JohnTo

Ford, firstly let me apologise for offending you, it was not meant, and secondly apologise for the delay in replying. I have been away without Internet, mobile phone or PC; Heaven. Let me explain my background. I was a scientist, a member of that group of people usually thought of as humourless nerds by outsiders. Some are, but most of us like to lighten up scientific discussions with jokes and not get too intense. My own particular field of special interest; ‘The use of Monte Carlo simulations in the assessment of regression mathematics as used in assay calibration’ is particularly dull, even for my ex-colleagues, and I’d be lucky to have half of them paying attention to talks on the subject after 10 minutes, despite including a few jokes. We have a local rock band, made up entirely of vicars. They include the odd psalm sung to a rock classic in their repertoire and finish with ‘Always look on the bright side’, from the Life of Brian. I’m sure some clergy would not approve of their laid back attitude to religion, but the majority of our local vicar’s congregation love his sense of humour. I guess some of us are more loosely wrapped than others. But seriously. I cannot get enthused over boxes, wood or plastic. To me, they are just containers to store and keep my treasures safe. However, my appreciation of koshirae is enhanced by my Friday evening ritual of white gloves and a pint of beer, just as my viewing of blades is enhanced by the ritual of gloves, cleaning with uchiko and tissue before applying chogi oil while sipping a (small) glass of Southern Comfort. My friends laugh at my eccentricities and constantly tease me about wasting my money on ‘rusty old pieces of Japanese iron’, but what the heck. Best regards, John

I guess Ford and I are poles apart when it comes to boxes. No doubt he empathises with collectors of model cars etc., who never take them out of their boxes, just peer at them through the Perspex window. For me, whether they are beautifully made paulownia boxes or converted CD cases, they are just packaging. The box that my breakfast cereal comes in does nothing to enhance my eating experience. However, white cotton gloves and a pint of Old Peculiar on a Friday evening is something that really does enhance my aesthetic experience and appreciation of tsuba. Nothing can beat the anticipation as I pour the beer into a glass and slowly pull on the cotton gloves. Then I open a tsuba box (wood or plastic) and tip the contents into my gloved hand. The feeling of the cotton glove against the metal is quite sensual and as I rotate the tsuba into various lighting angles, to get better views of the features, I feel good to know that I am treating my tsuba with the most care and respect that I can give them. Often, as the beer nears its end, my senses are enhanced and I notice features that I have never seen, or read about before (and hope to share with NMB members at some later date). Aesthetics are a funny thing. I often go to the Asian auctions and see the Chinese fighting over a ceramic bowl that is worth more (to them) than my entire collection of tsuba. If I’m lucky, and buy something, I am grateful that I love objects that must be considered cheap in terms of the hours of skilled labour that goes into their production. Regards, John (just a guy making observations, asking questions, trying to learn)

Lovely tsuba, good to see most of the inlay is intact, brass often falls out due to rusting of iron base. Its probably worth pointing out that this type of tsuba was made in Kyoto (Heian) and Kaga by the Yoshiro school. I've also seen signed examples from Bizen, so difficult to judge exactly what school. Also, two types of mon inlay, first is solid brass, like yours, then sukashi mon cut in. Second is a brass ring, like mine, and the pre shaped mon is pushed into the ring. Your kodzuka hitsu ana is square, or squarish. I have not been able to find out is this is a characteristic of any school, but have seen in identified Bizen example. The karakusa looks a bit more elaborate than usual. So, all in all, lovely tsuba with some out of the usual type of inlay. regards, John

