Daisho koshirae with multi-plate tsuba

[Gabriel L]

Hello,

 

I am intrigued by this daisho koshirae set on Aoi.

 

As you can see, the tsuba consists of a robust center piece that is bracketed by a more carefully decorated thin plate on either side, with an interlocking system for the kozuka-ana.

 

I have never seen this (although I do not claim any special knowledge of koshirae). Anyone care to comment? Was there a certain rationale behind this construction? I can imagine some possibilities but I prefer to ask before speculating.

 

Thank you,

 

—GLL

[Gunome]

Hello

 

It looks like the tachi tsuba : a solid piece with large seppa that match the shape of the central piece.

Nevertheless, I never seen a such kozuka-ana system before

[Brian]

The middle piece of at least one of the tsuba appears to be leather?

 

Brian

[Alex A]

And black coloured, so laquered?

 

Alex

[pcfarrar]

Nevertheless, I never seen a such kozuka-ana system before

 

I posted a tanto with a similar design a few years back:

 

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6972

[Justin]

Is this a modern daisho koshirae? It is very nice. I notice Tsuruta san was careful not to mention a time period in his description.

[Eric Santucci]

I had a modern tsuba/seppa set made for a martial arts grade sword (Japanese style by American smith) about a year and a half ago that is very similar in design to this. It consisted of a highly polished small black horn tsuba with essentially one thicker solid copper tsuba on each side that were almost the same diameter. I then had two smaller seppa made as well, so overall the entire piece consisted of 5 parts. My reasoning for this was to add strength to the softer horn tsuba by backing it with some metal on each side.

 

This set is actually up for sale on some other message boards that deal with less traditional blades and fittings, but I can post a quick pic here if anyone is interested.

[Gabriel L]

I was thinking that this way, the replaceable "center" of the sandwich would bear the brunt of any incidental scratches or wear to the edges. Which would make a lot of sense if the tsuba was leather.

 

Alternatively, with a soft center and high compression, you'd have less chance (maybe) of a loose rattle developing over time.

 

But both of those are practical concerns, and this daisho koshirae set looks very artistic and not likely to have been commissioned by someone concerned with extreme pragmatism.