Mino tsuba on ebay

[Mantis dude]

Hi all,

 

I have been trying to catch up on some of the board posts and I recall reading about ko- mino nanako being circular rather than up/down. Does this apply to Edo work? I saw this tsuba which looks like the nanako is up down (I have no affiliation to this seller or piece). http://www.ebay.com/itm/a061-Edo-Japane ... 258bc8f28a

I guess 1. am I correctly seeing the direction of the nanako 2. does the nanako pattern make a difference in later works?

Thanks.

[Soshin]

Hi Ken W. ,

 

Your talking about my tsuba that I posted after the Tampa show. The tsuba you linked to is top to bottom as it is on my tsuba. Most Mino tsuba have nanako running in a circular pattern up to and including the Edo Period. I am not a Kinko person but I like my tsuba and it shows good quaily workmenship and age so I will keep it. :D

[Mantis dude]

For a culture that can be so regimented and so many rules apply there seems to be one that almost always does and one that any collector needs to learn..... There is an exception to every rule or its true until it isn't. Then again in my mind it isn't Mino unless it has a praying mantis or insect. Ok and maybe deer but I think that is a warped personal bias.

 

Those ancient bastard smiths make this hard- do they know what they are doing to us collectors hundreds of years later? (I say that with all the respect in the world)

[Soshin]

Hi Ken W.,

 

I had different people offer different opinions on my tsuba a the Tampa show. Some people said Ko-Kinko and some said Ko-Mino while others said it was of the "I like that" group. The tsuba shows a fair bit of wear on the nanako-ji and the kozuka hitsu-ana is not original which makes me think it has some age and character to it. :lol:

[Mantis dude]

obviously fake cast piece made by Mongolian shoami school.

 

Not to state the obvious but I am sure that is one of those tsuba that requires handling 100's and 100's of that type.

 

Either way, the one thing I know is every time I hold old shakudo, it just elicits some sort of special feeling. Who ever made it, enjoy!!! and thanks for sharing.

[Soshin]

obviously fake cast piece made by Mongolian shoami school.

 

Hi Ken W.,

 

I like your reasoning but my current working theory is evil graden gnomes of the Ironbrush clan in Cape Town, South Aferica made it.

[b.hennick]

When Andy owned it he wrote:

Ko Mino - Momoyama - Muromachi Jidai

 

K0006

 

SOLD

 

An oval rimmed shakudo Ko Mino tsuba with gold and shakudo flowers and foliage. 6.53 cm x 6.05 cm x 0.39 cm (2.5708" x 2.3818"). Wonderful condition. Textbook example. In a custom made, fitted box.

[Soshin]

Hi Barry,

 

Putting all of the jokes aside. That was Skip's impression on the tsuba as well when I was making the trade for it at the Tampa show. Currently I have Ko-Kinko on my website but I really don't know. It takes seeing many of these type of tsuba in hand to make accurate judgments and my collection focus is not Ko-Kinko or Ko-Mino tsuba. My focus is the tsuba of Owari and Higo Provinces. Regardless it is nice tsuba and I also like the example Ken W. linked to start this topic off which does display similar nanako-ji running from top to bottom. The NBTHK Tokubetsu Kicho paper says "Mumei (Mino)".

 

P.S. Even with it not being the focus of my collection it made the #1 spot on my top ten tsuba album on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3142478739312.108270.1785290453&type=1&l=cce609bb7c