can anyone throw more light on this fine tsuba please

[loiner1965]

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4001

please refer to above link for pictures and brief description......thank you

[pcfarrar]

There's nothing else to say. Like Steve said its probably Aizu Shoami 19th century. Not a tsuba to get excited over.

[loiner1965]

cheers peter.....second opinions always welcomed. was not concerned over monetary value but the school and time period......thank you

[pcfarrar]

All you could really do is send it to Aoi Art and get them to submit it for NBTHK papers. You might not get back much more info than has already been said.

[loiner1965]

All you could really do is send it to Aoi Art and get them to submit it for NBTHK papers. You might not get back much more info than has already been said.

was going to do this a couple of years ago but the agent in Japan let me down and i am not sure how to do it myself and the cost involved

[pcfarrar]

Use Bob Benson:

 

http://www.bushidojapaneseswords.com/

[Brian]

I actually think this is quite a nice tsuba. Better than usual shoami imho.

The one pics is quite blurred, but the other shows some good detail on the goose and elsewhere. Not saying it is a masterpiece, but I do think this is a good piece, maybe late Edo that is worth having looked at.

 

Brian

[loiner1965]

I actually think this is quite a nice tsuba. Better than usual shoami imho.

The one pics is quite blurred, but the other shows some good detail on the goose and elsewhere. Not saying it is a masterpiece, but I do think this is a good piece, maybe late Edo that is worth having looked at.

 

Brian

sorry for the pics but steve said the ji was top quality, the note that i have that came with it says it was a gift from Japanese officials over here in the uk in the 1920s on goverment buisiness dealing with child reform laws etc.....it has never been mounted but they said it was from a sword of a great warrior . the note is obviously old and the ink is faded so it was written around that period.......it been kept in a loft for years then in a display cabinet until i brought it... the pics do not do it justice to be fair

[John A Stuart]

I agree with the aizu shoami designation. Plate, sharpness of the ana and other little intangibles point to late Edojidai. I put little faith in the note. people tend to embellish esp. with the romance of old items. In the Edojidai who would be considered as a great warrior, it was a period of peace, more or less. There were great men, but, no warfare per say. Still, it is a representative piece although not in the realm of masterwork. John

[loiner1965]

cheers for all replies....although faded i shall try and write what it says......

in 1920 the Japanese goverment needed to make laws for the poor law.

and penal system and sent two representatives to study the laws in germany,france and britain amongst other places they visited herts reformatory where the rev a w duke was chaplain.

and on leaving they presented to him this bronze casting...they said it was part of an ancient sword of a Japanese warrior...

 

 

sorry for implying it was from a great warrior as i not read the note in years and just wrote from memory

[John A Stuart]

Not niggling you on that, but, you know how things are romanticised. The provenence seems likely. One thing though. Bronze, surely iron plate, yes? John

[loiner1965]

yes its iron as its magnetic.....its jut got a dark brown patina to it so to the untrained i suppose they would say bronze.........i remember steve smith or ian bottomley told me that it is iron. you chaps on here are so knowledgeble on these matters that i feel so uneducated in this hobby

[Bungo]

As Brian the Humorless said..........there's details in the goose.

An above average tsuba, personally I would keep it as a foundation for your budding tsuba collection.

p.s. I also notice " better " tsuba has details on BOTH side, check it out............most average tsuba won't bother with details on the flip side ( except sukashi tsuba, but that's obvious ).

 

 

milt

[John A Stuart]

I've noticed that with aizu shoami in particular. There is more work on the omote side with a smaller work in the left bottom area on the ura side. Others did this, but, with these tsuba it seems formulaic. john