Cast copper tsuba?

[Hector]

Just came across this copper(?) tsuba online and, while I like the 'old wood grain' design, something seems off.

In particular, I can see what appears to be a casting defect on the seppa-dai and possibly lines of air bubbles on the inner surface of the mimi.

 

All opinions appreciated.

 

Best,

Hector

[Curran]

It looks like a nice modern made tsuba to me.

Not cast, but some of the working makes it look more like a modern utsushi to me.

 

Fine for what it is, depending upon your pricepoint to satisfaction ratio.

That is just my opinion. I have been fooled once or twice before and given the item to Goodwill thereafter.

[Michael 101]

Hi Hector,

 

i agree something doesn’t look quite right about this tsuba.

 

To me it looks a little stiff and potentially modern. Note the punch marks around the nakago ana which suggest its been adjusted to fit a sword, however there are no signs of any wear in the seppa dai area which you would expect to be visible on a soft metal tsuba.
 

The design of the two parallel lines is the mon used by the Hozokawa family but this tsuba doesn’t look like any Higo school tsuba that I have seen before.

 

let see if anyone else feels the same or can add more detail.

 

kindest regards

 

Michael 

 

 

[Curran]

It seems Michael and I both commented at the same moment, from the 2 sides of the Atlantic.

[Hector]

@Curran and @Michael 101, thank you both for your insights - they're much appreciated!

 

Another point which seemed suspicious to me was that the lines in the design - which you would expect to be chiselled - seem to lack any evidence of chisel marks in close up.

 

Even a brass kiseru (pipe) I own with an engraving of a tiger in long grass shows clear chisel marks as shown below.

[Jake6500]

Definitely modern imo. Aside from all the other points made already, the seppa shape also seems unusually asymmetric if you focus on the right side...

Though that might just be the angle of the photo messing with my head.

[ROKUJURO]

Copper (or brass) TSUBA are always made from a pre-cast blank, even when they are hand-finished afterwards. The above one certainly looks like an amateur attempt.

With modern casting trechnology, making soft-metal TSUBA in a one-step process is possible in a die mold.