look pretty authentic. The one I have is different from the eBay one, they are not identical copies (as you are careful to note ) so it would seem more likely to be makers copying each other’s designs.

I went to the very small market at the Hanazono Shrine this morning. There were quite few pieces of tosogu ranging from the fake to the old, from the reasonable quality to the really rough, and from cheap to expensive. I picked this one up for a reasonable price, it seemed to be the best balance of the lot. It’s iron, with brass inlay, slightly proud of the surface. It’s small, about 4.5cm x 4cm (guesstimate, I don’t have a ruler on me). Any thoughts on the theme or origins?

Thanks everyone. Sadly, I arrive on the 28th, and leave on the 4th, so I will miss both of the recommended markets this trip. I will have to look them up next time, I go.

I’m visiting Tokyo at the end of the month, does anyone have any suggestions for markets for tsuba shopping?

Definitely the lefthand one. (see above, but I bid on a very similar one as a single lot, and lost). The problem with comparing from pictures is that you really have to go on the quality of the picture to start with. Many sins can be hidden with some creative lighting… I also don’t like bidding on mixed lots because you tend to get some crud with some not-quite-cream… (Edit) Criteria: Artistic merit - the way that the dragon moves through the tsuba is very appealing. Skill: I really appreciate good quality nanako, but I am sometimes swayed by overall design or “feel” (which is why I liked the tanto tsuba posted above) Fit: It needs to work with my current collection as much as possible

I think that I lost the auction on that one… Looks very similar to one I bid on once… edit: Looking at the Bonhams link, it wasn’t the one I bid on. That was a single lot, but looked very similar.

If not the same person, then probably a high chance that they were made in the same workshop. Given the preference for nanako tosogu with family crests for formal occasions they were probably produced in large quantities.

Nice piece. I have one that is almost identical. I really like these little tanto tsuba. It’s interesting to note that yours has space for both a kogatana and a kogai.

Well Jean… In my day job, I’m a teacher, so I try to live in the belief that people can learn (despite evidence to the contrary) 🤣🤣

You aren’t wrong… It goes with the territory, which I think is why the best advice for beginners is to avoid the auction sites that take no responsibility for what is sold (e.g. eBay), to be prepared to make a few mistakes, to keep those mistakes as cheap as possible, and to learn from them… Threads like this do help, since there is a good chance that someone looking to start collecting may well wander in and read them before buying.

Too many red flags for me. The sekigane and the treatment of the water are very similar to one that I bought at the start of my collecting journey: I would find it hard to think that this one is not a modern cast.

Thanks. That was what I thought, but wanted to check.

Very nice. I like the wood.

Thanks. I was asking more if the term was only used when the pattern was created with a punch, or if it could be used when the pattern was created say by a mould for a cast.

Quick side question: Does the term “nanako” refer to the design or to the method? Can you have a nanako design that has not been created with a hand punch, for example?

I immediately considered this to be nanako, but Franco makes a good point: It could well be intended as samegawa, in which case the lack of coordination and alignment would make more sense. It still seems too “muddy” to be punched rather than cast, but that could be the quality of the photos.

The nanako is definitely not high quality to my eye. The wave patterns look messy, and the nanako seems to be of varied sizes. I would be very surprised if this was hand-punched. My best guess is a separate sheet over a core: san-mai. This is what I would expect good quality nanako to look like (shared elsewhere).

Thanks. I like the theme, and the execution, just worried that the price has been pushed up due to the attribution based on the mei.

I am looking at a kozuka that is for sale right now. It claims to be signed by Goto Junjo, but I am not sure that the mei is genuine. It seems a bit… unrefined… Does anyone else have any authenticated signatures for comparison? Or any thoughts on the legitimacy of the mei?