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Thin iron tsuba of round form with design of family crests (mon) and arabesque (karakusa) in brass or copper inlay (suemon-zōgan) and occasional scattered brass dots or nail heads in ten-zōgan. Seppa-dai outlined with brass wire in the shape of a rope; kozuka-hitsu-ana outlined with scalloped brass wire. Rounded rim with iron bones (tekkotsu). The surface covered with lacquer (urushi). Ōnin school. Late Muromachi period, 16th century. Family crests on the face: 1:30: Two lines (double stripe) encircled (maruni futatsu biki). 4:30: Stylized clove (choji). 7:30: Divided rhombus, or four lozenges incorporated in one (wari-bishi); it is also called Takeda-bishi, the family crest of warrior Takeda Shingen (among the others). 10:00: Stylized Genji-mon (Genji kō-zu) or incense symbol. On the reverse: 2:00 - "Chinese cloud" not a crest. 5:00: Bit (Kutsuwa) 7:30: Number four in a fan (ōgi-san) 10:30: Two dots in a well frame (igeta). -
Iron tsuba of round form with design of hatchet, snowflake, and triple diamond in openwork (ko-sukashi), and inlaid with five concentric circles of brass dots (ten-zōgan) and brass inner circular line. Sukashi elements outlined in brass.
Late Muromachi period. Diameter: 82.4 mm; Thickness: 3.0 mm The triple lozenge (or diamond) is similar to the one on TSU-305 from Sasano Collection # 15. Very old motif; as Sasano remarks in his book "...represents the unstable political situation at the time".Kokusai Tosogu Kai 5th International Convention & Exhibition, October 28-30, 2009 at NEZU Museum, Tokyo, Japan, on page 83 provides the following explanation of the triple diamond symbol: "The pine bark is the form of the Diamonds, "Bishi", mon, seen from Nara period, found on cloth stored in the Shoso In, and used primarily by the Takeda family. The form of Bishi mon [similar to ours] is called "Chu Kage Matsukawa Bishi", (Middle Shaded Pine Bark Diamond)."
A combination of hatchet (usually an axe) and a triple diamond (Matsukawabishi) alludes to the Nō play Hachi-no-ki (ref: Iron tsuba. The works of the exhibition "Kurogane no hana", The Japanese Sword Museum, 2014; AND Sasano: Japanese Sword Guard Masterpieces from the Sasano Collection. By Sasano Masayuki. Part One. Published in Japan in 1994. -
Iron tsuba of round form with design of iris and snowflake in openwork (ko-sukashi or small cut-outs) outlined with brass wire. Three concentric rows of brass dots (ten-zōgan), with a brass circular line inside the innermost row of dots (missing on the back). Hitsu-ana is not outlined with brass wire, which let us suppose that it was cut out at a later date. Iron and brass. Ko-sukashi and ten-zōgan technique. Mid Muromachi period (1454-1513). Height: 74.0 mm, Width: 73.6 mm, Thickness: 3.0 mm.NBTHK certification of 1968: "Kicho". Condition is relatively poor: rust, missing inlay, scratches.
While representation of the snowflake is rather standard, the meaning of the other cut-out design was initially less clear. Similar symbol was found at (1) "Kokusai Tosogu Kai, International Convention & Exhibition, September 24-25, 2005, The Frazier Historical Arms Museum, Louisville, Kentucky, USA"; on page 21 there is a photograph J-6 of a ko-tosho tsuba with "iris theme openwork"; (2) Japanese Swords and Tsuba from the Professor A. Z. Freeman and the Phyllis Sharpe Memorial collections. Sotheby's, London, Thursday 10 April 1997; page 11, lot 6 - a ko-katchushi tsuba of early Muromachi period fith "simple design of stylized iris". In both sources the symbol is explained as 'iris" (kakitsubata).
Freeman and Sharpe collections. Sotheby's, 1997.
Kokusai Tosogu Kai, September 24-25, 2005.
