help with motif on Heianjo (?) tsuba

[chris covington]

Hello all,

 

I just picked this tsuba up recently and I am assuming it is Heianjo (?) brass inlay (I'm still not good at this though so I could be wrong). It doesn't seem to be super old but I liked it when I saw it. The kogai ana is very small on this one. It appears that during its service life someone enlarged the kozuka ana to make it more usable. The punch marks on the surface go around the brass inlay and around the kogai ana so I think the brass and kogai ana are original. The enlarged kozuka ana cuts through the brass inlay and through some of the surface punching so that is why I assume it is a modification. Anyway, I liked the kiku and tendrils on it but I wasn't sure what the circles and the "T" shaped objects represent. I am open to any thoughts about the motif or on the tsuba as a whole.

 

 

Thanks for your help everyone!

Chris

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Chris,

I'm no authority but to me this looks like something made last week in a garage in Sheboygan by someone who once, years ago, saw a real Heianjo Zogan tsuba. The real thing can be beautiful for its rusticity, but this is just clumsy. Hope I'm wrong; anxious to learn what the other opinions will be.

Grey

[christianmalterre]

agree completely!

throw it away please and buy books preferably-Sorry!

that´s "Metallschrott" no further words..(definitely very sorry to say this)

 

Christian

[chris covington]

Mr. Doffin,

 

Tell me how you really feel

 

Joking aside, I got it cheap from an antique dealer and only saw it with some blurry photos so figured what the heck I'll roll the dice. It isn't the prettiest tsuba is it? I still sort of like it though. Don't ask i don't don't know why

 

Thanks for the post,

Chris

[chris covington]

I guess this sort of reminds me of a new parent with an ugly baby. They try to act like it is cute but deep down they know it isn't. Maybe I should delete this whole post? lol Nah, I'll leave it up. We all have our bruises from collecting mistakes I'll keep this up as a reminder to myself don't buy just from photos and certainly not blurry ones (on the plus side I'm not set back very much so it wasn't a costly mistake).

 

Cheers,

Chris

[MauroP]

Hi Chris,

I'm trying to act as a supporter of a "self-help group for parent with an ugly baby". And that's mine:

I know it's not an item that is worth the exposition in Tokyo National Museum, but till now I believed that the punch marks (hari-ishime - 針石目) could be compatible with early Heianjō-zōgan style rather than "garage- zōgan".

Anyway, that guy in his garage should have been very active since he must have also produced:

(from ricecracker.com, a reputed dealer)

 

(from Col. Hartley's Collection - http://home.comcast.net/~ColHartley/Vir ... eArmor.htm)

 

(from Aotsu Yasuhisa - Tōsōgu korekushon, p. 24 - http://is2.sss.fukushima-u.ac.jp/fks-db ... index.html).

 

So, if you decide to follow the advice of throwing your tsuba away, please let me know where you put your litter bin.

Bye, Mauro

[chris covington]

Mauro,

 

Wow, thanks for those examples. I guess I shouldn't be too quick to judge my actions as mistakes. My real mistake (although maybe not as big really) was buying from someone who knew nothing about Japanese antiques and provided poor quality images. The price was right so I thought the gamble worth it. Even if the tsuba isn't the prettiest the price was more than right so I couldn't really lose. BTW, I did not listen to the advice to throw it out so don't bother looking through my trash bins unless you want some empty soda bottles and week old leftovers

 

The one piece of advice I did heed though was books. I've realized I am over my head with tsuba. What makes something good and what makes something less good? Clearly even people with a lot of experience that I respect have differing opinions. The only way I will be able to sort this out is with knowledge.

 

Back to my original tsuba in this post... It does look like it was mounted at some point and the kozuka ana was enlarged. Judging from the color of the steel inside the ana it was a long while ago, too. This was the reason I bought it in the first place. I assumed no one would enlarge a hole in the tsuba for something like a kozuka if it were made within the last 100 years (in Japan or Wisconsin ) Even tsuba that are mounted for budo wouldn't do that because I doubt many budo use swords have kozuka or kogai witth them.

 

Anyway, Thank you again for those images. I am now even more curious about my little tsuba.

 

Cheers!

Chris

 

PS the measurements are 6.9cm X 7.0cm X 4mm