Just purchased a group of Tsuba for a song, wondering if anyone can tell me anything about them

[TheWanderingB]

I just purchased a group of six Tsuba pretty cheaply compared to the usual ones i get at Aoi Art, but i don't have any information on their histories beyond them being sold through a major british auction house in the early 2010s. I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about their history and type? I mostly brought it for the one with the Genno hammer on it.

 

[kissakai]

I like the anchor

 

[Spartancrest]

The the Genno hammer would have been my pick too!  

 

You have one very similar to the cover of "The Japanese Sword and its Fittings" from 1966 - https://library.si.edu/digital-library/book/japaneseswordits00coop

Another very like this:    

from this thread:  https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/50407-tsuba-schooltheme-identification/ and an entry from here: 

 

 

[Spartancrest]

 

 

I am not entirely sure what a "Horse-Faced" tsuba is? Maybe AI has some catching up to do?

 

Title:
“Tokijima on a Horse-Faced Tsuba in the Month of April”
(馬面序政の月に時鳥)

Translation of the main text:

In April, the cuckoo bird is represented on this horse-faced tsuba (sword guard), appearing as though a cuckoo has been boldly incorporated into the design.

The maker was Masatsune, a master craftsman of the Kyōwa era in Edo.

Masatsune was originally a horse-gear artisan, but later began making sword fittings and produced many excellent works suited to the tastes of the time. He was especially skilled at carving horses.

As shown in this piece, the cuckoo appears vividly alive, as though it might suddenly fly away from the design.

This piece is made of iron. Its size is approximately 2 sun 7 bu (about 8 cm / 3.1 inches) in diameter, and the thickness is 1 bu 6 rin.

[FlorianB]

Here's another cucoo

https://nihontofrance.com/tosogu-2/tsuba-akao-2/?lang=en

Edited July 2 by FlorianB

[Spartancrest]

   Moon Bird Tsuba signed by Kofu Ju Akao Yoshitsugu - a passed eBay sale.

[Bugyotsuji]

Re AI above, it mistakenly attempted to translate the smith name 馬面 Bamen, producing the expression ‘horse-faced’.

[TheWanderingB]

Wow, thank you guys! I managed to find a description of the one with the rope around it and it's described as:

 

"A rounded square iron tsuba carved as an anchor below chidori with a roped rim"

[Spartancrest]

"Nawame" is the term for a rope edge, lots of tsuba have "Nawame-fukurin" which is a separate metal "rim cover" - yours looks integral to the whole design so it wouldn't be a "fukurin"

[ROKUJURO]

TWB, please sign all posts with your first name so we could address you in a polite manner. It is a rule here .

Your TSUBA set is quite interesting although I think I see some patina issues, but that can be fixed.

What you see as a GENNO hammer on the first TSUBA is in fact a forging hammer. GENNO are different: 

[Lewis B]

First tsuba appears to depict a kozuchi hammer with offset eye. 

[Bugyotsuji]

杵 Kiné wooden mallet for pounding glutinous rice?

[TheWanderingB]

Fixed my signature, Jean. 

[FlorianB]

 

Pounding rice with kine (mallet) in a usu (trough) for mochi production

[ROKUJURO]

7 hours ago, Bugyotsuji said:

杵 Kiné wooden mallet for pounding glutinous rice?

I did not think of it, but it's probable.

[Curran]

8 hours ago, ROKUJURO said:

I did not think of it, but it's probable.

Pounding the mochi. Also a euphemism for sex.

If the [Rabbit in the Moon design] is pounding the mochi  =   Making babies.

 

I have no idea what the meaning would be for generally presenting that on a tsuba.

Maybe a pimp's business card?

[Bugyotsuji]

Whoah! I just took it as a seasonal symbol of the New Year. (The surface does look like glutinous rice though…)