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Iron tsuba of round form with design of two paper lanterns in openwork (small cut-outs, ko-sukashi ) outlined with brass wire. The plate is decorated with four concentric rows of brass dot inlay (ten-zōgan), with a brass circular wire inside the innermost row of dots (missing on the back). Hitsu-ana of rectangular form is not outlined with brass wire, which let us suppose that it was cut out at a later date. Copper sekigane. Mid Muromachi period (1454-1513). Diameter: 74.0 mm, thickness: 2.6 mm. Tsuba is illustrated at: 新版 日本刀講座 小道具鑑定編 本間 薫山 佐藤 寒山 : Shinhan Nihonto Koza, Volume VI, Kodogu Part 1. Under supervision of Honma Kunzan and Sato Kanzan. 鍔 無名 応仁 鉄地) 丸形 小透 槌目 真鍮据文 点象嵌 丸耳 : Tsuba with no signature, Ōnin style. Base metal iron (jigane), round shape, small perforations (ko-sukashi), hammering finish (tsuchime). Pre-cast brass inlay (shinchu suemon-zōgan); dot inlay (ten-zōgan); round edge (maru-mimi).
English translation of the book indicated above Nihon Tō Kōza, Volume VI, Part 1 by Harry Afu Watson, AFU Research Enterprises, Inc., 1993. Tsuba in question illustrated on page 14 and described as follows: " Tsuba mumei Ōnin. Tetsu ji maru gata ko-sukashi tsuchime shitate shinchū suemon ten zogan maru mimi. Brass suemon". My question remains: why such a text is called 'translation' while it looks more like transliteration of romanization? -
Title page: PRINTING AND | THE MIND OF MAN | SECOND EDITION | REVISED AND ENLARGED | WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION | BY PERCY H. MUIR, | ADDITIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES | BY PETER AMELUNG, | AND REVISED INDEX | KARL PRESSLER • MÜNCHEN • 1983 || Printer: Richard Mayr (Würzburg) Edition: 2nd edition, 1st published in 1967 by Cassell and Company Ltd. Pagination: [i-viii] ix-xxv [xxvi blank], v-xxxiv, [2] 1-280 [2], total number of pages 338. Collation: π19 b1-3, [π7], 1-168 174 188, total number of leaves 169. Binding: 32 x 22.5 cm, red cloth, lettered paper labels to front cover and spine, dust jacket on both sides with maroon lettering over yellow background: PRINTING | AND | THE MIND | OF MAN | EDITED BY JOHN CARTER & PERCY H. MUIR | Second edition | revised & enlarged | KARL PRESSLER • MÜNCHEN || This book is usually referenced as "PPM". -
Shingen school (or style) tsuba of round form with iron core and web, covered with a thin brass plate decorated with star-shaped punch marks. The rim of tsuba is a brass nawame-fukurin. Between the central brass plate and the rim there is woven wire of brass and copper in a basketweave pattern. Both hitsu-ana have raised rim. Traces of oxidation. Unsigned. Edo period, 18th century. Size: Height: 88.4 mm, Width: 86.6 mm, Thickness at seppa-dai: 4.6 mm. Weight: 132.4 g. Robert E. Haynes in his "Study Collection of Japanese Sword Fittings. Nihon Art Publishers, 2010" on p. 117 says: "Brass outer plate of round shape. This tsuba has an iron core tsuba of spoke form as made by Saotome school, ca. 1500. There are brass plates on either side connected to the rim by woven brass and shakudō wire. The wire has been hand drawn, which is very difficult. The hitsuana are brass lined and the rim has a brass cover. This type of tsuba is referred to as a Shingen tsuba. This is a reference to Takeda Shingen Harunobu (1521-1573), the great and famous daimyō." For reference see the MFA collection. A look-a-like tsuba is illustrated in Compton Collection, vol. 2, p. 26-27, №52:More details and examples can be found at: http://varshavskycollection.com/shingen-tsuba/
Compton Collection, vol. 2, p. 26-27, №52.
