Restoration of a rusty Washida Tsuba

[zanilu]

Greetings to All,

 

Recently, I acquired a rather rusty tsuba as part of a deal for a Washida tsuba with another collector. This piece was thrown into the arrangement by the seller to meet the requested price range. Despite its condition, it showed some promise. The tsuba is signed Kyozan Mitsunaka + (Kao) ({嚮山 光中(花押)}) in kin-zogan. Based on the pictures, it appeared to feature brass hira-zogan of peonies and arabesques. Despite the rust, none of the inlays seemed to be missing - testament to the craftsmanship. The subject and execution also align well with works by Washida Mitsunaka or the Washida school. Seeing its potential, I decided to accept the deal, and both tsuba landed on my desk.

 

 

 

 

Believing the piece was worth restoring, I sent it to Manuel  @C0D for restoration, and I wasn't disappointed. Manuel did an outstanding job removing the rust and re-patinating the brass. If Manuel would like to elaborate on the restoration process, I would welcome it.

 

The gamble paid off, as the final result is quite pleasing. As you can see, the tsuba has been brought back to life:

 

 

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

 

Regards,
Luca

 

P.S. I have to thank Manuel for allowing me to use the pictures he made.

[Jesta]

That is beautiful. Really a worthwhile restoration. Congratulations to you for seeing its potential and to Manuel for the outstanding work. 

[Matsunoki]

That is seriously impressive work. Congrats. 

[Manuel Coden]

Thank you for entrusting me with this restoration, at first it looked quite serious but after removing the oxidation I found that the original patina underneath was pretty much untouched by corrosion, also the zogan was rock solid in position, a testament to the quality of the work from this tsubashi.

So I just had to make a new patina on the brass and stabilize the iron patina.

It was a pleasure bringing back to life this excellent work.

[zanilu]

Superb job, Manuel. This piece has come back to life straight from the junk box.

 

Washida Mitsunaka has produced several tsuba of this kind like 

 

https://www.metmuseu...lection/search/23060

 

 

 

[Scogg]

Really stunning pieces, thank you for sharing! 

I love these before and after threads. They really shows the potential beauty hiding in the rough. 

I'd be proud to have such a tsuba!
Cheers,
-Sam

[zanilu]

Also similar to mine:

 

 

Tsuba with design of peonies and arabesques
Washida Mitsunaka (Japanese, 1830–1889)
School: Shonai School (Japanese)JapaneseEdo period1847
Medium/Technique
Main material: iron; other metals: silver; shakudo plugs; decorative technique: hirazogan
Dimensions
Overall: 8.4 x 8.1 x 0.3 cm (3 5/16 x 3 3/16 x 1/8 in.)
William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Accession Number
11.12197
Signed
Shonai no ju Washida Mitsunaka, with a kao; Koka yon hinoto-hitsuji natsu juhassai saku
庄内住鷲田光中（花押）弘化四丁未夏十八歳作
Provenance
By 1911, purchased by William Sturgis Bigelow (b. 1850 - d. 1926), Boston [see note 1]; 1911, gift of Bigelow to the MFA. (Accession Date: August 3, 1911)

NOTES:
[1] Much of Bigelow's collection of Asian art was formed during his residence in Japan between 1882 and 1889, although he also made acquisitions in Europe and the United States. Bigelow deposited many of these objects at the MFA in 1890 before donating them to the Museum's collection at later dates.

 

https://collections.mfa.org/objects/11916

 

 

 

[Jussi Ekholm]

Thank you for posting this Luca, what a wonderful result. I think it shows your good eye in noticing this being worth of restoration and Manuel doing amazing work with this.

[Gakusee]

On 12/31/2024 at 11:31 AM, C0D said:

Thank you for entrusting me with this restoration, at first it looked quite serious but after removing the oxidation I found that the original patina underneath was pretty much untouched by corrosion, also the zogan was rock solid in position, a testament to the quality of the work from this tsubashi.

So I just had to make a new patina on the brass and stabilize the iron patina.

It was a pleasure bringing back to life this excellent work.

Well done Manuel, very skillful restoration 

[Toryu2020]

Revisiting this thread as I just discovered Washida may be the source of my Tsuba. 

[zanilu]

Hi Thomas.

 

It could definetly be Washida (probaly from the workshop of the 4th generation Mitsunaka) even though they usually come with a silver fukurin in the inome sukashi.

 

Here is one from my collection

 

 

It is identical to two NBTHK papered one that are attributed to Washida and Washida den.

 

It could also be Kaga Yoshiro. The iron looks like typical Washida. If you could zoom on the the arabesque leaves there are some differences on how they are inlayed between Washida and Yoshiro. Take a look at Section A.6 of this pdf file:

 

 

Here is another one from my collection of uncertain attribution for which I am leaning toward Yoshiro rather than Washida due to the inlay used in the leaves.

 

 

I hope it helps 

 

Regards 

Luca

[Curran]

6 hours ago, zanilu said:

Hi Thomas.

 

It could definetly be Washida (probaly from the workshop of the 4th generation Mitsunaka) even though they usually come with a silver fukurin in the inome sukashi.

 

Here is one from my collection

 

 

It is identical to two NBTHK papered one that are attributed to Washida and Washida den.

 

It could also be Kaga Yoshiro. The iron looks like typical Washida. If you could zoom on the the arabesque leaves there are some differences on how they are inlayed between Washida and Yoshiro. Take a look at Section A.6 of this pdf file:

 

 

Here is another one from my collection of uncertain attribution for which I am leaning toward Yoshiro rather than Washida due to the inlay used in the leaves.

 

 

I hope it helps 

 

Regards 

Luca

 

After all these years, I'm still learning.

Luca:  Incredible restoration by Manuel.

 

I would have thought the tsuba was beyond saving.

[zanilu]

14 hours ago, Curran said:

I would have thought the tsuba was beyond saving.

That was my first thought too when I saw the pictures on Buyee.

But looking at the signature I have seen it was signed Kyozan Mistunaka [Kao] in kinzogan. Mitsunaka is one of my favorite artist. Washida Mistunaka tsuba are rarely seen on the market signed and with peonies and karakusa decoration.

 

Usually Mitsunaka (signed or from his workshop) are usually characterized by very high quality iron and the kin zogan is usually also of high quality rarely missing some pieces. 

 

From the pictures, except for the rust that looked superficial, the iron looked in good shape and the kin zogan didn't  show any missing pieces. Thus I decided to take the risk.

In the end I was just lucky. As I was lucky to find Manuel that made such a wonderful restoration work.

 

Regards

Luca

[Toryu2020]

Luca

thank you for the great article! Looking at my Tsuba it seems clear it is Kaga Yoshiro. You can see the telltale lines in person and you can almost see them in my photos…