Promo Posted October 12, 2019 Report Posted October 12, 2019 Visited a friend who is a retired gunsmith today and was surprised to see he has had two Tsubas of which he said he has had them for a very long time. He borrowed them to me for taking pictures and trying to find out a bit more on them. Can you tell me which period they are from and maybe what the inscription on them reads? I also had wondered what that one guy is pulling on the second Tsuba, if anyone can recognize it? Thanks in advance! 2 Quote
Stephen Posted October 12, 2019 Report Posted October 12, 2019 Georg Im not sure what hes pulling..at first i thought a bag of loot...now i see coral. This should have been posted in tosogu for type of tsuba school. Also post in translation section for the signature. Quote
PietroParis Posted October 12, 2019 Report Posted October 12, 2019 On page 184 of this PDF on the MFA collection I found a tsuba with a similar (but "flipped", and more detailed) elephant motif. The description reads: " 323. White elephant with treasure ball on its back: iron, gold and silver inlay. Signed by Yasuchika. First half of the eighteenth century. Bigelow Collection. The elephant is not native to Japan, and early representations of it are far from accurate. About 1729 one was sent from Siam as a present to the Shogun, and it seems likely that this animal furnished Yasuchika with a model for the present design. " I hope it helps! Cheers, Pietro P.S. better check this link from the online database of the MFA... 1 Quote
vajo Posted October 12, 2019 Report Posted October 12, 2019 Haha Pietro i didn't see the elephant. Now i see it 1 Quote
Stephen Posted October 12, 2019 Report Posted October 12, 2019 So the other tsuba ..whats he pulling? Quote
Geraint Posted October 12, 2019 Report Posted October 12, 2019 Hi all. This motif is usually described as a south sea islander hauling a branch of coral. All the best. 2 Quote
Ken-Hawaii Posted October 13, 2019 Report Posted October 13, 2019 Why a south sea islander, Geraint? Was there much contact, back when Japan was so closed? Quote
PietroParis Posted October 13, 2019 Report Posted October 13, 2019 South-sea islander with coral was also a common netsuke motif. Cheers, Pietro Quote
Promo Posted October 14, 2019 Author Report Posted October 14, 2019 First of all, sorry for having posted it in the wrong section! I was not aware of the meaning of Tosogu, hence the wrong selection. Thanks to whoever moved it to the right section (took me some time to find my own thread..). I fully agree on the elephant being partially hidden. Took me some time to see him myself. Odd when looking at how perfectly well made and correctly done all other shown items are, whereas the elephant is misproportioned and incorrectly looking. Re the translation: can I really post the pictures in the translation section again? Quote
Stephen Posted October 14, 2019 Report Posted October 14, 2019 Yes no problem Remember edge up to read the mei Quote
PietroParis Posted November 4, 2019 Report Posted November 4, 2019 For the record, a tsuba with the same elephant motif as the one of MFA will be on sale at Zacke at the end of the month. Cheers, Pietro Quote
Promo Posted November 5, 2019 Author Report Posted November 5, 2019 Thanks! And funny detail, both are in Austria! Quote
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