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Bando Mitsugorō III as Lady Iwafuji and Nakamura Matsue III as Lady Onoe, 1821.「局岩ふじ 坂東三津五郎」（三代）、「中老尾上 中村松江」（三代） in kabuki play Kagamiyama Kokyô no Nishikie [鏡山旧錦繪] (Mirror mountain: A women’s treasury of loyalty); author: Yô Yôdai. Artist: Shunkōsai Hokushū (春好斎 北洲), who is also known as Shunkō IV, active from about 1802 to 1832. Actors: Bandō Mitsugorō III [三代目 坂東 三津五郎] (Japanese, 1775 – 1831); other names: Bandō Minosuke I, Morita Kanjirô II, Bandō Mitahachi I, Bandō Minosuke I, Bandō Mitahachi I. Nakamura Matsue III [三代目中村松江] (Japanese, 1786-1855); other names: Nakamura Sankō I, Nakamura Tomijūrō II, Ichikawa Kumatarō. Year: 1821 (Bunsei 4), 1st month. Publisher: Wataya Kihei (Wataki) (Japanese, fl. c. 1809 – 1885) Signed Shunkôsai Hokushû ga 春好斎北洲画. MFA Accession № 11.35375. MFA description: "Play: Keisei Kagamiyama (Mirror Mountain, a Courtesan Play). Theatre: Kado けいせい双鏡山（けいせいかがみやま）角. Ref.: [LIB-1193.2013] Leiter. Kabuki Encyclopedia, p. 156; [LIB-0879-2.2015] Kabuki plays on stage (vol. 2): 1773-1799, pp. 172-212. -
A shunga (erotic) print by Suzuki Harunobu [鈴木 春信] (Japanese, c. 1725 – 1770) depicting a woman making love with a man in the palanquin (のりもの/乗り物) while the other woman "ties a sash about her hips below her obi." The sheet is not signed; however, it is attributed to Harunobu. A reference image can be found in the Metropolitan Museum (NY) collection, Accession Number JP1635:According to the MET "the palanquin ... has carried these courtesans to the shore for a spring outing". Some time ago, a similar print was sold by Richard Kruml (description: A chuban shunga print showing the occupant of a kago in flagrante with one of the porters, having seized the opportunity of a stop on the journey. Published late 1760s. Rare). Another copy was sold at Sotheby's in Paris for €3,360 on November 27, 2002 (Lot 24), with a reproduction of the print's detail and description on p. 39: Suzuki Harunobu (1725 – 1770) | Shunga: couple dans un palanquin, vers 1768-1770, non-signe, cachet non identifé, cachets Charles Mitchell, Huguette Berès, Format chuban, 20.1 x 28.6 cm | 3000 – 4000 € | Il s’agit probablement de trois voyageurs, l’un d’entre eux debout près du palanquin faisant mine d’ignorer la scène. Bibliographie: Delay p. 87. Reference: [LIB-3121.2022] Sotheby's: Collection Huguette Berès – Estampes, dessins et livres illustrés japonais / 2 volumes; vol. 1. — Paris: Sotheby's, 2002.
http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/45071
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Title: THE COMPLETE ETCHINGS OF | Goya | With a Foreword by Aldous Huxley | CROWN PUBLISHERS. NEW YORK|| Pagination: [2 blank] [1-6] 7-16 [6], 234 plates on 118 leaves [2 blank] Contents: The capriccios [Los caprichos]. The disasters of the war [Los desastres de la guerra]. The art of bullfighting [La Tauromaquia]. The proverbs [Los disparates, Proverbios]. Miscellany. Binding: Hardcover, grey cloth, black lettering to cover and spine, pictorial DJ. -
