Iron tsuba of square with cut-off edges form (sumi-iri-kakugata) with lattice design in openwork (sukashi) and pierced center.
Unsigned. Late Muromachi period, ca. 16th century.
Size: 73.2 x 72.4 x 3.6 mm References: 1) Tsuba Kanshoki. Kazutaro Torogoye, 1975, p. 95, lower image. It's also called Kyō shōami. 2) KTK-11: Koshi motif, Late Muromachi (16th c.)
Iron tsuba of mokkō form (mokkōgata) pierced (sukashi) and inlaid with precast dark brass inlay (taka-zōgan) with somewhat abstract/geometrical design that can be liberally described as pines, mist, and snow.
Momoyama or early Edo period. End of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century. Heianjō school. Unsigned. Dimensions: 86.8 x 82.9 x 4.5 mm.
Thin six-lobed iron plate of brownish color is carved on each side with a groove that follows the rim and a concentric grooves around the center of the plate, also carved with six thin scroll lines (mokkō or handles, kan) that follow the shape of the rim. Mokume surface treatment. Hitsu-ana possibly added at a later date, and kogai-hitsu-ana plugged with gold. Silver sekigane.
Signed: Kunihide [國秀]. Higo school, 1st generation swordsmith.
Mid Edo period, ca. 1800.
Would be possibly attributed to Kamakura-bori school revival of the 19th century.
References: Nihon Tō Kōza, Volume VI / Japanese Sword / Kodōgu Part 1, page 231: Enju Kunihide, a tōshō from Higo: "...forging of the jigane is excellent, and there are also pieces with mokume hada."
Haynes Index Vol. 1, p. 741, H 03569.0: "Enju Kunihide in Higo province, died 1830, student of Suishinshi Masahide. Retainer of the Hosokawa Daimyō, etc."
Additional Information from Markus Sesko: This tsuba indeed is made by Enju Kunihide, who in his later years signed the HIDE [秀] character as HI [日] and DE [出], as here:
Size: 77.4 x 74.9 x 2.7 mm
Similar pieces are:
1. In this collection № TSU-0341: Kamakura-bori tsuba with mokkō motif. Muromachi period, 15th - 16th century.
2. Dr. Walter A. Compton Collection, 1992, Christie’s auction, Part II, pp. 14-15, №16: “A kamakurabori type tsuba, Muromachi period, circa 1400. The thin, six-lobed iron plate is carved on each side with a wide groove that follows the shape of the rim, and with six scroll lines and a single thin circular groove. […] The hitsu-ana was added at a later date, circa 1500-1550. Height 8.3 cm, width 8.6 cm, thickness 2.5 mm. The tsuba was initially intended to be mounted on a tachi of the battle type in use from Nambokucho to early Muromachi period (1333-1400)”. Sold at $935.
3. And another one in Robert E. Haynes Catalog #9 on page 24-25 under №23: “Typical later Kamakura-bori style work. This type of plate and carving show the uniform work produced by several schools in the Muromachi </em period. Some had brass inlay and others were just carved as this one is. The hitsu are later. Ca. 1550. Ht. 8.8 cm, Th. 3.25 mm”. Sold for $175.
Thin iron plate of round form and black color carved in sukidashi-bori with design of rocks, waves, clouds, temple gates (torii), mountain pavilion and 5-storey pagoda on both sides, alluding to Todai-ji temple in Nara. Hitsu-ana pierced later. Very narrow very slightly raised rim. Copper sekigane.
Late Muromachi period, 16th century. Dimensions: 88.7 x 88.0 x 2.4 mm (seppa-dai), 1.8 mm (base plate).Reference: “Art of the Samurai” on page 232, №140: ”Kamakura tsuba with Sangatsu-do tower and bridge. Muromachi period, 16th century. 83 mm x 80 mm. Unsigned. Tokyo National Museum. The mountain pavilion and bridge carved in sunken relief on the iron tsuba – both part of Tōdai-ji, a temple in Nara – are detailed in fine kebori (line) engraving. As a result of the chiseling used to create the relief, the ground of the piece is relatively thin".
