Tsuba casting molds ?

[Brian]

Tom,
You don't think they did that deliberately to simulate the cast look of the original kettles? May be a clever finishing technique

[vajo]

I think some are now at the point where they are suffering from PTSD due to iron cast Tsuba. 

Edo period Tetsubin 

 

Edited March 1 by vajo

[Toryu2020]

Interesting point Brian, agreed Vajo I understood posting this might cause some pain…

[Dan tsuba]

So, it seems that there has been a discussion on a thread about a tsuba that seems to actually be made from cast iron.

 

It also seems to have faked some people out in that they stated it was made in the Edo period.  And they had the same view of the mimi of that tsuba that I did when I determined that it was made from cast iron (refer to the thread below).

 

Granted, without the tsuba in hand it is a difficult thing to figure out.

 

But oftentimes, pictures are all we have to go by before purchasing a tsuba.

 

I refer you to this thread on this forum-

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/56144-help-with-identification-period-of-this-tsuba/

 

Then there are the pictures shown below of a tsuba and then its identical twin that is made from cast iron and is broken.

 

Remember, that master craftsman in Japan have been making beautiful and intricate cast iron tea kettles since about the early 1600’s.

 

It is just as possible that those craftsmen could have been making beautiful and intricate cast iron tsuba in that same time period.

 

 

 

 

[Spartancrest]

That design has many examples. 

[ROKUJURO]

Dale,

do you believe the broken TSUBA above was cast? 

I am not sure. Cast TSUBA break easily, but not all broken TSUBA are cast.

[Spartancrest]

29 minutes ago, ROKUJURO said:

not all broken TSUBA are cast.

True! There are plenty of hand forged guards that are broken but this particular pattern are ALL cast except the two slightly different designs on the top left. I have one of them myself, mine so far the only one signed [gimei] - a total so far of 20 of the one pattern and they are not utsushi.

[Dan tsuba]

So, I was doing research on the forum about cast iron tsuba stuff and ran into this interesting thread started in 2023-

 

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/43762-iron-%E2%80%9Chorse%E2%80%9D-tsuba-all-opinions-welcome/

 

It discusses the iron horse themed tsuba and how many of them seem to be made from cast iron and some have been described in that thread as being made in the Edo period or the 18^th century

 

I have included 2 pictures below of one of the iron horse themed tsuba that I recently saw on a selling site.

 

It is made from cast iron and is broken.

 

I mean; it is just really difficult to determine if a tsuba is cast iron or hand forged (unless like in my picture shown it has been broken - then it is definitely cast iron as can be determined by the way it is broken).  No one is going to spend the money for non-invasive metallurgical testing (as I have discussed throughout this thread) before buying a tsuba to determine if it is made from cast iron or is hand forged.

 

As far as the age of a tsuba, that is also difficult to determine if it was made in the Edo period or not.  I mean even with a mei of a craftsman in the Edo period on the tsuba, it could be gimei.

 

So, once again, were cast iron tsuba made in the Edo period?

 

My personal opinion is yes, they were!