Title: A | GENERAL HISTORY | OF | QUADRUPEDS. | – | THE FIGURES ENGRAVED ON WOOD | BY | THOMAS BEWICK. | — | THE FIFTH EDITION | {vignette} | NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE: | PRINTED BY EDWARD WALKER, FOR T. BEWICK AND S. HODGSON: | SOLD BY THEM, AND ALL BOOKSELLERS. | 1807. Pagination: [2 blanks], [i, ii] – t.p. / blank], [iii, iv] – advertisement, [v] vi-x – index, [1] 2-525 [526 advert. of British Birds] [2 blanks]. Collation: Royal 8vo in fours; π (engraved title), a4 A-3T4 χ3T3. F2 signed 2F, 2E2 unsigned, p. 131 numbered correctly, p. 257 numbered 572. Size: 26 x 17 cm; page 24.5 x 16 cm (royal). Woodcuts: 302 descriptions of quadrupeds, 225 figures and 112 vignettes, tail-pieces, etc. Binding: Full diced brown calf, embossed blind corner fleurons, gilt-tooled border inside and outside, AEG, spine with raised bands, gilt in compartments, lettering; binding restored; armorial bookplate "Thorpe" to front pastedown. Likely to be Thomas Thorpe (1791 – 1851), a prominent bookseller in London: Bedford Street, Covent Garden; started in 1818, went bankrupt on Dec. 31, 1825. Thorpe's family coat of arms: stag standing on a crown and a lion rampant. Catalogue raisonné: S. Roscoe (1953): pp. 23-27. Hugo (1866): pp. 22-24. -
Volume 1: Land birds – 7th edition; Supplement: 1st edition. Title: A | HISTORY | OF | BRITISH BIRDS. | THE FIGURES ENGRAVED ON WOOD BY T. BEWICK. | VOL. I. | CONTAINING THE | HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF LAND BIRDS | — | AND | A SUPPLEMENT, WITH ADDITIONAL FIGURES. | — | NEWCASTLE: | PRINTED BY EDWARD WALKER, PILGRIM STREET, | FOR T. BEWICK : SOLD BY HIM, AND E. CHARNLEY, NEWCASTLE ; | AND LONGMAN AND CO. LONDON. | 1821. || Pagination: [2 blanks], [i, ii] – t.p. / blank, [iii] iv-xl, [43] 44-330, [2] – suppl. t.p. / blank, [1] 2-46 [47] – contents, [48] – advert., [2 blanks]. Collation: 8vo in fours; π1 A-C4 E3 F-2S4 π1 B-G4; I2, N2, and 2A2 unsigned. Woodcuts: 157 descriptions of birds, 140 figures of birds, 127 vignettes, tail-pieces, figures in text, etc. Volume 2: Water birds – 5th edition; Supplement: 1st edition. Title: A | HISTORY | OF | BRITISH BIRDS. | THE FIGURES ENGRAVED ON WOOD BY T. BEWICK. | VOL. II. | CONTAINING THE | HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF WATER BIRDS | — | AND | A SUPPLEMENT, WITH ADDITIONAL FIGURES. | — | NEWCASTLE: | PRINTED BY EDWARD WALKER, PILGRIM STREET, | FOR T. BEWICK : SOLD BY HIM, AND E. CHARNLEY, NEWCASTLE ; | AND LONGMAN AND CO. LONDON. | 1821. || Pagination: [2 blanks], [i, ii] – t.p. / blank, [iii] iv-xxii, [19] 20-360, [2] – suppl. t.p. / blank, [1] 2-43 [44] – contents, [1] 2-7 – addenda., [8] – imprint, [2 blanks]. Collation: 8vo in fours; π1 A-B4 *B2 C-2X4 2Y3 π1 B-F4 G2 [H]4; E2, F2, G2, 2G2, 2T2 and Suppl. G2 and Addenda unsigned. Woodcuts: 162 descriptions of birds, 125 figures of birds, 137 vignettes, tail-pieces, figures in text, etc. Both volumes: Size: 21.3 x 14 cm; page: 20.7 x 13.1 cm, demy. Binding: Green half-calf over marbled boards, blind-ruled raised bands with gilt ornament, crimson gilt-ruled and lettered labels to spine. For the first edition see: LIB-2614.2021 Catalogue raisonné: Hugo (1866): № (99) 94 –120 (108) / pp. 40-58; Roscoe (1953): № 24 a-c, 25 a-c, 26 a-c, 27 a-c, 28 / pp. 104 - 114. -