Iron tsuba of mokkō form decorated with inome (wild boar's eye) in openwork (sukashi) outlined with brass wire. The plate decorated with 3 concentric circular rows of brass dots in ten-zōgan. Center of the plate outlined with the inlaid circular brass wire (sen-zōgan). Some dots and the outline of inome on the face are missing.
Ōnin school. Unsigned. Mid Muromachi period, middle of the 15th century. Dimensions: 72.1 x 71.3 x 2.3 mm.
A two-volume set, published in Paris by P.-J. Hetzel in 1845 and 1846.
Vol. 1:
Title: LE | DIABLE A PARIS | — PARIS ET LES PARISIENS — | MŒURS ET COUTUMES, CARACTERES ET PORTRAITS DES HABITANTS DE PARIS, | TABLEAU COMPLET DE LEUR VIE PRIVEE, PUBLIQUE, POLITIQUE, | ARTISTIQUE, LITTERAIRE, INDUSTRIELLE, ETC., ETC. | TEXTE PAR MM. | GEORGE SAND — P.-J. STAHL — LEON GOZLAN — P. PASCAL — FREDERIC SOULIE — CHARLES NODIER | EUGENE BRIFFAULT — S. LAVALETTE — DE BALZAC — TAXILE DELORD — ALPHONSE KARR | MÉRY — A. JUNCETIS — GERARD DE NERVAL — ARSÈNE HOUSSAYE — ALBERT AUBERT — THÉOPHILE GAUTIER | OCTAVE FEUILLET — ALFRED DE MUSSET — FRÉDÉRIC BÉRAT | précédé d’une | HISTOIRE DE PARIS PAR THEOPHILE LAVALLÉE | ILLUSTRATIONS | LES GENS DE PARIS — SERIES DE GRAVURES AVEC LEGENDES | PAR GAVARNI | PARIS COMIQUE — VIGNETTES DE BERTALL | VUES, MONUMENTS, EDIFICES PARTICULIERS, LIEUX CÉLÈBRES ET PRINCIPAUX ASPECTS DE PARIS | PAR CHAMPIN, BERTRAND, D’AUBIGNY, FRANÇAIS. | [DEVICE] | PARIS | PUBLIÉ PAR J. HETZEL, | RUE RICHELIEU, 76 – RUE DE MÉNARS, 10. | 1845 ||
Pagination: ffl, [2 – h.t. / Paris: Typographie Lacrampe et Comp., Rue Damiette, 2 ; Papeir de la fabrique de sainte-marie] [2 – blank / frontis. ‘Diable’ with lantern standing on map of Paris] [2 – t.p. /blank] [I] II-XXXII, [1] 2-380, bfl. Sheet size: 27.5 x 17.5 cm.
Collation: 4to; A(4) – D(4), [1(4)] 2(4) – 47(4), 48(2); illustrations: frontispiece, vignette title-page, numerous text engravings and 99 plates.
