FlorianB

There must been an old Chinese story about binding slips of paper with messages into the feathers of birds. Thus musubi-karigane are bearer of good news and at least good luck as Jean mentioned. There was a thread on this motif some years ago:

Didn’t we already have the whole discussion in 2024? Good to remember the imperfection of the entire classification system but I can’t see any progress in creating a new one. Until then for the most of us it seems the easy way to stick to the existing one. I must admit the mass of crossovers and copies of a certain design are not helpful and – sorry I stubbornly repeat it – pictures alone are not sufficient. Concerning birds and the direction of flight: I believe that in most cases geese are depicted because they have a significance in Japanese culture. We know that geese are leaving Japan in autumn and coming back in spring and thus the motif is used in Haiku as a „kigo“, a word wich indicate the season. I think those birds are flying outwards are leaving, those with flight direction inwards are coming. Another aspect is their regular formation in flight. This could be the reason for the use in a regular pattern especially in the abstract works. In other cases certainly other birds could be assumed according to the motif (i.e. bamboo and snow are connected with sparrows).

I had already considered it myself, without coming to a conclusion. Because of the many reproductions of a trendy design it is difficult to determine a school by pictures alone. Maybe the pieces in hand would narrow down a decision.

I just found this in the second volume of „Hyaku Tsuba“ by chance: Not the same, but a similar design. Only the front is depicted. The hitsu-ana, however, are thicker than on the piece in question. The text says „Mumei Echizen“. Maybe it helps.

Those "flowers" are pines. Not sure about, but the base metal for the ornaments is copper which was gilded and the gold wears off.

Mere a hint in which direction to research. The shifty look of the person on the kashira was crucial.

Not to forget the stick on the Fuchi: Benkei beat his Master Yoshitsune to avert suspicion of the officials.

Seems to be Benkei on the kashira reading the fake subscription list at the Ataka barrier. The hat on the fuchi could hint to Yoshitsune in disguise. The other detail seems to be a barrow used for traveling. (print copied from Fujiarts.com)

One rare example where You can see the punched down iron (from E. Kremers book)

I think I can see the point. You’re wondering about where the material has gone. If You punch down the areas in question the metal is expanding to the inner space naturally. This rude hammering isn’t sufficient alone to get a correct adjustment to a tang. So after the hammering the inner sides of the nakago-ana are filed down again to get on the one hand the favoured fitting and and on the other hand smooth inner walls of the nakago-ana. At least by this filing process a part of the metal is lost indeed.

Maedate is correct. The motif was simplified and adapted to the Tsuba shape, but if it is actually a kamon is in the eye of the beholder. After all those years I’m still fascinated by the way how tsubako used all sorts of motives to create an appealing composition in a small space.

Found this in an German catalogue from 2000: A smaller octagonal (thus simpler) specimen with silver fukurin and the bars filled with enamel. No motif mentioned. The Tosho-attribution („enamels added later by Hirata-school“) can be doubted. It is signed „Shigekatsu“ (on the backside?), but without the kanji it's difficult to assign.

Hello, You allude also how to recognize good or poor workmanship. You are obviously not sure on your piece in question. There are a lot of examples discussed in this forum which show clearly a low level workmanship in comparison with more elaborate works - mostly depicting scenes. It is much more difficult to judge on Tsuba with simple design. And here’s only one picture. However, what I can see here is a well made shape: the kaku-maru-gata has regular curved corners and slight curvature at all sides. In my eyes a good impression. The surface seems to be very plain, without any intended irregularities. But that’s typical for Edo-Tsuba. I made a quick sketch to show the construction. Even it is a simple composition it is properly made at least. There’s a contrast in between the straight bars (which meaning is still unclear) and the curves at the edge. I remember a similar example somewhere in my books in which the bars have been filled with shakudo (if I remember correctly). Maybe I will find it. Is there a difference in thickness between edge and seppa-dai? Dimensions will be helpful, too. Best

Concerning the first one I agree with wachigai. The second tsuba maybe shows a modified form of ivy- or tsuta-kamon. The tendrils would fit.

The motif on the first Tsuba (Chinese general Guan Yu or Cao Cao?) looks remarkably simple. Maybe a forgery - or maybe the figure has had overlays once but those got lost.