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    Torquato Tasso. La Gierusalemme liberata. — Genoa: Girolamo Bartoli, 1590.

    Engraved title with the portrait of Torquato Tasso, displayed in an oval medallion, bound in “TORQUATO TASSO”, between two naked putti; Architecture with two columns and Ionic capitals supporting an architectural pediment; between the columns is a table with the inscription: LA GIERVSALEMME | LIBERATA | DI TORQVATO TASSO | Con le Figure di Bernardo | CASTELLO; | E le Annotazioni di Scipio | GENTILI, e di Giulio | GVASTAVINI. | IN GENOVA. M.D.LXXXX .|| Contents: The 20 cantos are followed by: Tutte le stanza intere, che dall'autore sono state refiutate in questo libro; Annotationi di Scipio Gentili; Luoghi osservati dal mag. Giulio Guastavini, quali il Tasso nella sua Gierusalemme hà presi & imitati da poeti & altri scrittori antichi; Allegoria del poema; Tavola di tutti i nomi proprii et di tutte le materie principali contenute nel presente libro. Pagination: [2] engraved t.p. / blank, 3-11, [1] 2-255 [256], 1-71 [72] [1] 2-40, 4 unpag. leaves ‘Allegoria del poema’; total 387 pp. Collation: 8vo; π6 A-Q8 A-D8 E4 A-B8 χ4 (in the first quire M4 marked L4), ills. signed in collation. At p. 17 canto 3rd marked as 2nd, pp. 135 and 139 in 12th canto marked as 11th. Binding: later full polished calf, blind double-ruled covers, blind double-ruled raised bands, gilt lettering: GIERVSALEMME | LIBERATA and GENOVA | 1590. TMG. Printed on laid paper. Front joints split at head and tail. Title page and twenty full-page ill. facing the opening of each canto, engraved by Agostino Carracci and Giacomo Franco after Castello. Those for cantos 6-8, 10, 12, 16-17, 19-20 are by Carracci, 8 and 19 with his initials. The remainder are by Franco and are signed by him. Woodcut head and tailpieces, the Argomenti at the head of each canto within cartouches, initials. Catalogue raisonné: Adam Bartsch. Le peintre graveur. — Vienne: J. V. Degen, 1803.

    Author: Written by Torquato Tasso (Italian, Sorrento 1544–1595 Rome)

    Designer: Illustrations designed by Bernardo Castello (Italian, Genoa (?) 1557–1629 Genoa)

    Engraver: Illustrations engraved by Agostino Carracci (Italian, Bologna 1557–1602 Parma)

    Engraver: Illustrations engraved by Giacomo Franco (Italian, Venice 1550–1620 Venice)

    Publisher: Published by Girolamo Bartoli , Genoa

    Ref.: MET, HathiTrust,
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  • Torquato Tasso. Rime: Parte prima / Insieme con altri componimenti del medesimo. — Venice: [Aldus Manutius the Younger], 1581.

    Title-page: RIME | DEL SIGNOR | TORQUATO | TASSO. | PARTE PRIMA. | Insieme con altri componimenti | del medesimo | CON PRIVILEGIO. | {publisher’s device} | IN VINEGIA, M D LXXXI. || Contents: 1. Rime; 2. Aminta favola boscareccia; 3. Conclusioni amorose; 4. Il Romeo, overo del Giuoco dialogo; 5. Lettera, nellaquale paragona l’Italia alla Francia; 6. All’eccellentis signor Duca di Urbino; 7. Dialogo del l’amor. Pagination: [2 blanks], [2] – t.p. / blank, [4] dedication, [2] – blank / content, [16] – tavola, [1] 2-160 – rime, [8] [1] 2-74 – aminta, [4] 1-9 [10 blank] – conclusion, [2] [1]-22  – dialogo, [2] 1-27 [28 blank] – lettera, [2] 1-4 – all’eccellentiss, [4 blanks], [2] 1-17 [18 blank] – dialogo del l’amor, [2] – Car. 52 / Car. 113., [4 blanks], total 372 pages. Collation: 8vo; first blank, *4, **8, A-K8, 2A-2L8 M4, last blank; total 186 leaves, incl. first and last blanks. Note: 2F2, 2G1, 2K4, 2L1, and 2M3,4 – unsigned. Binding: 15.2 x 10.3 cm, 19th-century polished calf by Duke St., St. James, London (ticket) Cambridge panels ruled in gilt with fleurons at corners, two crimson labels to spine with gilt lettering, gilt in compartments, raised bands ruled gilt, rebacked, AEG, bookplate to front pastedown: “BIBLIOTECA | del | Conte Leonardo Vitetti | Ambasciatore d’Italia” in a frame, and “The Robin Collection” to FEP. Inset a card from Bryn Mawr College Library. Provenance: Satinsky, Robin F. (American, 1919 – 2008), The Robin Collection. Count Leonardo Vitetti (Italian, 1895 – 1973) Bryn Mawr College Library (Pennsylvania) Contributors: Torquato Tasso (Italian, 1544 –1595) – author. Aldus Manutius, the Younger (Italian, 1547 – 1597) – printer, publisher.
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  • Tōshō tsuba with design of dragonfly. Muromachi period.

