joel Posted February 18, 2012 Report Posted February 18, 2012 Hi All, I'm new to this forum, so hello to everyone! I was hoping to get a little feedback on a Tsuba signed Toshinaga, I read here that there have been some forgeries and wondered if anyone would care to offer an oppinion regarding whether this piece is the real thing?? Craftsmanship looks excellent, but i'm no expert. Any thoughts? Quote
Doug Posted February 18, 2012 Report Posted February 18, 2012 Just my .02 but I think it could be cast. Some of the detail looks a little washed out to me including the mei. Additionally, there appears to be remnants of the mold seam in the ana. Always the nice thing about a qualified statement, if I'm right it's told you so and if wrong then what do I know! :D Doug Quote
John A Stuart Posted February 18, 2012 Report Posted February 18, 2012 The one from zen gallery? Looked real to me. John Quote
joel Posted February 18, 2012 Author Report Posted February 18, 2012 Thanks for the thoughts... much appreciated. Quote
joel Posted February 18, 2012 Author Report Posted February 18, 2012 [The one from zen gallery? Looked real to me. John] Yes! From the zen gallery... I went for it. The seller had 2600 positive feedback ratings but one buyer had complained of a cast piece being sold as the real thing. This is a little outside my main area of collecting, so it did sew a seed of doubt, thought I'd seek some third party opinion! Thanks john, that's reassuring... Quote
Surfson Posted February 19, 2012 Report Posted February 19, 2012 Looks pretty good to me. The whiskers and tails on the dragons have some very fine cuttings done on them to simulate hair or some other fine structure. If you take a loop to them, you should be able to tell if it's cast or not. I would think that they are hand cut. It's a nice design, but it does seem to have some sort of red lacquer coating on it. Quote
Ford Hallam Posted February 19, 2012 Report Posted February 19, 2012 I don't see any reason to doubt that this a perfectly genuine antique tsuba, myself. As to the authenticity of the mei, that's a whole other thing Nara Toshinaga (1667 - 1736) is considered to be one of the REALLY BIG names in the field. To think that an un-papered and legibly signed example of his work would be offered for sale on ebay is a bit like expecting to buy genuine signed Rembrandt there too. But more importantly, the workmanship and metal finish looks absolutely nothing like that of the master. The work is neat and tidy but close examination reveals it to be merely workman-like and it lacks any of the sophistication and refined finishing one would expect to see on the masterpieces of the great masters. It's a perfectly pleasant example of mid-Edo steel chiselling in my opinion but not an example of the finest of tsuba art such as Nara Toshinaga is famous for. regards, Ford Quote
joel Posted February 19, 2012 Author Report Posted February 19, 2012 Many thanks for the insightful comments. I'm clearly on a learning curve here. Quote
Ford Hallam Posted February 20, 2012 Report Posted February 20, 2012 Just for reference here a genuine example of Toshinaga's work that is designated an Important Cultural Property. You can zoom in to really get a close view of the carving, ground treatment and appearance of the patina. Quote
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