I was expecting a mixed reception to my post, always good to stir up some debate and thought on the NMB. I feel that is what it’s for. I certainly did not expect the traditionalists to agree with me, but as Steve points out, it works for me. I have saved space, money, find it much easier to search through my collection, and had some fun on wet afternoons making the boxes. As far as I am concerned, nearly all my tsuba are now housed in a safe environment, nicely tucked up in their tailor made felt bedding. I did recently see a lovely collector’s cabinet at a local auction, ideal for tsuba, but when I calculated how many I could store and the space it would take up, dismissed the idea. Many of my tsuba came from job lots at non-specialist auctions, probably from deceased estates and were showing signs of neglect. Some even came loose, in plastic bags; how I winced when the auctioneer handed them over, ringing like bells as they clanked against each other. Look at the condition of some of the tsuba in museum collections. I remember reading that a bunch of iron tsuba in the British Museum got soaked in WWII and rusted together. Mine are treasured (apart from the cast iron ones!) I expect that a lot of NMB members are what I term £/$100 tsuba collectors, i.e. that is their maximum level of affordability for a piece. Paying another £/$20- 25 for a paulownia box is probably not important to them. Let’s not end up like some collectors of model metal die cast planes, cars and railway engines that I have met, who won’t take the models out of their packaging as it would devalue them! Andi B, thanks for the info regarding larger plastic boxes, I have a couple of tsuba that are too thick for CD cases. Regards, John (just a guy making observations, asking questions, trying to learn)

Cranes and pines seem to have been popular around 1800. Here is mine A Masayoshi of the Kuwabata family (1773-?) is recorded on page 93 of The Genealogies of Japanese Tsuba and Toso-kinko Artists, by Markus Sesko as belonging to the Chishiki School in Satsuma. This is almost certainly the same artisan (if genuine and gimei) as he is listed using the same kanji for ‘Kuwabata’ and ‘Masayoshi’ including the unusual form of the kanji ‘Masa’ as seen on this tsuba. Masayoshi was a student of Inada Norinobu (a student of Goto Shinjo [1783-1843], the 15th generation main line master) and son of Kuwabata Hachirobei. The date inscribed on this tsuba would indicate that Masayoshi was about 28 when he made this tsuba. Masayoshi was the last of the 13 artisans of this school to be listed. Perhaps the school closed, or perhaps not all the artisans were listed in the genealogy charts. The Chishiki School was founded by Kanesue (real name Chishiki Go’emon), who succeded Kuroki Zenbei, recorded as making tsuba and sword fittings. Both were samurai from Satsuma and this may be the reason that tsuba from this school were signed, the artisans being the same class as the clients, thus were not considered to be impertinent by signing their work. Height: 7.1 cm Width: 6.55 cm Thickness (rim): 0.3 cm Regards, John (just a guy making observations, asking questions, trying to learn)

