Copper tsuba of slightly elongated round form carved in low relief (usuniku-bori, katakiri bori) with the design of a mythical creature: a horse, however, with divided hoofs, with anthropomorphic (human-like) face though with a vertically positioned third eye on the forehead, and a corn. Certain elements of the image accentuated with gold iroe. On the back: flowers and grasses carved in katakiribori technique. Shakudō fukurin.
Edo period.
Dimensions: 70.7 x 70.2 x 3.7 mm In a custom wooden box.
A copper tsuba with ishime-ji ground carved and polished (migaki-ji) with sitting Daruma; his eyes are inlaid with shakudo and he has a golden earring. The reverse carved with four characters: 廓 然 無 性 (Kakunen-mushō). It is a Zen proverb that goes back to Bodhidharma (Daruma), meaning "boundless expanse and nothing that can be called holy." [Markus Sesko translation]. Shakudo fukurin.
Unsigned.
Edo period (circa 1800). Dimensions: 68.2 x 65.5 x 4.8 (center) x 3.2 (rim) mm
Copper tsuba of slightly elongated round form carved in low relief (shishiaibori and sukisagebori) and inlaid in gold, silver and shakudō with the design of dreaming Rosei (Lu Sheng): he is half-sitting by the pillow with his eyes closed, holding his fan, with a scroll by his feet, surrounded by flying butterflies.
Edo period, first half of the 18th century.
Dimensions: 70.8 x 67.1 x 5.0 mm. Signed on the reverse: Jōi (乗 意) + Kaō. Sugiura Jōi [杉 浦 乗 意] (1701-1761) was a master of Nara School in Edo; he was a student of Toshinaga [M. Sesko, ‘Genealogies’, p. 32]. “Sugiura Jōi (1701-1761) made many fuchigashira and kozuka, tsuba are rather rare.” [M. Sesko, The Japanese toso-kinko Schools, pp. 148-149]. On Rosei (Lu Sheng) dream's legend see Legend in Japanese Art by Henri L. Joly (1908 edition) on page 293.
Size: 71.5 x 70.0 x 3.0 mm.
An iron tsuba of oval form decorated with a water plantain (omodaka) carved in low relief and water drops inlaid in gold.
Signed: Bushū jū Masamitsu.
Bushū-Itō school.Height: 71.8; Width: 67.3; Thickness: 3.6; Weight: 96 g.
Mid to late Edo period; 18th-19th century.
There were several tsuba artists with the name of Masamitsu. The one who worked with iron and spelled [正光] is mentioned at Markus Sesko's 'Genealogies' on page 106 in Akasaka School of Edo section as Masamitsu Gorōbei , student of Tadatoki, 4th generation Akasaka master. The name is not mentioned at Torigoye/Haynes 'Tsuba. An Aesthetic Study' in the list of Bushū-Itō family masters on page 181.
An iron tsuba of slightly vertically elongated circular form carved and pierced with a mass of ivy (tsuta) leaves and tendrils, details damascened with gold in nunome-zōgan technique. Hitsu-ana with raised rim.
Unsigned.
Chōshū school.Height: 72.0 mm; width: 69.0 mm; thickness: 4.7 mm; Weight: 92 g.
According to John W. Dower, "ivy bears fairly close resemblance to both maple leaf and grape leaf". However, I consider this tsuba decorated with ivy leaves for several reasons, such as the lack of racemations in the presence of tendrils.
Iron tsuba of oval form carved with a landscape motif. Kogai-hitsu-ana plugged with shakudo. Sekigane of copper.
Signed: Chōshū Hagi-jū Tomohisa saku (長州萩住友久作).
Tomohisa, adopted son of Rokurō'emon, was 3rd generation master of Kawaji School from Hagi in Nagato (Chōshū), lived 1687-1743 [M. Sesko 'Genealogies', page 117].
Edo period, circa 1700. Dimensions: 71.1 x 66.8 x 2.9 mm For his adopted son Hisatsugu work see TSU-0103 in this collection.
Iron tsuba pierced and carved (marubori-sukashi) with the 'horse in the round' design. Possibly, Bushū-Ito school, 19th century (ca. 1800). Kogai-hitsu-ana plugged with shakudō.