    Iron tsuba of round form decorated with design of dragonfly in negative openwork (in-sukashi). It may be Ko-Tōshō (old Tōshō) or just Tōshō school, without a 'Ko'. Probably the dragonfly here is used as a family crest (mon). Muromachi period. However, Boris Markhasin and Skip Holbrook insist this is a 20th-century machine-made tsuba. Dimensions: Height: 95.0 mm. Width: 93.6 mm. Rim thickness: 2.1 mm. Center thickness: 2.3 mm. Nakago-ana: height = 30 mm, width = 7.8 mm. A dragonfly design is described by John W. Dower as following "During the period of feudal warfare, the dragonfly is reputed to have been am especially popular design applied to arrow quivers, and some warriors adopted it as a family crest. One reason for this was the insect's alternative names of katsu mushi and shogun mushi, both meaning 'victory insect'." Merrily Baird is even more talkative regarding the matter: "The dragonfly (tombo) in Japan is emblematic of martial success, as various names for the insect are homophones for words meaning "victory". The dragonfly is also auspicious because references in the Kojiki and Nihongi link it in both name and shape to the old kingdom of Yamato. This legacy has led to the use of dragonfly as an emblem on arrow quivers and as family crest. It also appears occasionally in conjunction with such imperial motifs as the chrysanthemum. Used in a context devoid of historical associations, the dragonfly is a seasonal symbol of late summer and early autumn." Dragonfly was an extremely often motif for the tsuba in all times, primarily in earlier times, before Tokugawa pacified the nation. The same motif is used on Ōnin tsuba in this collection:
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  • Tōshō tsuba with design of rudder and oar. Muromachi period.

    Round tsuba of iron; well forged thin plate decorated with a rudder (kaji) and an oar, or paddle (kai) with a water drop, executed in a combination of negative (in-sukashi) and positive (ji-sukashi) openwork. It may be Ko-Tōshō (old Tōshō) or just Tōshō school, without a 'Ko'. The characteristics of the plate point toward an older piece, however the combination of negative and positive silhouettes pulls the date of manufacture in an opposite direction. Muromachi period. Height: 90.0 mm. Width: 89.0 mm. Rim thickness: 2.1 mm. Center thickness: 2.3 mm. Nakago-ana: height = 29 mm, width = 8.8 mm. A rudder and an oar design is classified by John W. Dower as "Sailing vessels and gear": "Unlike many other motifs, sailing vessels and sailing gear failed to collect an interesting lore or to develop levels of meaning." Merrily Baird does not say anything about these symbols. Yuzuri Okada says: "Ships, sails, rudders, etc. also supply motive of the same class as wheels." He does not provide us with the description of the motive supplied by the wheel. The same motif is used on Ōnin tsuba in this collection:
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  • Tsuba with design of bellflowers and vines / Momoyama period (1574 – 1603).