opps, PDF file did not attach, John 2019 0909 Plastic Tsuba Boxes.pdf

At the end of last year I posted my initial ideas on plastic tsuba boxes adapted from CD jewel cases. Some of the responses were positive while others expressed downright horror. Shortly afterwards there was another posting on the dangers of the nagako post (I expect there is a Japanese term for this, but I don’t know it) coming loose in the box and scratching the tsuba with the pair of iron staples holding the post in place. Since that time I have refined my design and have now made over 70 boxes (Can I hear the groans of horror from some USA NMB members?). Some of my better tsuba are indeed housed in commercial paulownia boxes and will continue to be so, despite feeling them slide around on their nagako posts when I pick up a ‘cheap’ box at an angle. But for most of my other pieces one of my plastic boxes with foam and felt inserts will suffice, costing less than £1 compared to over £20 for a paulownia box from Japan. Not that I would have spent over £1400 on 70 paulownia boxes, but I have recently put an equivalent amount of money towards a group of 4 tsuba, all in high quality paulownia boxes with tailor made inserts. I know what I would rather spend my money on. Another feature that I like about my boxes is the paper inserts. They make it easy to identify the contents and I can remove them to read my notes (I’m old and forgetful), add new research comments with a pen, and later edit the master copy on the PC and print out an amended version. Let’s address the comments on my previous posting: 1.’Just a little reminder that the reason paulownia is used is that it helps to insulate from changes in temperature and humidity which helps to prevent condensation/oxidation. Depending on the environment plastic could actually promote condensation inside the case.’ Pete in Florida Florida, like many other places can get quite humid. My tsuba are stored in a centrally heated house with low humidity. However, I readily concede that I do not know what the long term effects of the components used in my boxes have on tsuba (acrylic plastic, EVA foam, felt, PVA glue, paper and printing ink). 2.’the relatively unyielding interior surface + grit = possible abrasion damage to soft metal tsuba.’ (Pete, USA) I’m not sure what metals are softer than acrylic plastic, besides my tsuba are only exposed to felt and paper. 3-‘The aesthetics are grim, I can't think of a more unpleasant experience.’ (Pete, USA). You got me there, especially as the colour of the first batch of felt I bought was ‘Kermit green’ (it looked different in the advert). A bit late in the day, but I’m now colour coding the felt according to tsuba type. On the other hand I don’t have the ‘unpleasant experience’ of being embarrassed when my non-tsuba collecting friends say to me ‘You paid how much for this little wooden box? Boy did they see you coming!’ I’ve attached some photos of some boxes, opened and closed to show all the bits, plus a comparison of 10 paulownia boxes, versus 10 10 jewel cases to show the space that can be saved. A PDF file shows the manufacture in a bit more detail. I finish with something my favourite Haiku poet (Kobayashi Issa) once wrote: Shitajita ni / umarete yoro mo / sakura kana, which roughly translates as ‘Being lowly born I view cherry blossom at night.’ Using his haiku as a template may I respectfully offer ‘Be-ing a poor man / I keep all my tsu-ba safe / in pla-stic box-es.’ Remember, original thought often requires thinking outside the box. Regards, John (just a guy making observations, asking questions, trying to learn) Photos: 636 Comparison of 10 paulownia boxes and 10 CD jewel boxes 640 Three tsuba boxes, one (yellow insert) open 639: Jewel Case Tsuba box with paper insert removed 638: Jewel Case Tsuba box with paper insert removed showing reverse with text.

Hi Kyle, Just seen your post. I'll go with Jean on the Owari tsuba. The rim on the other points to katchushi, Myochin family. However, Higo tsuba often had similar rims on sukashi tsuba, but usually decorated with nunome. RB Caldwell collection had a somewhat similar simple 8 spoke wheel tsuba with a single kodzuka hitsu ana and decorated (brass/copper zogan) rim, which was attributed to Heianjo sukashi (Lot 22, Sotherby's 30 March 1994). However the rims on the Higo and the Caldwell tsuba are wider and flatter, so I'll stick with the katchushi attribution. Regards, John

Grev, Just photographed the page from the catalogue. Catalogue says it was 7.9 cm. I remember this auction as I bought my first serious tsuba lot there, Lot, 14, its the tosho fan above yours. Still have it. Regards John

I just came across a similar example by chance in an old catalogue I just picked up (Sotherbys, London, RB Caldwell Collection, 30 March 1994, lot 16). Described as rare Kamakura-Bori tsuba, Muromachi period (16thC). Of circular form, pierced with a writing box design around the hitsu-ana, the plate carved in typical style with clouds and waves on a punched ground, Unsigned, 7.9 cm. Sold for £800. Looks identical to the one Grev posted, especially around the nagako ana (quality of pics withstanding), so probably the same one. Regards, John

Nobody seems to have mentioned that this is a five clawed dragon. Dragons on Tsuba are usually 3-clawed. Five clawed dragons were reserved for the Chinese emperor I believe, and 4-clawed for high officials. Three clawed for the plebs. Regards, John

Unfortunately I did not read this post until after I visited Bonhams on the Monday. As I sat alone viewing the tsuba, I was aware of an elderly gentleman briefly talking to a member of staff then leaving. It might have been Bob and I missed a golden opportunity to meet him. I have been trying to find a copy of his Index of Jap Sword Fittings and Artists. I believe it was only published in 2001 in Germany, but I can't seem to find copies available to buy on the Internet. Anyone can help? Regards, John