Vol. 2: Title: LE | DIABLE A PARIS | — PARIS ET LES PARISIENS — | MŒURS ET COUTUMES, CARACTERES ET PORTRAITS DES HABITANTS DE PARIS, | TABLEAU COMPLET DE LEUR VIE PRIVEE, PUBLIQUE, POLITIQUE, | ARTISTIQUE, LITTERAIRE, INDUSTRIELLE, ETC., ETC. | TEXTE PAR MM. | DE BALZAC — EUGÈNE SUE — GEORGE SAND — P.-J. STAHL — ALPHONSE KARR | HENRY MONNIER — OCTAVE FEUILLET — DE STENDAHL — LEON GOZLAN — S. LAVALETTE — ARMAND MARRAST | LAURENT-JAN —ÉDOUARD OURLIAC — CHARLES DE BOIGNE — ALTAROCHE — EUG. GUINOT | JULES JANIN — EUGENE BRIFFAULT — AUGUSTE BARBIER — MERQUIS DE VARENNES — ALFRED DE MUSSET | CHARLES NODIER — FRÉDÉRIC BÉRAT — A. LEGOYT| précédé d’une | GÉOGRAPHIE DE PARIS PAR THEOPHILE LAVALLÉE | ILLUSTRATIONS | LES GENS DE PARIS — SERIES DE GRAVURES AVEC LEGENDES | PAR GAVARNI | PARIS COMIQUE — PANTHÉON DU DIABLE A PARIS PAR BERTALL | VUES, MONUMENTS, EDIFICES PARTICULIERS, LIEUX CÉLÈBRES ET PRINCIPAUX ASPECTS DE PARIS | PAR CHAMPIN, BERTRAND, D’AUBIGNY, FRANÇAIS. | [DEVICE] | PARIS | PUBLIÉ PAR J. HETZEL, | RUE RICHELIEU, 76 – RUE DE MÉNARS, 10. | 1846 || Pp. : ffl, [2 – h.t. / Paris: Typographie Lacrampe et Comp., Rue Damiette, 2 ; Papeir de la fabrique de sainte-marie] [2 – t.p. /blank] [I] II-LXXX, [1] 2-364, bfl. Sheet size: 27.5 x 17.5 cm. Collation: 4to; A(4) – I(4) – J(4), 1(4), 2(4) – 45(4), 46(2); illustrations: vignette title-page, numerous text engravings and 112 plates.Binding: [allegedly Roger de Coverly (British, 1831 — 1914)], 28.2 x 19 cm, ¾ brown calf ruled in gilt, brown marbled boards, nonpareil marbled endpapers, raised and ruled in gilt bands, floral devices and title lettering to spine. AEG. Foxing to flyleaves, tips of corners just a very little rubbed as are the glazed marbled paper boards; endpapers foxed; very occasional light scattered foxing of text.
Provenance: (1) Armorial bookplate (Ex Libris Sir John Whittaker Ellis, 1st Baronet (1829 – 1912), Lord Mayor of London 1881; (2) Bookplate Ex Libris Robert Frederick Green) dated 1909.
Reference: L. Carteret (1927) pp. 203-207: the first edition, lacking the publisher's white pictorial wrappers.
Iron tsuba of round form with brown patina decorated with the design of a Buddhist temple bell (tsurigane) in openwork (sukashi), with details outlined in brass wire (sen-zōgan), the outer ring decorated with two rows of brass dots (ten-zōgan), and the bell details carved in sukidashi-bori as on kamakura-bori pieces.
Ōnin school. Unsigned. Late Muromachi period, 16th century. Dimensions: 88.8 x 88.3 x 3.0 mm. As per Merrily Baird, two legends are usually associated with the image of tsurigane, a large, suspended Buddhist bell: one is that of Dojo Temple (Dojo-ji), and the other is of Benkei stealing the tsurigane of Miidera Temple. Interestingly, this type of bell (tsurigane) is not described as a family crest (mon), while suzu and hansho bells are.
Pre-Columbian, South Coast of Peru, Nazca, ca. 400 - 600 CE. Polychrome double-spout, or stir-up vessel (jar, or bottle), decorated on both sides with designs of masked Mythical Spotted Cat (or the Cat Deity) with a trophy head. Colors: Black, Cream, Gray, Orange, White, Dark Red, Light Red (8 colors).
Size: 17.2 x 14 cm.
References:Ex Arte Xibalba, Florida; Ex Robert Dowling Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Pre-Columbian, South Coast of Peru, Nazca, ca.200 - 500 CE. Polychrome double-spout, or stir-up vessel (jar, or bottle), decorated on both sides with designs of anthropomorphic Mythical Spotted Cat (or the Cat Deity) with hand holding the club, a trophy head and spears.