Size: 67.6 x 66.8 x 5.1 mm
Unsigned.
See:
Hartman collection, №59.
The Caldwell Collection. Heianjo Sadatsune, Edo period (18th century).
Iron tsuba of mokkō-form with a pine and a frog on the face and a snail on the back, carved and inlaid with gold. Each figurative element of the design is signed on three inlaid cartouches: Masaharu (正春), Kazuyuki (一之), and Yoshikazu (良一) [read by Markus Sesko]. Snake, snail, and frog together make a design called "SANSUKUMI" - Three Cringing Ones [Merrily Baird]. The snail can poison the snake, the frog eats the snail, and the snake eats the frog. It's unclear whether the pine replaces the snake on this tsuba, or the snake is hiding in the pine? Anyway, the frog and the snail are clearly represented. "Maybe we have here a joint work with Masaharu (the silver cartouche next to the pine) being the master and making the plate and Kazuyuki and Yoshikazu as his students carving out the frog and the snail respectively". Copper sekigane.
Dimensions: 70.9 x 67.2 x 3.0 mm. Edo period (18th century).Markus Sesko writes: "I agree, the frog and the snail most likely allude to the san-sukumi motif. It is possible that we have here an artist's choice to deliberately leave out the snake, maybe he thought that the motif is already obvious and there is no need to add a snake to make it clear that the tsuba shows the san-sukumi motif." [Markus Sesko].
Kazuyuki (一之): adopted son of Kumagai Yoshiyuki, student of Ichijō (Gotō-Ichijō Scool) [M. Sesko 'Genealogies', page 19.] Masaharu (正春): Kasuya fam., student of Masamichi (1707-1757) who was the 4th generation Nomura School master in Edo. [M. Sesko 'Genealogies', page 49.]
Iron tsuba of circular form with a branch of loquat (biwa) pierced in positive silhouette (ji-sukashi) and carved in marubori technique (marubori-sukashi). Kozuka and kogai hitsu-ana are plugged with shakudo.
Signature: Choshu Kawaji ju Hisatsugu saku. Chōshū school in Nagato province.
According to M. Sesko 'Genealogies' Hisatsugu was a 4th generation Kawaji School master from Chōshū (present day Nagato), with the name Gonbei, formerly Toramatsu, adopted son of Tomohisa (1687-1743) [page 117]. For Tomohisa work see TSU-0104 in this collection.
Iron tsuba of round form decorated with the design of distant pines, torii, and crescent moon in openwork (sukashi). Copper sekigane.
Size: 84.9 x 84.8 x 5.8 mm.
Unsigned.
Edo period, ca. 1750.
Tosa Myochin or Akasaka school.Japanese Swords and Sword Fittings from the Collection of Dr. Walter Ames Compton (Part I). Christie's, New York, March 31, 1992, pp. 28-29, № 53:
"A Tosa Myochin School Tsuba. Edo period (circa 1750), signed Toshu ju Kuniyoshi saku. The round iron plate pierced with a design of a temple gate (torii) and a pine tree. It has a round rim and there are some carved details on the surface of the design. The Tosa Myochin school, despite its foundation in the classic Myochin armor school tradition, worked mainly in the style of Akasaka school of Edo. [...] Many are equal to the mid to later Akasaka school work and the two types have frequently been confused. Signed examples are rare. Estimated price $1,500-2,000."
Compton Collection, Vol. 1, №53
Large oval form tsuba decorated with two human figures (scholar and attendant) under the pine tree admiring a view of a waterfall on the face of the plate, and with stylized dragons carved on the reverse among the symbols of thunder inlaid in gold. The plate is carved in low relief with details inlaid with gold and silver.
Signed: Yamashiro no kuni Fushimi no ju Kaneie [Kaneie of Fushimi in Yamashiro Province] [山城國伏見住金家], with Kaō. It is a fake signature (
Size: Height: 91.9 mm; Width: 85.6 mm; Thickness: 3.4 mm; Weight: 169 g.
This is a late Edo period, 19th-century export work to cater to the tastes of the European tsuba collectors. It does not have anything in common with the work of great Kaneie masters.