I think that the design on either side may be the bridges (ji) used on koto (stringed instrument). I've seen similar on other tsuba. regards, John

Hi Pietro Welcome to NMB and collecting tsuba. Yours looks like Hizen work, which derived from chinese nanban/namban work, but nanban usually has an irregular patterned surface on the seppa dai and odd shaped nagako ana. I'm not sure if this book is still in print, but The Peabody Collection of Japanese Sword Guards (ISBN 87577-041-X), 1975 is an excellent introduction to the different tsuba schools. The other place to look for more info on tsuba is the Church collection at the Asmolean museum, Oxford ( http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/collection). Hundreds of tsuba, well described (unlike many major museums) Best regards, John

No one has posted a nanban copy of Spanish/Portugese cup type sword guard in this discussion, apart from the actual one posted by Grev. So here is one I picked up recently in a job lot of 18 other tsuba. Not really a favourite of mine, but I think has some interesting features. The tsuba is thin and the iron has delaminated on the inside, indicating that the iron was fold forged rather than fashioned from a single sheet of homogenous material. I don’t know how Spanish/Portugese guards were forged, so I can’t say if the basic blank cup was European, Japanese or Chinese. The inner surface of the tsuba retains about 50% of a red lacquer finish (carbon-14 dating would be interesting) and the outline of a seppa, showing that it was mounted on a sword in the traditional Japanese manner. The outside also appears to have a seppa mark and the nagako ana is for a blade with a big nagako (3cm long, 0.8 cm wide). I wonder which way it was mounted. Japanese style would be with the decoration facing out from the wearer with the kogai hitsu on the right, so the open cup would be facing the blade, European style would have the open cup facing along the tsuka and be great for collecting rainwater. The tsuba is pierced with the standard kogai/kodzuka ryo hitsu and also has a large inome bori (boars eye) piercing. The outside surface is a shiny black iron finish and has shallow gilt engravings of three phoenixes in gold with long grey (silver alloy gilding?) tails. There are also three gold and one grey five-petal flowers, looking like clematis with their petals swirling anticlockwise. The decoration looks more Chinese than Japanese in character and so this tsuba may have been made by Chinese artisans working in China or Japan (Nagasaki). Questions: How old is the tsuba? Oda Nobunaga was the champion of Spanish/Portugese styles, but he died in 1582. I would thought that the European nanban style died with him, but see below. This one looks totally impractical for use on a Japanese sword. Is the decoration filled with Christian symbolism? There are three phoenixes depicted. The holy trinity? Phoenixes rise from the ashes. Does this allude to the resurrection? The inome bori is very large for a tsuba. I believe that the sacred heart of Jesus is a potent Catholic symbol, but I’m not big on religion, so this may be a recent development. The Spanish/Portugese/Jesuit influence in Japan plummeted in the early Edo period when the Japanese realised that conquest was in their minds and Christianity was heavily supressed. So does this date from the time of Nobunaga? The ryu hitsu would indicate a later date, but I am left wondering who would want to wear a tsuba like this in the Edo period. I am of course assuming that this is a serious Japanese artefact and not a joke (ancient or modern). Aoi-Art has a similar one for sale (Edo period), signed Kunihiro (www.aoijapan.com/tsubakunihiro/). Compton also had one (part II, lot 11) signed by the swordsmith Sadayuki (fl. 1800). So I guess they were made in the Edo period, but must have been way out of fashion. Dimensions: Height: 8.5 cm, Width: 8.2 cm, Thickness (rim): 0.2 cm, Depth of bowl: 1.6 cm Sorry about the quality of the photos, the colouring of the engraving does not stand out. Comments welcome. Best regards, John (just a guy making observations, asking questions, trying to learn)