Colors: Black, Cream, Gray, Orange, White, Dark Red (7 colors).
Size: Diameter 15.2 cm. References:
Hard-bound Quatro (304 x 246 mm) printed in lithography with hand-colored details on cover.
The name of artist hardly legible on a stamp on frontispiece: скворцов.
The text repeats itself on multiple pages. Most probably the book is a pilot run, never went to mass printing and distribution.
Iron tsuba of circular form with design of pine trees (matsu) and monkey toys (kukurizaru) in openwork (ko-sukashi). Ko-Katchushi school.
Raised rim (mimi) with iron bones (tekkotsu). Size: Diameter: 99.5 mm; Thickness: 2.1 mm at centre; 4.3 mm at the rim.Early Muromachi period: 15th century (Kakitsu - Bun'an era, 1441 - 1449).
Iron tsuba of round form pierced (sukashi) and inlaid in flat (hira-zōgan) and cast brass (suemon-zōgan), details carved in kebori, with design of two phoenixes, bamboo, and paulownia leaves and flowers (kiri-mon) on both sides. According to seller: Bizen-Yoshirō school (or Heianjō school). Unsigned.
Momoyama period. End of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century. Dimensions: Diameter: 99.5 mm; Thickness: 2.1 mm at centre; 4.3 mm at the rim. According to Merrily Baird (Symbols of Japan), "bamboo teamed with paulownia blossoms or with paulownia and the phoenix, in reference to the Chinese legend that the phoenix perches only on the paulownia and eats only the bamboo". Citation from http://www.clevelandart.org/art/1986.2.1: "The immense heraldic birds on display [...] reflect the Momoyama era's spirit of newly gained self-confidence and an affinity for grand expressive statements in painting, architecture, the textile and ceramic arts, as well as garden design. While that period preceded the arrival of prosperity, it clearly marked an extraordinary moment in Japanese cultural history, one frequently compared with the twelfth century of the Heian period. [...] Rather than an emblem of immortality, as it is in Western lore, in Japan, the phoenix evolved out of its origins in Chinese mythology to become, by the sixteenth century, an auspicious symbol of political authority. Together with clusters of the distinctively shaped paulownia leaves, this long-tailed, mythical bird [...] proclaiming an air of graceful command".
Queen Mother of the West is a calque of Xiwangmu in Chinese sources, Seiōbo in Japan. Peaches of Immortality (Chinese: 仙桃) are consumed by the immortals due to their mystic virtue of conferring longevity on all who eat them.
Provenance: Charles Ephrussi (1849-1905) acquired in the 1870s; a wedding gift in 1898 to his cousin Ritter Viktor von Ephrussi (1860-1945) and Baroness Emilie (Emmy) Schey von Koromla (1879-1938); retrieved post-war by their daughter Elizabeth de Waal (1899-1991); given by her to her brother Ignaz (Iggie) Ephrussi (1906-1994), Tokyo; bequeathed by him to his great-nephew Edmund de Waal (born 1964), London, author of “The Hare with Amber Eyes: a hidden inheritance”. London / New York: Chatto & Windus / Farrar, Straus & Giroux. ISBN 978-0099539551. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ephrussi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephrussi_family. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_de_Waal.
Book size: 25.5 x 21 cm. Hardbound: original olive cloth, lettering and elements on FC and lettering on Sp.
Ex Libris Dr. H. Smidt, with the motto: "Sapienti sat" and a naked bold man at the seashore, holding a fruit behind his back.
Full title: Japanische Schwertzieraten. Beschreibung einer kunstgeschichtlich geordneten Sammlung, mit Charakteristiken der Künstler und Schulen von Gustav Jacoby. Hierzu siebenunddreissig Tafeln in Heliogravüre. [The second volume, which conteined 'heliogravures' is missing and had not be found elsewhere].
