Help, please, with a shumei ...

[docliss]

I believe that I may have posted this query on the NMB some time ago, but am still seeking an answer, and will try again if I may.

 

I am seeking a translation of a red lacquer shumei on a tsuba that will probably be considered as katchushi. The kanji to the right of the nakago-hitsu have been tentatively identified as possibly 一 阿 乙 小, and that on the left as a kao. But they don’t make any sense to me.

 

Any help will be gratefully received.

 

With thanks, John L.

[christianmalterre]

Dear John,

 

may i ask you so to provide me with more info relating to this Tsuba?

Where does it sort out?/(is it your´s or an friend´s one?)

What do you know(or do not know?)concerning it´s history here in modern days?(again-the "sort it out" question but in regard of former proviniance...)

Could you tell me,if this is,in your´s feeling here,an old lacquer?

Can you provide better resolution pictures?(those here are just "rough")(Sorry,but i can not really see much here...)

 

Indeed-an very interesting Tsuba!

 

Christian

[docliss]

Dear Christian, in reply to your queries, the tsuba belongs to a friend/collector, and I know nothing of its provenance. The lacquer is certainly old. I apologise for the poor quality of the enlargement, but fear that is the best I can offer for the moment. John L.

[Soshin]

Hi John,

 

What are the measurements of the tsuba including thickness at the rim (mimi) and near the center (seppa-dai)? Having better photos would be helpful but I can understand if you can't get them easily.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

David Stiles

[docliss]

Dear Christian and David, I am sorry that I am unable to supply the additional details that you have both requested. But, while I fully appreciate the importance of such factors in deciding upon an attribution, I fail to see their relevance in answering my specific query. With kind regards, John L.

[John A Stuart]

Hi John, I have been trying to figure out what this may mean until going cross-eyed. Maybe some one better at sosho writing can help. I have tried many combos such as Kazuyuki, Ichirin etc. but none fit esp. with the what appears to be 小 added. Ichirin has a similar kao as yours, but, those can be fairly similar. John

[Soshin]

Dear Christian and David, I am sorry that I am unable to supply the additional details that you have both requested. But, while I fully appreciate the importance of such factors in deciding upon an attribution, I fail to see their relevance in answering my specific query. With kind regards, John L.

 

Hi John,

 

Well give the limited information I not going to try to identify the tsuba. As for the shumei is likely just a latter attribution someone made as to the maker of the tsuba. I have seen this more often on Nihonto. The Hoami would use gold in there attribution signatures of muei Nihonto. Over the weekend a friend show me a Nihonto he had with a gold attribution mei made by a Hoami who made the attribution in the Edo Period to what is a Koto tachi that was shorted and the signature lost on the nakago. I don't think a tsubako would ever use a shumei in signing their work.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

David Stiles

[k morita]

Hi,

 

Maybe, it is Shoami.

正　阿　弥

[docliss]

Thank you both for your input - Ko-Shoami or Saotome would both be acceptable attributions. A defaced example of a similar tsuba is illustrated as lot no 1022 in Haynes' catalogue #4, where it is dated as ca 1500. John L.

[Soshin]

Hi Alan and John,

 

The Ko-Shoami school makes sense and the shumei was a attribution added later. This also makes sense given all Ko-Shoami are unsigned.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

David Stiles