I’m a bit late coming into the nanban discussion, but here is one of my examples. I can’t say I particularly like nanban tsuba, but I seem to have acquired at least 5 by default in job lots. I’m posting this one as it differs from the more common designs. This one came attached to a wakizashi, the blade dated 1811. It shows a foreigner. I’m not sure if he is supposed to be a Chinese or European Southern Barbarian. The question that arises in my mind is ‘Why would a Japanese want an image of a barbarian foreigner on his tsuba?’ Even accepting that it is probably a non-samurai wakizashi. Perhaps it represents some famous Chinese sage, but it looks a bit like an insulting characterisation to me. The tsuba is iron and the gilt nunome decoration appears to have been done with two types of gold, one with a more silvery colour. Sorry, but I have neglected to record the dimensions, but it is wakizashi size. Best regards, John (just a guy making observations, asking questions, trying to learn)

Hi Dan, Welcome to the NMB. Sorry I’m a bit late in replying, but I don’t look every day. I see that the replies that you got are a bit short and as a newbe you were probably looking for more info. I’m a relative newbe myself, but I hope that the following might add to your knowledge and appreciation of tsuba. There are a lot of kinko (soft metal) tsuba appearing on the E-sites, somewhat similar to yours with erroneous descriptive words like Mino, Goto and shakudo. The Goto school in Mino province became very important in the Edo period as their style of fittings were required by anyone attending court. They worked, mainly, in shakudo, an alloy of copper with about 5% gold, which produces a lovely blue black patina when treated properly. They also treated the surface of the tsuba with a tiny punch to produce the nanako (fish eggs) finish. Goto school fittings were expensive and not all samurai could afford the genuine article so workshops sprung up making cheaper versions. Much like designer goods today. Two big centres for copies were Nagoya (Nagoyamono) and Kyoto (Kyo kanagushi), but many more workshops were also producing similar fittings of various quality. A lot of Nagoyamono have been coming up for sale recently. These are typified by a mokko shape, so yours is probably from another workshop. These copies did not use shakudo and so are typified by a brown patina (probably a copper/bronze alloy suitable for casting0. They were cast from a mould and then finished by hand (applying the nanako finish, gilding etc). Tour tsuba is probably of this type. Look at the nanako. Lot of work went into punching the individual marks. Lines are nicely curved, but spacing in some parts is uneven. Not the highest quality. The gilded horse looks as if it has been moulded, rather than inlayed, as would have been done by Goto. The photo of the rim is not clear, but looks like it has been gilded, rather than being a separate piece of metal (fukurin). Its not bad for a first piece. You can learn a lot from it. OK, its not Goto, but you paid $80 and not $800, or even $8000. Look at Ford Hallam’s videos on Youtube to see how quality shakudo tsuba are made. Best regards, John

Its the Year of the Pig in the Chinese calendar. So lets have pics of your piggie tosugu. First up from me is a shakudo nanako fuchi/kashira set, still attached to the sword. I bought the tsuba in the forlorn hope that it might be OK to replace the one on the sword which did not match the rest of the fittings, but it is wakizashi size and looks wrong. Happy (Chinese) New year, John

Bazza, Please read carefully, I said 'a sheet of shakudo can be easily shaped into a plug', i.e. a thin sheet, beaten into shape over a forner in the same way as a menuki or kashira. I agree that they are hollow, at least the only half of a loose one that I have seen outside a tsuba was regards, John.

