Jakushi Ichizan (?) iron tsuba

[Matsunoki]

Hello from a miraculously sunny UK, hope around the globe you are all good.

Ventured onto eBay again and this one appealed to me. I’d like your opinions please as I’m still very new to the “dark side”. It seemed to exude age and the dragon and especially the windswept bamboo looked aesthetically pleasing imo. I think it’s a bit worn. There are traces of fine gold nunome dot clouds around the rim. Maybe there was once more nunome within the main designs?

 

It was described as signed Jakushi Ichizan ……can anyone date it from that? I’ve had a root around and it does look in the style of other Jakushi tsuba.
Is there a link of any sort to this school anywhere?

How would you rate the condition?

8cm x 7.6cm

All comments always most appreciated. Thanks for looking.

All the best. Colin

[Brian]

Tsuba doesn't look cast to me, but then I look at that mei and I think "this isn't sharply cut, waaay too rounded and looks cast into the tsuba"
So I dunno. That alone would give me pause. I guess it would be good to confirm the kozuka/kogai ana are filled with a different metal, and not cast with the tsuba.

[ROKUJURO]

Looks like a cast JAKUSHI (not Jukashi) to me. As Brian wrote, the signature of authentic ones look very different.

[Matsunoki]

Hi Brian

The ana are definitely a different metal……almost certainly shakudo….slight copper colour showing.

 

Jean….
Sorry for getting name letters mixed up! I do that sometimes. Embarrassing.

 

There was once a lot of nunome around the rim…..you can just see the remains in this image.

 

Its been on a sword at some point

 

In hand  it looks more heavily worn that cast …….but that is not based on any actual knowledge!

 

Interesting……

 

 

 

[Matsunoki]

Also just noticed the stippled finish on the Kogai ana has been worn away. Not sure if that tells us much?

[rematron]

Ironically, this doesn’t look cast to me. The newbie. And, I'm a little surprised that word is getting tossed in here so quickly by you guys specifically.  So being the newbie with a differing opinion than the more experienced means I’m likely to be wrong and learn something, which is a good thing in the end. I know I have a lot less experience but to me the mei is one of the only details that looks like it could have been mold formed instead of carved. However, the mei could have lost what crispness it had with erosion if moisture were trapped on the seppa dai underneath the seppa. The tsuba in general does look like it has some damage from moisture and exposure and age. But the plate looks hammered to me.  The bamboo has a lot of crisp detail and so does the dragon for that matter.    
 

Should @Ford Hallam get called in like he has in the past?

 

I’m fully prepared to be put in my place. 

[Matsunoki]

Memories of the wasp tsuba I listed which sparked the “cast debate” suddenly loom large in my mind!  Oh no not again🙂🙂

Fwiw I’d bet a lot that this isn’t cast, just very heavily worn. The seppadai has a noticeable halo of wear around it….imo

 

Would any other images help?

 

[ROKUJURO]

Colin,

when I wrote 'looks like cast' I refer to the pictures and the details visible therein. It is never a final judgement. The inlaid eyes and gold NUNOME might be taken as hints that it is not cast, the MEI on the other hand has suffered - possibly from corrosion, but could be interpreted otherwise as well.

[GRC]

Looks legit to me Colin 

It's an excellent example of their work. I was tempted to buy it myself, and I kept the images from when it was available:

The Jakushi or "Wakashiba" group are known for using acid etching to give some of their designs a more weathered,  wispy, "painted with ink" look. That is especially true of the wind blown bamboo (which is a motif taken from a "suiboku Zenga" (Zen ink-painting) of windblown bamboo by Kumashiro Yuhi in the 1700s). 

The acid etching also frequently ends up revealing some of the folds in the layered steel near the mimi in certain locations. I think I can see those along the lower left and upper right sides on the ura side with the bamboo.

 

Here's one of their etched ones. The squirrel with grape vines is a common motif, but very rare for these smiths. Note the mokume layers revealed at the bottom of the ura side:

 

In my experience the etched ones are usually associated with the "Wakashiba" group of smiths. They often get lumped together with the Jakushi group.