The central sheet of (optional) triptych: Courtesan (Tayū): kabuki actor Bandō Mitsugorō III as Fujiya Izaemon from Three pleasures of present-day Osaka (Tōsei Naniwa no sankō)「当世浪花の三興 太夫」 「藤屋伊左衛門」 三代目坂東三津五郎. Publisher: Iseya Rihei [伊勢屋利兵衛] (Japanese, fl. 1790s – c. 1879) Year: 1821 (Bunsei 4). Size: Vertical ōban; 36.5 x 25.1 cm. Signed: 於浮瀬亭国貞画 – Drawn by Kunisada in Ukabuse (Ukabuse ni oite Kunisada ga). Ukabuse is the name of a famous restaurant in Osaka, this signature can be found only on a three print bijin series [Kunisada Project]. Censor's seal: kiwame 改印：極 Actor Bandō Mitsugorō III [三代目 坂東 三津五郎] (Japanese, 1775 – 1831); other names: Bandō Minosuke I, Morita Kanjirô II, Bandō Mitahachi I, Bandō Minosuke I, Bandō Mitahachi I. Character: Fujiya Izaemon. Ref: MFA ACCESSION NUMBER 11.21937; LIB-2967.2022 Izzard. Full series (triptych) Three Pleasures of Present-day Osaka (Tōsei Naniwa no sankō):
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The right sheet of (optional) triptych: Geisha (Geiko) and kabuki actor Iwai Hanshirō V as Katanaya Hanshichi from Three pleasures of present-day Osaka (Tōsei Naniwa no sankō)「当世浪花の三興 芸子」 「刀屋半七」五代目岩井半四郎. Publisher: Iseya Rihei [伊勢屋利兵衛] (Japanese, fl. 1790s – c. 1879) Year: 1821 (Bunsei 4). Size: Vertical ōban; 36.5 x 25.2 cm. Signed: 於浮瀬亭国貞画 – Drawn by Kunisada in Ukabuse (Ukabuse ni oite Kunisada ga). Ukabuse is the name of a famous restaurant in Osaka, this signature can be found only on a three print bijin series [Kunisada Project]. Censor's seal: kiwame 改印：極 Actor Iwai Hanshirō V [岩井半四郎] (Japanese, 1776 – 1847); other names: Iwai Tojaku, Iwai Kumesaburō I. Character: Katanaya Hanshichi [刀屋半七] Ref: MFA ACCESSION NUMBER 11.21938; LIB-2967.2022 Izzard. Full series (triptych) Three Pleasures of Present-day Osaka (Tōsei Naniwa no sankō): -
The left sheet of (optional) triptych: Geisha of the Shimanouchi district: Actor Nakamura Utaemon III as Danshichi no Mohei, from Three Pleasures of Present-day Osaka (Tōsei Naniwa no sankō)「当世浪花の三興 島之内」 「団七の茂兵衛」 三代目中村歌右衛門. Publisher: Iseya Rihei [伊勢屋利兵衛] (Japanese, fl. 1790s – c. 1879) Year: 1821 (Bunsei 4). Size: Vertical ōban; 36.5 x 25.1 cm. Signed: 於浮瀬亭国貞画 – Drawn by Kunisada in Ukabuse (Ukabuse ni oite Kunisada ga). Ukabuse is the name of a famous restaurant in Osaka, this signature can be found only on a three print bijin series [Kunisada Project]. Censor's seal: kiwame 改印：極 Actor Nakamura Utaemon III [中村歌右衛門] (Japanese, 1778 – 1838); other names: Nakamura Tamasuke, Nakamura Baigyoku I, Nakamura Shikan I, Kagaya Fukunosuke I. Character: Danshichi no Mohei [団七茂兵衛]. Ref: MFA ACCESSION NUMBER 11.21936; LIB-2967.2022 Izzard. Full series (triptych) Three Pleasures of Present-day Osaka (Tōsei Naniwa no sankō): -
Okon's Lover Fukuoka Mitsugi, from the series Mirror of Virtuous Women (Teijo misao kagami)「てい女 美作保鏡 おこん 福岡貢」. Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi [歌川 國芳] (Japanese, 1798 – 1861). Publisher: Kojimaya Jūbei [小嶋屋重兵衛] (Japanese, fl. c. 1797 – 1869). Year: 1843–47 (Tenpô 14–Kôka 4). Signed: 一勇斎国芳画 – Ichiyûsai Kuniyoshi ga. Censor's seal: Watari. Size: Vertical ôban; 36.8 x 25.6 cm Ref.: MFA № 11.16085. -
