Request help identifying school, translation correct?

[Lance]

Below are a tanto/wakizashi tsuba and fuchi kashira I've been trying to find out more about:

all done in shibuichi with gold rimmed fan panels with zodiac animals on front and back in different soft metals, with very fine detail. For the translation on tsuba I was able to come up with Yuhoken(?) Masahiro with Kao below. Was hoping/wondering if anyone was familiar with this artist?

Added a few pictures included some with a dime for scale to show level of detail, fuchi- kashira (kashira is upside down in pics, sorry) that I'd think might be the same school, similar gold rimmed fans, but with super tiny shakudo nanako in panels; birds, flowers and a stream,tsuba is actually same color as fuchi kashira, but they were the best I could do to catch details, both look to be from the 1800's.

 

Also as a side question did Japanese artists ever create or import any types of magnifying glass for their work?

 

Thanks in advance fore your time,

Lance

[docliss]

Lance’s tsuba is signed YUMYOKEN MASAHIRO with kao. This artist is listed as

H 03997.0 in Haynes’ Index …, and the kao is shown under M72 in Shōsankenshu: he was working in Kōfu around 1860.

 

A tantō tsuba by this artist is included under the unclassified, signed pieces in the Catalogue of the Baur Collection as D2223, with an illustration on p.329. This is the same tsuba as #2547 in the Naunton Catalogue, illustrated on pl.X, dated 1860, and ex the Hawkshaw collection. Presumably the entry in Shōsankenshu was taken from this tsuba. The Victoria and Albert museum also has an undated example of this artist’s work, M2051-1931.

 

This is a very nice, matching set of fittings.

 

John L.

[Lance]

Thank you Jim, I really should pick up the Hayne's index and other books on fittings. Most references I have for fittings are old auction catalogs, (Haynes auctions catalogs, Compton, etc.)

 

Best Regards,

Lance

[Soshin]

Hi Lance,

 

Nice tsuba and fuchi-gashiwa set you have here. It a good example of late Edo Period Kinko workmanship. Is it part of a larger koshirae? I would also recommend getting Haynes Index. It is really helpful in the identification of signed tosogu. I use it a fair amount even though I don't focus my collection on schools that sign their work.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

David Stiles

[Lance]

Hello David,

I did get them from the same person but I don't believe they were ever part of a koshirae together, (or at least I hope not as I'd hate to think of a good period koshirae being broken up for parts.)

The change in patina around the opening for nakago is a little larger and different shape than the fuchi I posted, they do seem similar enough that they could have been from the same group though?

 

Regards,

Lance

[Lance]

Figured I'd revive this thread for a second to share a set of menuki I picked up from the same person as the other fittings. Same fine detail, they don't have a gold rim like the others but the rest looks close enough to make me suspect that at least the fuchi-kashira and menuki were originally part of a set (not sure about tsuba). Shot with a dime for scale, gold flute actually has carvings for holes and what looks to be silver applied for bright edge on kama/nata blade.

 

Regards,

Lance

[cabowen]

Very unusual menuki and very nice!

[Lance]

Thank you Chris, I've seen "button type" menuki but they usually had a mon or maybe a coiled dragon, haven't seen such small nanako before, whovever did it must have had good eyes and a steady hand.

Regards,

Lance