Tsuba and Macro Photography

[Justin Grant]

My 15 year old daughter is an aspiring photographer. She just purchased her first macro lens and took some pictures of my newest tsuba. She attempted to get details of some of the harder to see areas of a tsuba, so here is her work.

 

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/104054299888891235469/Tsuba#

 

Not sure how many know how to use Google Photos, but if you click the photo in question, it will open up and just on the top right of the photo will be a magnafying glass. If you click it, you can then increase the size to see the detail work.

[Lorenzo]

Good shots! She is good at it.

Unfortunately she made also clear that the tsuba is cast

[Justin Grant]

I saw that too. It is not as obvious from the mimi but looking inside the cut outs, you see a parting line. It was listed as an edo piece. Did they cast tsuba in the late edo?

 

Thanks!

[Marius]

I saw that too. It is not as obvious from the mimi but looking inside the cut outs, you see a parting line. It was listed as an edo piece. Did they cast tsuba in the late edo?

 

Not from cast iron.

[Grey Doffin]

Justin,

It's possible to tell this is cast without seeing close ups of the parting line. Everything is too soft and lumpen, the walls of the sukashi aren't vertical cuts, and the edges of the nakago hitsu ana, where the soft metal pieces would sit to protect the blade from abrasion and fit the tsuba correctly, show no definition. This isn't an Edo era piece. Looks to have been made quite recently in Hurry.

Grey

[Justin Grant]

Thanks to all fo you, I have emailed the seller. I directed him to the photos. I just received this late last week, so my daughter's new lens might have saved me some money. Regardless, the lens she has is very nice at collecting detail that a standard lens might not show. When my blade returns from polish, I will have her try and get some photos of it.

 

Thanks

 

Justin

[Surfson]

Is this one of the tsuba from Thierry? I received the ones that I bought and quite like them. I recall that he had one that looked like this one.

[cspage]

I can't resist the need to compliment Grey on using the work "lumpen." I haven't seen that word in decades and it is so lovely, appropriate and descriptive. Love it.

 

Colin