    Iron tsuba of the round form (丸型, maru–gata), decorated with brass flat inlay (平象嵌, hira-zōgan) of bellflowers, leaves, and vines on both sides, inlaid brass is carved in low relief; wide rim (dote-mimi) also inlaid; the plate is pierced with hitsu-ana (probably original); nakago-ana plugged with copper sekigane. Dimensions: Height: 84.1 mm; Width: 82.0 mm; Thickness (centre): 2.8 mm; mimi is 11.8 mm wide and 4.7 mm thick. Produced at the end of the 16th century, in the Momoyama period (1674–1703).  
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  • Tsuba with design of melon flowers. Muromachi or Momoyama period, 16th century.

    Iron tsuba of slightly elongated round form decorated with design of melon flowers, vines, and leaves in brass flat inlay (hira-zōgan) on both sides. Slightly raised rim (mimi) carved in a way to simulate ring-shaped covering (fukurin). Kozuka hitsu-ana and kogai hitsu-ana both plugged with soft metal (tim or lead). Copper sekigane. Heianjō or Kaga School. Muromachi or Momoyama period, 16th century. Iron, hira-zōgan brass inlay. Round (maru gata) form, diameter 79 mm. Size: 80.3 x 78.4 mm; thickness at seppa-dai: 3.4 mm; at the middle: 3.8 mm; before the rim: 2.4 mm, rim: 2.8 mm. Note on design: though this design resembles family crests with oak and mulberry leaves, I believe it's  a melon flower [see Jeanne Allen. Designer's guide to Samurai Patterns. Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 1990, page 114, №130 "Melon Flowers":

    Jeanne Allen. Designer's guide to Samurai Patterns. Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 1990. Page 114, №130.

    Note about the distribution of thickness (niku-oki): "this tsuba has toroid features, niku raises from the rim towards the centre but thins once more out when approaching the seppa-dai" [M. Sesko, "Handbook...", p. 48].
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  • Tsuba with design of water wheel, cherry blossom, and waves. Momoyama period.

    Iron tsuba of round form decorated with design of sea waves in low relief carving (kebori) and pierced with design of cherry blossom in negative silhouette (in-sukashi) and water wheel in positive silhouette (ji-sukashi). The solid portion of the plate has a shallow groove just before the edge. Copper sekigane. School attribution is unclear. Unsigned. Momoyama period, 16th - 17th century. Dimensions: Height: 70.3 mm, width: 71.1 mm, thickness at seppa-dai: 4.4 mm, at rim 4.1 mm. Provenance: Robert E. Haynes, Mark Weisman. This is what shibuiswords.com says about this tsuba:
    "A very unusual iron plate tsuba. The solid plate is carved with waves on both sides. A cherry bloom in sukashi, lower left, and the right third of the plate in openwork with design of a water wheel. The rim with some iron bones. The hitsu-ana is original but the shape may have been slightly changed. One would expect this to be the work of the early Edo period, but the age of the walls of the sukashi would suggest that this is a work of the middle Muromachi period. This must be the forerunner for the Edo examples we see of this type of design." (Haynes)
    I managed to find a look-a-like tsuba in Haynes Catalog #5, 1983, pp. 20-21, №44: "Typical later Heianjo brass inlay example. Ca. 1725. Ht. 7 cm., Th. 4.5 mm., $100/200".

    Haynes Catalog #5, 1983, pp. 20-21, №44.

    We see that the  plate design of both tsuba is the same, and the only difference is the trim. It would be logical to assume that both pieces were made at about the same time, rather than 225 years apart. To be fair, let's accept that they were made in Momoyama period.
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  • Yoshirō brass inlay tantō tsuba by Koike Naomasa; Momoyama period (1574 – 1603).

    Small iron tsuba for a dagger (tantō), of quatrefoil form (mokkō-gata), with raised rim (mimi), decorated with flat brass inlay (hira-zōgan) to form an abstract design alluding to the mushroom of immortality (reishi). Opening (hitsu-ana) to the left of nakaga-ana probably cut later and fitted with shakudo sekigane. Maker's signature on seppa-dai: Koike Naomasa (小池 直正).

