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Fuji-san silhouette?


Spartancrest

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I have had a strange shaped guard for some time, jagged top and bottom in a repeated pattern. I later noticed a guard from the Sir Arthur H Church collection that had the same pattern with a protective ring over the edges. Today yet another with the same features has appeared for auction. Three very different guards but the same silhouette 'mountains'? I checked the Church example and found it is the exact size match for my guard? Different styles using the same design book perhaps?

 

 

 

 

 

 

mountain silhouette.jpg

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Not shure if the same pattern is represented in the 2 Kanayama tsuba here below. Anyway the interpretation is far from staightforward, since the same pattern is described either as 桐紋 (kiri-mon - paulownia) or 杉 (sugi - Japanese cedar).

 

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05710a.thumb.jpg.293d6dd47e1eb7d4b7986ac2257e05fe.jpg

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Mauro - you may be right about the similarity, there is one just listed almost the same as the ones you posted. https://www.jauce.com/auction/r477171399

the side design is lower than the ones above so it is a step further to have them even lower still, like the original post. I notice the small kogai -hitsu-ana is like your first image.

Evolution of a design.

image.png.09557872556a7559d320825ceab3be0c.png

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Jean 

All things are possible, if it did have a ring or even a fukurin there is no evidence left, the sides are all the same patina and no file marks or chisel cuts. It's size is not small really 87.4 mm x 64.3 mm and 4 mm thick. I was interested in what the jagged profile represents - the 'shoami' example does fit with a mountain theme rather than kiri-mon but why would it be symmetrical ?  All the other examples apart from the first post are not symmetrical top to bottom.

image.thumb.png.e1b94e549d9f065fef604e6069411b8a.png

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Dale,

without a related scale, I would not have guessed your TSUBA to be that large! Then it was probably made that way! But with its pointed protrusions it is at least unusual, I think.

The design looks like a mountain range to my eyes.

 

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Barry you may be right - except no one seems to know what the view is - locally famous? 'Three Sisters' comes to mind, famous in NSW but not so much elsewhere.  I am intrigued by my guard and others that I own, the sharp edges are not ideal for traditional Japanese clothing  [ yes I know the tsuka was positioned out from the body but they must have caught on things occasionally ]

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