And Now for Something Completely Different

[Spartancrest]

    I have seen antler, bone, horn and ivory tsuba but this is the first Narwhal tusk tsuba I have ever seen.

 

  64 mm x 40 mm x 6.3 mm  it isn't a very large guard taken as a cross section. All Narwal tusks are rather slim.

 

https://www.jauce.com/auction/n1148353109   I suppose you could get a lot cut from the one tusk but where will you ever see one again? Has anyone ever seen another?

[Matsunoki]

Nope, never……but that does not look like Japanese workmanship to me. Nakago ana.???

[Jake6500]

This is bizarre. I remember reading that the Greenland Vikings were big on the narwhal tusk trade and would sell them in the Mediterranean.

 

Apparently people believed the tusks had medicinal properties or that they were "unicorn horns".

 

Not saying there's any connection here, just an interesting side point. 

[Spartancrest]

34 minutes ago, Jake6500 said:

that they were "unicorn horns".

That is like the Japanese description "unicorn whale" - Magical animal, maybe some of the magic rubs off on the owner?? [Not so lucky for the whale!]

41 minutes ago, Matsunoki said:

does not look like Japanese workmanship to me. Nakago ana.???

 Yes pretty rough work, I see similar on some deer antler ones as the core is often very spongy and I presume soft [shouldn't that make it easier to cut straight?] You might notice my 'avatar' is a reinforced antler guard - what is under the silver plate I don't know. I will add this new find to the ones I already have - an odd bunch, I think they are more likely found on country folk weapons or for village elder's rather than samurai? 

 

Just had a thought could it be Ainu work?

Edited August 12, 2024 by Spartancrest
Just a late thought

[Bugyotsuji]

It’s walrus ivory btw.

 

From the International Netsuké Society site

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Here is a narwhal Netsuké for comparison:

 

 

[Jake6500]

9 minutes ago, Bugyotsuji said:

It’s walrus ivory btw.

 

From the International Netsuké Society site

 

 

Looking further into it the anatomy of the two appears to be similar but the thickness of the inner dentine layer and general shape does some to indicate Walrus tusk.

 

Would this presumably mean that we could expect the tsuba to come from Hokkaido or Sakhalin, based on the natural habitats of these animals?

[Spartancrest]

6 minutes ago, Bugyotsuji said:

It’s walrus ivory btw.

See you should never believe the advertising!    Makes a lot more sense with the oval profile.

[Bugyotsuji]

Something we have often discussed in the Netsuke world. The large central secondary dentine section of walrus has this 'crushed ice' look, often recognizable, but disguised in some way by artisans working with walrus Netsuke. 

Examples available! 

[Tensho]

As was said, walrus ivory that has been filed in a scalloped shape. 

 

Here's 2 tusk pieces of Narwhal

[Bugyotsuji]

Of course other marine ivories were often carved to look like narwhal as it was considered a valuable material.

 

Here is a walrus ivory Netsuké.

 

And the ‘crushed ice’ secret is in the design!

 

[Bugyotsuji]

I can imagine the OP’s funky tsuba used on a funky ivory-like Tantō koshirae.
Whether for the tourist trade, or as a practical Ainu tool I would not know. And whether that slice of tusk was made into a tsuba immediately, or repurposed at a much later date, I would hesitate to judge.

[Lewis B]

Interesting that the fissures were drilled to prevent them extending further into the material.

 

I sincerely hope noone thought to make oosik tsuba.

[Spartancrest]

14 hours ago, Lewis B said:

oosik

I guess that where the word "boner" came from