vherridge91 Posted August 2 Report Posted August 2 Good afternoon, My partner purchased this tsuba from a small antique shop in Penzance, Cornwall, UK. We have been trying and trying to figure out the signature on the tsuba. We have been told that the signature is dulled probably due to cleaning of the tsuba. When we were sold it, we were told it's most likely 17th century, however another chap has now told us that it could be late Edo. Any help would be greatly appreciated as it seems that you have some pros on this forum! I have attached a photo for your viewing. Many thanks and kindest regards, Victoria Quote
Rawa Posted August 2 Report Posted August 2 Its casted guys? Edges are smoothed. Same with mei. Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted August 2 Report Posted August 2 Victoria, it may be a cast copy, as Marcin above suggests. It reads 'Soten', a well-known maker of brightly decorated three-dimensional 'sukashi' tsuba. Run a search for 'Soten' on this site; there is plenty of information here. https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/search/?q=Soten&quick=1&type=forums_topic (Don't blame the store, most antique shop owners wouldn't know.) Quote
vherridge91 Posted August 2 Author Report Posted August 2 Thank you for your prompt reply. When you say cast copy, what does this mean exactly? There are nips and chunks out of the edges of the tsuba. Which symbol would depict the date exactly? Also the symbols on the right of the blade groove, does this say soten? Many thanks Quote
Shugyosha Posted August 2 Report Posted August 2 Hi Victoria, Sorry to be blunt, but it means that what your partner purchased isn't an antique but a modern copy so, if he/she paid for an antique tsuba and/ or would prefer to own one, you may wish to try to return it and get your money back. The characters on the right of the blade groove say "Mogarishi" or "Soheishi" which is another way of reading the same characters. If you look at the tsuba at the top of this thread the signature is similar, Soten is the reading of the top two kanji on the left of yours I think, though because of the characters not being carved, they aren't very clear. 1 Quote
ROKUJURO Posted August 2 Report Posted August 2 It is not a good photo to reveal everything. It would be much better to photograph it straight from above, not at an angle, to get every detail in good focus. However, I think all that has been written above is correct. But to make you feel a bit better I can tell you that from 100 random SOTEN signed TSUBA lying on a table in front of you, ALL may be fakes! Authenticated and genuine SOTEN TSUBA are very sought after and fetch high prices on the market. This was even so in the past, which explains why there are so many fakes. They are easy to spot for experts as good iron TSUBA from the SAMURAI era were never cast. Your TSUBA looks quite crude in execution, so that is just the opposite of how good SOTEN TSUBA look like. 1 Quote
Bugyotsuji Posted August 2 Report Posted August 2 What Jean is saying is that a tsuba that has been cold-chiselled by hand will be very crisp in execution, fine, even exquisite. This gives a very different result from when bubbly metal is poured into a mo(u)ld for mass production. 1 Quote
vherridge91 Posted August 2 Author Report Posted August 2 Here are some better photos. There is some damage to it and a chap we spoke to today is pretty certain that it's been covered in rust at some point and cleaned. Many thanks 1 Quote
vherridge91 Posted August 2 Author Report Posted August 2 And yes I can see what you are saying, he actually bought another today that is made under the feif the Mori clan which is much more beautifully crafted. 1 Quote
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