Tsuba and Kozuka

[Mark C]

Hi all,

 

I have a nice wakizashi with a soft metal Tsuba (brass?) and a dragon kozuka.

 

I think they are signed the same and as I have only one book on tsuba and can't seem to find it, can anyone please identify them for me.

 

The kogatana is signed sagami (no) kami masatune.

 

Also on the reverse of the tsuba there is a long inscription/mei.

 

Many thanks for your help.

 

regards

 

Mark C

[Nobody]

I am totally unsure about the mei. But I tried by guesswork.

 

Hadani Yoshinobu (波谷嘉信)

 

The 3rd kanji could be 喜(yoshi), 高(taka), 寿(toshi), or others.

Also, I might mistake other kanji.

[Mark C]

Thank you Nobody,

 

I have looked in the only book I have of Tsuba (Japanese swordguard artists) and there is a yoshinobu listed, hamano school, late Edo.

 

I was having a go at the inscription and I have managed to pick out Ichi, Nen, Jyu and Roku but thats about it as I'm way out of my depth here :? .

 

Again many thanks

 

regards

 

Mark

[Nobody]

I was having a go at the inscription and I have managed to pick out Ichi, Nen, Jyu and Roku but thats about it as I'm way out of my depth here :? .

Though I cannot identify the specific Nengo, the upper part of the inscription seems to be a date (in year). After the kanji "nen (年)", there are three kanji "roku ju roku (六十六 = 66)". I guess that it might be the age of the maker of the tsuba.

[Rich T]

the first two kanji are Goto, the next maybe X Nobu but I am unsure of this. These are so hard to read but that first kanji certainly looks like Go.

 

Any other thoughts ?

 

Rich

[Ludolf Richter]

Hi all,the Mei reads:

Someya Tomonobu

After his father Someya Masanobu (H 04347) he (H 10032) was the 2nd Someya master.Originally from Ise Province,where he also studied painting,he later went to Edo.There are no dates about birth and death to be found in my books,only that he was active in the first half of the 19th Century.If anyone has doubt about my solution:look at page 303 of "The Baur Collection..." with 2 signed Tsuba (D1619+1620,plus D1621,a Kozoka,where the mei-side is not shown) made by him.Ludolf

PS.After I had found out from my Sosho-book that the 4th character was "nobu",it took me more than an hour to get the 3rd Kanji ("Tomo").With the name the rest was easy!

[John A Stuart]

Great detective work Ludolf. That's what makes this fun. John

[Mark C]

Hi Nobody, Rich, Ludolf,

 

Wow, what can I say but thanks.

 

With only one book in my library on tsuba I rely on the www for info, so I would have never got to this stage without your help.

 

I know there is not one book that does all but is there a good starter book on tsuba

 

Again thank you all for your time and effort

 

Regards

 

Mark

[Rich T]

at least I got one right.

 

Rich

[Nobody]

Good work, Ludolf!!!

 

The kanji for "Someya Tomonobu" seem to be 染谷知信. Could you show us the image of the mei on your reference?

[Ludolf Richter]

Here are the pics from "The Baur Collection - Geneva - Japanese Sword-Fittings And Associated Metalwork" and two pages of my (very rare!) Sosho-Dictionary from 1947.Ludolf

[Ludolf Richter]

Something went wrong:3 pics were lost.I try it again.Ludolf

[Nobody]

Thanks, Ludolf.

I learned some kanji in sosho.

[Brian]

Hi Ludolf.

Thanks for that excellent research. Btw..your pics did upload fine and are there. It's just because they are over the max size that they show as a clickable link instead of showing directly.

 

Regards,

Brian

[Ludolf Richter]

Thanks Brian!Here is the title of my Sosho-booK.Ludolf

[Brian]

Ludolf,

 

Thanks for the tip. Because of the info, I was able to do a search, and found a copy of the revised edition for a very low £10! (worth much more, and rare as you said)

I grabbed it, and it's on the way

 

Btw..for an excellent range of Japanese language books at bargain prices...try this: http://www.dworskibooks.net/?page=shop/ ... 43633e6ece

(No use trying for the Sosho book..it's gone now )

 

Regards,

Brian