At last I've managed to paste my text! Looking at various tsuba incorporating shakudo has raised some questions in my mind. Shakudo, as we all should know, is a copper alloy with about 5% gold, which when treated correctly, produces a lovely blue black patina. In the Edo period I believe that the Togugawa shogunate specified shakudo sword fittings for samurai attending the court and so boosted the sales of the Mino Goto school workers, who were the master craftsmen with this material. Their products were no doubt expensive and not all samurai could afford the genuine article and frequently bought cheaper imitations made by other schools. Much like today where people buy ‘knockoffs’ of designer goods. I think that this was part of the Togugawa strategy to keep the daimyo poor and thus unable to have sufficient money to fund a rebellion. The most common Goto imitation tsuba seem to be the Nagoyamono (Things from Nagoya), which seem to frequently appear on Japanese dealers Ebay and UK auctions. I use the term Nagoyamono from the Christies Compton Catalogue. I have recently picked up three in mixed lots. They all seem to have the same common features, namely: Mokko shape and same size (6.8x6.1 cm for wakizashi), nanako ground with a gilt nanako rim (not a fukurin), a seppa dai with 10 punch marks in a characteristic pattern (probably the manufacturer’s quality control approval mark; Note there is one of mine that does not look like it passed QC and has no punch marks) and standard designs, cast from a mold, then finished by hand (nanako punched and gilded). Designs I have seen in the last few months include the Treasure Ship, Pagoda, Lady writing, Deer amongst plants, Samurai mice, Chrysanthemums, Dragon and Chinese sages. Another example of a Goto clone that I have recently acquired is a Soten tsuba for a katana (see pic). Soten are famous for their dubiously signed iron sukashi tsuba depicting heroic samurai scenes, but they also seem to have made kinko tsuba, again with little samurai figures. The other common feature of these two types of tsuba is the patina of the seppa dai; its milk chocolate brown, not blue black. The main body of the tsuba, in my examples ranges from what looks like black paint to chocolate brown colour where original patina has been lost. The words ‘shakudo’, ‘Mino’ and ‘Goto’ seem to appear with great regularity in the sales description of these tsuba, although, to be fair, some sites do omit these terms. My questions regarding this type of tsuba are: Can the base metal be considered to be shakudo, or is it a bronze alloy more suitable for casting and, perhaps, devoid of gold content? Nigurome, the impure copper used in shakudo is a possibility but is it suitable for casting, unlike copper? Has Ford applied his friend’s XRF spectrometer to any? Is the brown patina solely due to the alloy or due to the Goto craftsmen keeping the patination process a closely guarded secret? Lets now turn to hitsu ana plugs. I have several iron tsuba with shakudo plugs in one or both of the hitsu ana (see example). All of these are blue black shakudo. So why are these ‘real shakudo’ when the kinko tsuba are not? I suspect I’ve answered this question above and it is because the kinko tsuba use an alloy more suitable for casting whereas a sheet of shakudo can be easily shaped into a plug. Also, I can’t see the point of a samurai going to the expense of having a hitsu ana plug fitted to a sukashi tsuba when the body of the tsuba is full of holes (piercings)! Were plugs offered as an optional extra by the maker? Best regards, John So many questions, so much to learn ,so little time.

Hi Grev, Last bag of bones for you, this time Kanayama, which are supposed to have lots. I’ve seen pictures of three Kanayama tsuba with tekkotsu described by the same author in the same catalogue as ‘extremely fine….typical of this school’, ‘strong’ and ‘exploding’ (the explosions being put down to carbon in the iron) It’s the first time I’ve ever heard of carbon exploding, except in gunpowder! I believe the tsuba I have once had a NBTHK TK certificate, now lost. A similar tsuba is on sale with Seiyudo, so I’m happy with the assignment. There may be some tekkotsu on this tsuba, but it is on the feint/fine side of the spectrum and difficult to photograph. There are grey patches on the side of the rim, which are not prominent. Maybe a few more years of rubbing against clothing would have exposed them more (according to some pundits). There are some small specks on the rim. If it has tekkotsu, they are not worth raving about. Finally, I must apologise for a couple of my posts. I don’t believe the Kuninao tekkotsu are genuine (I indicated they were not). Nor do I believe the two etched tsuba can be considered as displaying tekkotsu. Etching iron is likely to preferentially dissolve the harder iron, so the bits left will be softer iron. Not that it excludes them from being described as tekkotsu, as Ford points out (and I have read elsewhere) there is debate whether tekkotsu are hard or soft iron. I really added these to expand the debate, especially as when I get the chance to handle a tsuba up for sale, described has having tekkotsu, I often find it difficult to see anything. And finally, a pic of some fire rake that I made on a one day blacksmith course. The material was modern homogenous mild steel. I left the rake in the fire too long before the final quench and it got burnt. I’ve seen worse lumps and bumps on tsuba described as tekkotsu, so buyer beware. Best regards, John (just a guy making observations, asking questions, trying to learn)

