iron dragonfly tsuba

[Itomagoi]

Hello,

 

can someone please give me information (school, age) about this iron dragonfly tsuba?

 

Dimensions: 85.0 x 78.5 x 4.5 mm

 

Thank you very much.
Peter

[ROKUJURO]

I may be completely wrong, but it looks new and not traditionally made to me. Design seems to be etched, not carved. TOMBO are clumsily executed in my eyes.
What are the HITSU-ANA filled with? Is it a different material or a part of the TSUBA plate?

[JohnTo]

Peter

Apart from the dragonfly the rest of the carving and nagako ana look 'soft' and poorly defined.  In addition the copper seki gane are bright and look new.  From the photos, I would guess that it is a modern cast tsuba.  Hopefully I am wrong.

 

Best regards, John 

[Itomagoi]

Hi Jean and John,

thanks for your assessment. Yes, Hitsu-Ana is a different material and is filled with copper. I do not find it easy, because the iron and the patina look old to me. What age do you mean when you talk about "new"?

I have another dragonfly tsuba here. I would also appreciate your opinion on this one. Thank you.

 

Best regards
Peter

[ROKUJURO]

"New" in my opinion means one to five years.

The second TSUBA is difficult to judge without holding it in hand. The steel surface has probably some KIZU (?), and the SEPPA DAI shows no traces of use although the NAKAGO-ANA seems to have been adapted to a blade. Difficult to say!  

[Spartancrest]

Peter

 

Has the guard been cleaned recently? The sekigane look 'fresh' and the 'gold' on the wings look a little wrong - may be the quality of the image but looks more like 'gold paint' rather than applied by heat or percussion. I have not seen ategane [or ume] like this before, strange treatment. The Tonbo (Dragonfly) look like cartoon representations - could be modern anime prop. Could be wrong.

[Itomagoi]

I think the tsuba is older than one to five years. Sounds weird, but the tsuba feels older too :-)

The tsuba was not cleaned. Sekigane is new and was made for the current blade. Yes, it is probably the quality of the photo, but it is not gold lacquer. The sun is simply missing. I took photos with flashlight. Maybe it's better that way. I have also never seen such a representation of the tonbo. Therefore I ask here :-D

 

Thank you.

[Steves87]

Just want to add, that photos can make gold look painted rather than added in the traditional ways

[vajo]

I would not say this tsuba is new. 

 

It looks a little rough but i like it.

 

about the age i would say 19th century.

 

 

 

I changed a little the picture settings.

[Itomagoi]

Hey Chris,
I like the tsuba too and so I wanted to learn more about it. Thank you.