Title: А. П. КАЖДАН | ДВА ДНЯ | ИЗ ЖИЗНИ | КОНСТАНТИНОПОЛЯ | Научное издание | Издательство «АЛЕТЕЙЯ» | Санкт-Петербург | 2002 || Series: Византийская библиотека. Исследования. Pagination: [1-5] 6-318 [2], il. in text. Binding: 17 x 12.5 cm; hardcover, crimson buckram, gilt lettering, border and serial device on black. Print run: 1,300 copies. ISBN: 5-89329-463-7. Каждан, Александр Петрович [Пейсахович] [Kazhdan, Alexander] (Russian-American, 1922 – 1997). -
![Гроций. О праве войны и мира // Общедоступная философия в изложении Аркадия Пресса. - СПб.: П. П. Сойкин, [1902].](https://varshavskycollection.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/LIB-0905.2015-3-500x500.jpeg)
Front wrapper, t.p.: Общедоступная философiя | ВЪ ИЗЛОЖЕНИИ | АРКАДIЯ ПРЕССА | — | ГРОЦIЙ. | О ПРАВѢ ВОЙНЫ И МИРА. | Цена 40 коп. | [two medals] С.-Петербург | Изданiе П. П. Сойкина [two medals] | Книжный Складъ / Стремянная, 12 | Книжный Магазинъ / Невский, 96 || Verso to front wrapper: publisher's advert.; verso to back wrapper: publisher's advert.; back wrapper: Series advert. Series: Общедоступная философия в изложении Аркадия Пресса Pagination: [1, 2] – t.p. /censor's approval dated September 30, 1902 г., imprint, [3] 4-50 [2] – publisher's advert. Collation: 8vo; [1]8 2-38 42. Inscriptions: Handwriting to front wrapper "1902"; to title page "1902" and in Russian: "Ензику от Тышки 19/III-26г." Size: 19.5 x 12.3 cm. Binding: original publisher's wrappers, lettering, pp. 35-46 loose. Author: Hugo Grotius [Huig or Hugo de Groot] (Dutch, 1583 – 1645). Originally published by Nicolas Buon in Paris in 1625 in Latin under the title: De iure belli ac pacis (English: On the Law of War and Peace). Compiler/translator: Аркадий Германович Пресс [Аркадиус Пресас or Arkadius Presas] (Russian-Finish, 1870 – 1952). -
Title page (black and red): ГУГО ГРОЦИЙ | О ПРАВЕ | ВОЙНЫ | И МИРА | ß ТРИ КНИГИ ß | В КОТОРЫХ ОБЪЯСНЯЮТСЯ | ЕСТЕСТВЕННОЕ ПРАВО | И | ПРАВО НАРОДОВ, | А ТАКЖЕ ПРИНЦИПЫ | ПУБЛИЧНОГО ПРАВА | {device} | Перевод с латинского | А. Л. САККЕТТИ | Государственное издательство | ЮРИДИЧЕСКОЙ ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ | МОСКВА 1956 || Verso t.p.: Под общей редакцией профессора С. Б. КРЫЛОВА Pagination: [1, 2] – t.p. / editor, [3] 4-867 [868] – contents, errata slip, 4 plates extraneous to collation: frontis. portrait, t.p. Amsterdam edition of 1646, t.p. Russian edition of c. 1710, Lovensteyn castle. Collation: 8vo; [1]8 2-548 552. Binding: Publisher’s brown cloth, blind-stamped lettering to front board, elements of design in black and gilt lettering to spine. Вступительная статья А. А. Желудкова. Author: Hugo Grotius [Huig or Hugo de Groot] (Dutch, 1583 – 1645). Originally published by Nicolas Buon in Paris in 1625 in Latin under the title: De iure belli ac pacis (English: On the Law of War and Peace). Editor: Сергей Борисович Крылов (Russian, 1888 – 1958). Translator: Александр Ливериевич Саккетти (Russian, 1881 – 1966).
