Exclus1ve

Very beautiful! I like this set better in terms of quality. Very interesting point. So it turns out this was a joint work done at the same time?

I’ve already thought about this more than once. I agree that at the present time we have very favorable conditions for purchasing tosogu. https://nihonto.com/nakai-koshirae/ I’ve already cited this article as an example before - it shows very clearly that for each option, such as nanako, inlay with specific metals, additional carving - there was a substantial surcharge for every request. Now, however, the work can cost less than the price of the metal itself, simply because demand for these items is low. But if we ask someone to recreate something comparable to the work of a great master, as Ford Hallam did, the price would really surprise us and would most likely be higher than that of an Edo-period piece.

I absolutely agree with Colin. I should also add that the Ford Hallam videos helped me a lot. This allowed us to understand how these things were made and what the difference is between them. Everything is always learned by comparison. For this money, I think it's a good tsuba.

I do not dispute that the works differ in quality. However, there is also some inaccuracy in the application of the gilding here. And I will repeat myself: this is quite common even in works of the very highest level - it is simply a characteristic of the technique. It is genuinely difficult to apply exactly the right amount of gold amalgam so that, after heating, it does not flow beyond the intended contour, especially at such a small scale. If we are talking about “inlay,” then it is indeed precise even at the smallest sizes. However, inlay is a more labor-intensive process, which is why amalgam gilding is more commonly used, as in the author’s example. You, on the other hand, have shown examples where most of the gold elements are inlay (nunome zogan), and therefore the margin for error is smaller, however, where amalgam gilding is used, inaccuracies are present. Below is an example of my tsuba with different types of gilding. I have outlined the amalgam gilding in red, the other elements are inlay, whereas the author’s tsuba uses only amalgam gilding.

Hello! I honestly do not share the opinion that many people have about the Soten school. Since I once purchased a shakudo Soten tsuba myself, I spent a considerable amount of time researching the subject and made a huge number of comparisons (1000+) in order to understand it properly. I am always surprised when I see statements of this kind… What exactly do you expect to see in these papers? Practically all tsuba signed “Soten” are identified in the papers as belonging to the Soten school. And what does “copy” even mean here? This is unquestionably an original 19-century piece. The fact that it was not made by Soten himself does not make it a copy. There were many craftsmen working within this school, and there was a tradition of signing tsuba with the same signature, and almost all of them receive NBTHK papers. Only a small number of Soten school tsuba have distinctive signatures like these: https://nihonto.com/1-01-23/ https://nihonto.com/juyo-tsuba-by-nomura-kanenori-野村包教/ I can also say that this is normal not only for the Soten school, but generally for other schools as well, especially when it comes to gilding. In almost any work you can find inaccuracies, and with gilding this happens much more often. Many people, I’m sure, know these Ishiguro Masaaki menuki - there’s a nuance there too, yet everyone is perfectly calm about it) As for this tsuba, I believe it was made in the Soten style. Geraint provided a good example.

I like the quality of the craftsmanship. And once again, it seems to me that it is the Mito school or its influence…

Hello! I would assume Mito school The shape, the non-standard holes of the hitsu-ana, and, of course, one of the favorite themes of the Mito school - dragons and tigers.

Congratulations on the acquisition! You can look at it for a long time, like a painting. I really like that works of the Soten school look great as standalone pieces.

It really is. After reading this article, I became curious about the approximate cost of a piece of tosogu during the Edo period. https://nihonto.com/nakai-koshirae/ Must-see We can see that the prices of high-quality works were truly impressive. These prices were justified not only by demand and popularity at the time, but also by the amount of work involved. How much would you estimate a piece that took about three to six months to complete? Today, such a price would not be much lower. For example, prices for top-end tsuba by Ford Hallam start at around $5,000. Obviously, producing such work requires a great deal of time and skill, making it inaccessible to many people. Looking at examples related to this topic, it seems likely that someone simply wanted to quickly create something similar and sell it to an inexperienced collector, which, judging by the auction results, was successful. However, I still think it could have been made in Japan, but with a different goal - purely for profit. During the Edo period, there were also many rather “simple” or even crude works by novice and inexperienced artists. The difference is that in those days the primary purpose was practical use, whereas today the context is completely different.

Still, I think it's just very poor quality and not following traditional techniques… It would be interesting to see them live. https://www.bonhams.com/auction/30444/lot/165/kawai-isshu-born-1920-an-inlaid-mixed-metal-large-tsuba-showa-era-1926-1989-mid-20th-century-2/

Re-examining some items, I agree about the casting with further refinement. But such things have at least been seen at auctions since 2000, according to the online-archives… It is interesting to see the original source.

Maybe modern, I agree, Colin. Your example is even better than the previous ones, but there is still something missing...sophistication... I think this is the fate of many modern artists, few people will be able to find the meaning to spend their whole lives on this craft in order to achieve perfection.

I think it's just an alloy with a low silver content. However, we do not evaluate tosogu based on the content of precious metals. Do you really think so? Because the inexperienced person who bought this tsuba turned out to be my countryman, I will share live photos of this tsuba. This tsuba was definitely made by hand, there is carving, but there is no refinement, small details are blurred. Just a good souvenir for an inexperienced tourist, but not for that kind of money… I think these are original Meiji or Showa items, but they were made without attention to detail and original technologies. The tourist will buy, and this is proof of that! In general, I think there is no deception in high-quality tosogu, everything is visible here if you know where and what to look at. I think it would not be superfluous to recall:

Most of all it seems to be true. These are not the lowest quality items, but the carving is quite simple, there is no inlay, just painted. https://www.bonhams.com/auction/15678/lot/291/a-large-shibuichi-tsuba-after-unno-shomin-meiji-period/

I really like the transfer of colors, spring really feels! Good work, thanks for sharing.