Although they have a lot of similarities, I think there's an aesthetic difference between the two... at least that has been my experience with the labels "Jakushi" and "Wakashiba".

Unfortunately, I don't know what the actual relationship between the two groups is though... same group or splinter groups working in different locations?

 

Try searching for "Wakishiba bamboo tsuba".

 

It's actually fairly rare to have a dragon on one side and bamboo on the other. 

They are usually bamboo on both sides.

Here's some more:

The daisho pair above was also acid etched to enhance that "windblown" look.

 

Congrats Colin, it's a great tsuba.  

 

[Larason2]

I agree there's no evidence that it was cast, and lots of evidence of good quality work. Gold inlay, gold nunome rim, kozuka/kogai filled with a metal with different texture and colour, fine carving, especially on the dragon and the bamboo. The mei looks eroded, not poorly chiseled. The surface of the tsuba in general looks weathered in a way that's typical for wrought. The copper inserts in the nakago-ana also look authentic, and their texture and colour is different. The rim looks authentically hammered.

[Spartancrest]

10 hours ago, Matsunoki said:

just noticed the stippled finish on the Kogai ana has been worn away.

I see this as a compression of the seppa onto the ategane or even damage from constant in and out of the sword from the saya. No big deal with a soft metal ategane, it shows up from time to time. Any idea what the metal is? It looks like lead or a silver alloy?

[Matsunoki]

2 hours ago, Spartancrest said:

It looks like lead or a silver alloy?

Hi Dale, it’s almost certainly shakudo….there is a definite copper tone showing which the images haven’t picked up.

 

@GRC…Glen, thank you so much for a brilliant reply. Greatly appreciate the time you spent on it…..extremely helpful (and reassuring). Their technique of ageing is certainly effective…it was the first thing that struck me….the appearance of great age coupled with the aesthetic feeling that it creates……all on a piece of hammered iron. Pretty clever.

@Larason2 …Carlos, thank you also for your observations

@rematron….🙂

 

Thanks to all. It made me look a bit harder at it!

All the best. Colin

[Brian]

Acid etching the surface would have worn away the sharp edges of the mei, giving it that soft cast-look we referred to. I wonder if any acid work was done after it was signed by this group?
Interesting.

[Stephen]

Colin Colin Colin give me the itch to chase dragons again.

Lovely tsuba mate. I must have been at least 10 years into NMB before i started reading tosogu forum.

No worries on the word that starts with J and ends with I,

Ask Jean how many times he had to straighten me out, always wanted to say well that's how we say it in France and I realized how daff that would have been.😉

Glenn great great write up it should be archived. Really want to chase down one with the bamboo so cool but I'm afraid my pockets aren't deep enough.

 

Jeremy I think you've developed a pretty Keen eye coming along well.

All in all great tsuba turning a bit green i am.

[Stephen]

PS Brian

Had to get on LT to see detail of mei. Really need to do more often. Its a whole different NMB, thanks is not enough for all you do for us members.

[Matsunoki]

1 hour ago, Stephen said:

Colin Colin Colin give me the itch to chase dragons again.

Stephen…..I bet you’ve never really stopped chasing em have you? You might not catch every one but then again, who does?

”Chasing Dragons” is a good description of my life. There is no cure.

All the best mate.

Colin

[GRC]

I just got a really helpful message from RKG (Richard George) on the usage of "Jakushi" vs "Wakashiba".

 

Turns out that Wakashiba is just a variant in pronunciation of the same kanji that can also be read as Jakushi.

Jakushi is the correct pronunciation. 

Thanks for that Richard!

 

[Ale8one]

 

“Looks legit to me Colin 

It's an excellent example of their work. I was tempted to buy it myself, and I kept the images from when it was available”. 
 

@GRC 

 

I felt same GRC I actually found my way to the site chasing down the images again and just joined the site tonight and wanted to say thanks to Colin and you for posting all the images. Thanks to all posting I found the thread very interesting.

 

Looking forward to learning more about tsuba art and just being amazed.

[Kanenaga]

The signature is still a bit problematic, but I must say I quite like this tsuba. It has a "presence" like some Kaneie tsuba.