Yamamichi Tsuba...with Hosokawa Mon?

[Professor Zhirinovsky]

I'm looking at this simple tsuba I got awhile back (I'm hoping to find a rustic yamamichi Higo-style fuchi-kashira to match, so if anyone has any leads...?). What I first took to be generic cherry blossom stampings; might they actually be the kuyo-mon, the 9 planet symbol (used by Buddhists in general, but also the favored symbol of the Hosokawa)?


 

[Professor Zhirinovsky]

Detail.

These are mountains, yes? The odd indented border outline is kind of throwing me. They almost look like they could be rocks emerging from a tide pool, but for the "mountain path" design on each one. 

 

[Tanto54]

Dear Craig,

 

Instead of mon, I think that the dots (one central dot surrounded by multiple smaller dots) are lichen.  That is how they are generally depicted in Japanese art.  So if they are lichen, then these would be rocks instead of mountains.  The "S" shaped "path" is also a stylistic way of depicting water in a stream in Japanese art, so I think your idea of mossy rocks in a stream is probably correct. 

 

Here are lichen on a tree:

 

[Professor Zhirinovsky]

Ah! Thanks for this George, I think you are correct! Doing a quick image search of Japanese lichens, I find some similar stuff. 

Also, for me this is good news because I'm not big on landscape scenes. Stylized old lichen-covered rocks are way more my speed!