Please help identify decorative element

[johnnyi]

I'm having a time trying to identify this decoration on kagami-shi tsuba.  The circle is confounding me.  Could this be Shinto or Buddhist rope, and something else combined? I thought squirrel at first, but they don't have donut bodies. Any ideas please?       Thanks,  John I

[Spartancrest]

A kagamishi guard here very much like yours -  This one has wasps, some of which are hard to make out. https://tsubakansho.com/tag/cast/

You may be on the right track with squirrels but that hole in the middle is odd. The animal(?) may even be related to this thread.

 

 

[johnnyi]

Thanks Dale. I had completely forgotten about the wonderful  "Tsuba Kansho" by Jim Gilbert. Thank you!   Still at a loss to what the image is though. The circle confounds most of my guesses.     

 

 

 

 Best,  John I

[Toryu2020]

I think you are looking at plum or some other flower, perhaps there were other elements that have since been lost or rubbed off?

-t

[johnnyi]

Thanks Thomas. Trouble with worn theory is that element is identical in all four impressions. It is a toughy for sure, and probably something so obvious that we can't see it.

[Toryu2020]

So one of the best resources for identifying flowers on tsuba is the CHURCH catalogue - I would peruse that and you will see lots of plum with similar buds and leaves, I think thats what we are seeing...

-t

[johnnyi]

Here's the face. The insect and plum (?) blossom lend some weight to your idea of a fruit on the verso, but why the hole/doughnut shape on a fruit? It wouldn't be settling of the casting, because it seems consistent  on all four, right?    

[Spartancrest]

Thomas which CHURCH catalogue do you refer to? I take it you mean A. H. Church but which particular publication?

[johnnyi]

Fruit or blossom on a branch does seem to be what it is. (Thanks again Thomas and Dale).