SOLD
Sentoku tsuba of oval form with Sennin (Chinese immortal) motif carved in low relief (katakiribori). The Sennin is depicted with a double gourd in his right hand and a child beside his left hip. A pine tree carved on the reverse.
Signed: Sōmin saku (宗眠作) [M.Sesko]. Yokoya School (see The Japanese toso-kinko Schools by Markus Sesko, pp. 133-8).
Edo period (second half of the 18th century). Dimensions: Height: 61.6 mm; Width: 56.4 mm; Thickness: 4.2 mm; Weight: 85 g.
Iron tsuba of round form decorated with design of keys to the storehouse of the gods in openwork (sukashi). Rounded rim. Copper sekigane.
Unsigned. Early Edo period, 17th century.
Size: 71.0 x 70.9 x 6.0 mm.Merrily Baird, Symbols..: The Key to the Storehouse of the Gods, one of the Myriad Treasures.
Iron tsuba of oval form pierced with design of slanting rays of light (shakoh), a Christian motif (Jesuit’s IHS symbol), and a pair of tassels in positive silhouette (ji-sukashi). Details on tassels carved in low relief. Traditional description of this kind of design is called “tokei”, or “clock gear”. Rounded rim.
Unsigned.
Edo period, 17th or 18th century. Possibly - Owari school.
Size: 76.0 x 73.0 x 6.2 mm.
Segawa Kikunojō III (Japanese, 1751 – 1810); other names: Segawa Senjo, Segawa Rokō III, Segawa Tomisaburō I, Ichiyama Tomisaburō, Ichiyama Shichinosuke. The actor held the name of Segawa Kikunojō III from the 11th lunar month of 1774 to the 7th lunar month of 1801. He surpassed all the actors of his time in both female and male roles, especially in the former, and achieved tremendous public acclaim.
Arashi Hinasuke II [嵐雛助] (Japanese, c. 1774 – 1801); other names: Nakamura Jūzō III, Kanō Hidenosuke I, Arashi Hidenosuke I. The actor held the name of Arashi Hinasuke II from the 1st lunar month of 1794 to the 2nd lunar month of 1801. Hi died in Edo on the 4th day of the 2nd lunar month of 1801. For the same characters illustrated by Utagawa Kuniyoshi see SVJP-0333.2021.
Sources:
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.
Attributed to Katsukawa Shunshō, fl. 1726–92. Publisher: Uemura from Shiba (Edo). Marks "Publishers": U361|25-300: Uemura han (1793-1813). Marks "Artists, publishers...": Emiya Kichiemon (1688-1835). Artist signature absent. Looks very much like Pins #565 [p.223], but NOT the same. This exact design has not been found anywhere.
Ivory netsuke with the design of wrestling Oni by Kaigyokusai Masatsugu [懐玉齋正次].
Signed: Masatsugu [正次] Osaka School. Made: 1850-1900; Late Edo - Meiji Period. Dimensions: 44 x 40 x 33 mm.The right hand of the upper Oni and one toe of the lower Oni are missing. Ref.: Raymond Bushell. Collector's netsuke. Weatherhill, NY, Tokyo; Ninth printing, 2002, pp. 84-87. "Kaigyokusai Masatsugu (1813-1892) was an Osaka based carver renowned for his flawless technique as illustrated upon this netsuke with its finely carved ivory form, with no staining and bright inlaid eyes" (V&A).
See also Maiko Beach, Harima Province, from the series Views of Famous Places in the Sixty-Odd Provinces,
Iron tsuba of round form pierced (sukashi) and carved (marubori) with a 'noshi' decoration design. Noshi - decoration made of dried abalone (awabi) and bearing an auspicious connotation of good fortune, prosperity, etc. Design was used as a family crest (mon).
Size: 76.3 x 75.9 x 5.5 mm.
Signed: Echizen jū Kinai Saku. Kinai school existed from mid 17th to mid 19th century; it is hard to tell which master (generation from 1 to 6) made this particular piece.
SOLD
Small iron tsuba (tantō size) of aoi form with the design of paulownia leaves and blossoms in copper and brass flat inlay (hira-zōgan). Brass sekigane. Open kozuka hitsu-ana.
Early Edo period, 17th century.
Size: 53.4 x 40.7 x 4.4 mm; weight: 47.4 g