Hi Grev, More bones. Not very spectacular, just small granules on the rim. The tsuba was catalogued as Kyo sukashi, but I would lean to Owari. Best regards, John (just a guy making observations, asking questions, trying to learn)

Hi Grev, Maybe more bones for you, but now for something completely different. I have seen tekkotsu described as small pieces of hard iron poking out of a soft matrix and as small pieces of soft iron poking out of a hard matrix. What makes these pieces stand out from the bulk matrix is also subject to different opinions; forging process, rubbing against clothing or with sweaty hands. These two examples seem to have been made by etching the surface causing one of the iron components to dissolve faster than the other leaving bones. Are they tekkotsu? I’ll leave that for more expert NMB guys to comment. The first example is a simple tosho tsuba (9.2 cm dia), nicely forged with a goishi gata plate. The odd feature of this tsuba is the ‘toad skin’ surface (on both sides). It almost looks like it has been decorated with a nanako punch. I assume that it has been etched with acid to reveal the small round lumps of a different iron to the bulk material. I have never seen another example of this finish. Not a great tsuba, but interesting and I’m really quite fond of it. The next example is a Heianjo/Kaga Yoshiro brass inlay tsuba. The iron surface of this also seems to have been etched. This time the ‘tekkotsu’ is granular. The rim is also slightly granular. Neither of these examples have any significant rust and both have a shine to the ji, possibly from a thin film of lacquer. Of course I cannot tell if the little bumps are a different iron from the main body, but if they are, I guess they can be classed as ‘tekkotsu’, by definition. Best regards, John (just a guy making observations, asking questions, trying to learn)

Hi Grev, So, you want photos of bones. They are elusive little devils to photograph. Well there seem to be different opinions of what bones are and how they are formed, so I’ll try to see what I have got amongst my tsuba. Lets start with another example of ‘dinosaur bones’, big lumps of iron poking out of the rim. There is also a 3x5 mm lump sticking up on the left side of the plate near the rim (see pic 316) This tsuba is a 19th C example in perfect condition with no rust to hide the features. It is signed and dated ‘Nobuie no katachi o motte Myochin Kuninao saku’ (made in the style of Nobuie by Myochin Kuninao) and ‘Koka sannen uma shigatsu bi’ (Koka third year of the horse [1846], fourth month, a day). It has some lumps and bumps around the rim, but they look a bit contrived to me. It is, after all, a copy. Maybe Kuninao deliberately added lumps with skilful application of the hammer rather than trying to include real tekkotsu. Difficult to tell, but as there is always someone on NMB who is quick to point out faking, I’ll jump in first with the suggestion. I bought this tsuba at the same auction where a ‘genuine Nobuie’, with NBTHK Hozon was up for sale at £15-18K (unsold). This was reported to have granular tekkotsu in the rim. I looked hard but could not see any. Best regards, John (just a guy making observations, asking questions, trying to learn)

This was one of my first serious tsuba purchases (RB Caldwell collection, 1994), a tosho tsuba that typified 'bones' to me at the time. It still provides a pleasurable sensation if I run my finger over it. I can understand why the Japanese find it so exciting. Interestingly the tekkotsu is only at the top and bottom of the tsuba. I assume that it must have something to do with the way that the iron was folded and the bones squeezed out during forging. Best regards, John