What do you make of it?

[zanilu]

Dear all

 

A few days ago I have seen this tsuba for sale on Yahoo Japan.

I do not know exactly what to think about it. An old utilitarian tsuba, maybe tosho but without sukashi? A modern made piece?

It is fairly large 99.8 mm x 97.8 mm, thickness 2.0-2.3 mm.

 

Your opinion is welcome.

 

Regards

Luca

[Infinite_Wisdumb]

i think it is too thin.  Perhaps it is one of these?

 

[zanilu]

Jesse thickness is 2.3 mm.

 

I updated the original post.

 

Regards

Luca

[Spartancrest]

Thickness sounds about right for that style of guard. What worries me is these large tosho or katchushi  guards turn up week after week and when you check the sellers other items there is usually a string of others - Why?  Either the seller has a 'huge' collection he is selling off or he has an endless supply of modern made replicas. It is a gamble but if the price is right maybe the gamble will pay off?   https://www.jauce.com/user/dj2hmyuc

[Bugyotsuji]

In the photos Luca, it looks bowl-shaped (椀形 wangata) but it is hard to judge the smoothness/consistency of the bowl curve and mimi rim.

[zanilu]

You can be right Dale

I was just curious. Also the other items on sale have the same iron color. Maybe it is only the lightning that the seller used for taking the pictures but who knows.

 

Luca

[Bugyotsuji]

Can you post the seller’s description? (In Japanese ok)

[zanilu]

Here it is Piers

 

Luca

 

■刀装具  鉄地 お椀形（西洋剣形）変わり形大鍔 

 

It may be the shape that I underwent influence in a hilt of a saber.

大きさ

              縦 約99.8ミリ

              横 約97.8ミリ

厚さ               約2.０〜 2.3ミリ         重さ                   約 １２６g

お取引に関して

[Spartancrest]

Jesse, I like the Japanese flavors the best!

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Ah, thanks, Luca.

It says: Tōsōgu, iron base/ground, wangata (western sword style guard) kawarigata (unusual shape) large Tsuba.

 

Then sizes, thickness and weight.

[Infinite_Wisdumb]

hilarious @Spartancrest

[rkg]

Modern.

Best,

rkg

(Richard George)

 

[GRC]

I've been looking at the posts from this particular seller, and I've come to the conclusion that either he or a friend of his is making these one-off utsushi tsuba that are always reminiscent of the older pre-Edo period Tosho and Katchushi style tsuba.

 

They are definitely done by hand, and some of them show evidence of having been folded rather than being cut out from a sheet of mono-steel.

 

They all have the same colour and lack of rust, and he almost always uses that same piece of fabric as his backdrop.

 

So if you want to buy a newly made, yet hand hammered and chiseled utsushi, keep that in mind when you place your bid. 

He can make some really nice looking tsuba. 

[Brian]

He's probably cutting the steel from something antique that he has access to. Then hammering and shaping. Maybe.
Maybe he's cutting up old armour.

[GRC]

he's just started playing around with amida-yasuri lines, so he's evolving in what he's producing:

and a katchushi style with sun and moon sukashi motifs... he seems to be in his "geometric sukashi" phase at the moment  

 

 

[GRC]

at least this guy is actually making his own pieces, and he's not doing what mwmwcrown is doing:

buying up old rusted tsuba, hand sanding them down, then repatinating them to make them appear like they have the "melted", glossy yakite surface treatment from the Momoyama period. I say "melted" in this case because he's not using any heat, just extensive sanding by hand which is creating the fluid-looking curves and indents.   

 

He's making a killing though... comparing what he's originally paying to what he ends up selling them for (because of unwitting buyers).

I tried bidding on some his offerings (before I knew better) and "luckily" I got outbid by multiple other bidders who way overpaid (sadly) for what they got. 

 

He always posts a batch of 4-6, then disappears for a while, then shows up again with a new batch of heavily "resurfaced" old pieces.

 

It makes me laugh when I see his handle on Buyee, now that they hide every second letter of the seller's name for some reason, so it shows up as:

"m*m*c*o*n" 

oh the irony...  

[ROKUJURO]

If you look closely at these newly made items, you will find that the maker only has a very rough idea about what a TSUBA is or could be. They are clumsily made, and I suspect that he is a guy who can use a forge and a hammer, but does not have access to genuine old TSUBA for comparison or study.

[Spartancrest]

 Basic materials they are made from - it is called recycling!