Same School Or Not So Much?

[lotus]

Attached are 3 similarly designed Tsubas (1, 2, and 3). Would you say they are from the same school? The middle one does have a small amount of inlay...

[John A Stuart]

All I can say is the yakite on the left tsuba directs me to a school, the others copies thereof, and it is appealing to me more than the other two. John

[FlorianB]

Claiming those Tsuba came from the same school would be mere speculation.

Although they look similar you can’t deduce the origin from the appearance alone.

A design was often copied by Tsubako of different schools. That’s why we find a certain motif on so many Tsuba. Some simply copied, others varied the motif.

By the way, to copy was not bad or illegal (in the current sense of plagiarism) but showed the skills of an individual smith.

Certainly, sometimes a copy was just a copy to accomodate demand...

Yours,
Florian

[vajo]

The first one is a beauty.

[lotus]

I agree that the 1st one is a beauty and attributed to Ko-Shoami (even though the URL says Myochin) :

 

http://www.shibuiswords.com/EDLmyochin.html

 

As is the 3rd one (Ko-Shoami) :

 

http://www.shibuiswords.com/EDLko-shoami.html

 

The 2nd one I just saw listed on flea bay and it struck me as similar (size and motif though differing in metal quality, perhaps?)

[FlorianB]

Number 1 (Number One indeed!) proves the aesthetic sense and an eye for proportions of this anonymous Tsubako.

Number 2 COULD BE Ko-Shoami, too, (although I stick to what I said above) probably a later copy of this design in variation with gilded bamboo (or reed) leaves. Alas, the picture alone isn’t good enough to estimate the quality.

 

Florian