tsuba made in layers?(edit) photots added

[jason_mazzy]

To explain better I mean a solid plate of one metal covered with a different metal on top (kind of wrapped or fused) that is carved and inlayed, with a rim of an entirely different metal. So in this case 3 different metals. 1 as the core plate, 1 as a outershell to decorate, and 1 as a rim.

[Baka Gaijin]

Hi Jason

 

Try Kagamishi:

 

See.....

 

(Kagamishi Tsuba ca. mid Muromachi

 

7.7 cm H x 7.2 cm W x 0.5 cm T

 

Bronze alloy cast with a flowering plant and bird / tortoise shell and bird design

 

Hachi mokko gata

 

Shakudo fukurin)

 

http://home.earthlink.net/~jggilbert/irogane.htm

 

Cheers

 

Malcolm

[John A Stuart]

The shakudo plates with copper middle plate in sanmai style is called sando awase. 三度合わせ , I think these are the correct characters, correct me if wrong. John

[jason_mazzy]

Thank you. It does indeed appear to be a sanmai tsuba.

 

[jason_mazzy]

Here is a link to 30+ pictures of this tsuba

 

http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii82 ... /Japanese/

 

and a few pages of other fittings I have

[Ford Hallam]

I'm not sure this sort of construction would be classified as san-mai. The outer faces are very thin sheets of brass, almost foil-like and are typically not bonded to the copper core but simply held onto the copper plate by means of the fukurin. The decoration can be seen to be identical on each side and is produced as a stamping. This is essentially a mass-production technique.

 

I notice that in a few places the thin brass sheet has cracked/torn and where there are raised areas in the pattern the hollow seems to be filled with some sort of backing material. I'd expect something like pine rosin/clay mix or perhaps an urushi based filler material.