Tsuba Translation .... Nobu ????

[Klink]

Is this a Chinese Tsuba?  It looks like Nobu to me but the bottom looks like Chinese Lu.   Its non-metallic and heavy so I guess its brass and cast ......  Thanks in advance.    

Edited 12 hours ago by Klink

[Shugyosha]

Hi Dean,

I relying on AI for this so...

 

信盧 - Shinro " ( an alternate art-name (go) used by the late Edo period metalwork artist Hata Nobuyoshi (1807–1878) or other skilled craftsmen of the Iwama school".

 

I've got no idea if it's genuine. One here by the same artist to compare, but they do look quite different. https://www.zacke.at/auction/lot/lot-98---nobuyoshi-a-fine-shibuichi-tsuba-with-daidarabotchi-and-wasobei/?lot=61616&sd=1

[uwe]

It might purport to be a work of “信盧” (Nobuyoshi)…but doesn’t look good!

 

[Klink]

Thanks for the comments!

 

1)  First looking at the Kanji for Yoshi in the "Kanji Used In Names" section, I don't see one that resembles that Kanji.

2)  What AI do you use because Google AI comes up with Lee even if I take that character and search.  Maybe I need to get Grok??

3)  Uwe it does look a little rough.....

 

So here is a question.  My AI says Japan started casting brass in the early Edo period.  So when the artist made a casting did he then make multiple Tsubas?

 

"Excavations in Nara, Japan, uncovered roughly 800 tsuba-casting artifacts and over 200 spherical melting pots containing zinc and copper traces." quote from Markus Sesko

[Bugyotsuji]

If Shinro, then the ro comes from here…

 

[Klink]

OK I just found ChatGPT and here is what that AI states regarding the Kanji:

 

The Japanese characters 信盧 are not a common Japanese word or phrase.

Shin — “trust,” “faith,” “belief,” or “reliance”

盧 (ろ / ro) — the uncommo

Together, Shinro (Shinro / sh doesn't have a standard meaning in modern Japanese. It may be a name, a typo, or Chinese characters being used in a Japanese context.

 

Out of curiosity the Kanji in the picture for Ro does not have the bar on the bottom.  Is that common in writing Kanji to leave out a stroke?

Edited 10 hours ago by Klink

[SteveM]

I think this is a cast replica, and it's best not to dwell too much on errant or missing strokes.

 

If you look at authenticated (papered) works of Nobuyoshi, you can see how his true signature should look. The meanings of the characters themselves aren't so important. Sometimes artists pick the characters for the sound, and sometimes they pick them for the meaning, and sometimes they might be given to them by a mentor or relative. Characters might even be picked because of some superstitious reason (eg. the number of strokes in the kanji character is deemed lucky). 

 

I wouldn't rely too much on AI to parse these kinds of historical topics. Sometimes its good, but sometimes it just leads you down pointless dead ends, as its done here. 

[Klink]

Thanks Steve, good points.