    Momoyama period: End of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century. Dimensions: Height 53.7 mm; Width: 45.5 mm; Thickness at centre: 3.5 mm; at rim: 4.9 mm. Other examples of signed Koike Naomasa work in this collection: TSU-0346. Reference: The closest example in literature is in Compton Collection (II): №11 with the description: “A Koike School tsuba, Edo period (circa 1625), signed Koike Yoshiro. Sheet-brass flush inlay of cloud forms and wire inlay creating the same shape. Koike Yoshiro Naomasa worked from the Keicho to the Genna periods (1596-1623). He arrived in Kyoto from Kaga.” [Japanese Swords and Sword Fittings from the Collection of Dr. Walter Ames Compton (Part II) / Sebastian Izzard, Yoshinori Munemura. — Christie's, New York, October 22, 1992]. See: Yoshirō tsuba.    
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  • Yoshirō mon-sukashi tsuba by Koike Naomasa. Momoyama or early Edo period (1574 – 1650).

    The so-called Yoshirō-tsuba [与四郎鐔] with an iron plate of mokkō form densely decorated with floral arabesque and adorned with eight pierced, chiselled and inlaid brass roundels and signed on both sides 'Koike Yoshirō Izumi no Kami Naomasa'. Four of the roundels are pierced and have geometrical designs representing flowers (e.g. wood sorrel) or snowflakes. Four others are solid and represent family crests; on one side: Mulberry (kaji) – mon of the Matsunaga clan [松永氏], Bamboo Grass (sasa) – mon of the Takenaka clan [竹中氏]), Wild Geese (kari) – mon of the Shibata clan [新発田氏]), and Pine Needles (matsuba); on the other side: Nine Stars (kuyō) – the Hosokawa clan [細川氏], Paulownia (kiri) – the Toyotomi clan [豊臣氏]), Bamboo Leaves (take) – the Minamoto clan [源], and Seven Treasures (shippo) – Izumo Genji clan [出雲源氏]. Hitsu-ana obliterated with a nanako-treated pewter plug. Brass with rainbow patina. Artist: Koike Izumi no Kami Naomasa (Japanese, active late 16th – early 17th century). The Momoyama or early Edo period, end of the 16th to the first half of the 17th century (1574-1650). Size: 81.7 x 78.8 x 4.3 cm. Provenance: Dr. Kazutaro Torigoye. Special thanks to Markus Sesko for providing the translation of hakogaki. Hakokaki lid (outside): 小池与四郎 – Koike Yoshirō Hakokaki lid (inside): 銘曰小池与四郎 – Mei’etsu: Koike Yoshirō – Signed: Koike Yoshirō 和泉守直正 – Izumi no Kami Naomasa – Izumi no Kami Naomasa 木瓜形 鉄地 – Mokkōgata, tetsu-ji – Lobed shape, of iron 真鍮据紋象嵌 – Shinchū suemon-zōgan – with brass suemon-zōgan inlay 縦二寸七分横二寸六分 – Tate ni-sun shichi-bu, yoko ni-sun roku-bu – Height 8.2 cm, width 7.9 cm 右正真也 – Migi shōshin nari – Above described object is authentic 昭和廾九年八月十一日 – Shōwa nijūkyūnen hachigatsu jūichinichi – August 11, 1954 草堂「花押」– Sōdō + kaō – Sōdō [pen name of Torigoye Kazutarō, 鳥越一太郎] + monogram Ref.: (1) Tsuba Geijutsu-Ko by Kazutaro Torigoye, 1960; (2) Tsuba. An aesthetic study. By Kazutaro Torigoye and Robert E. Haynes from the Tsuba Geijutsu-kō of Kazataro Torigoye. Edited and published by Alan L. Harvie for the Nothern California Japanese Sword Club, 1994-1997, p. Yoshirō, 4. See also Yoshirō tsuba.  
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  • Yoshirō mon-sukashi tsuba. — Momoyama or early Edo period (c. 1600)

    Iron tsuba of round form decorated with eight roundels – circular emblems of flowers and/or family crests (mon) made of cast brass, pierced and chiseled in kebori, and with flat brass inlay (hira-zōgan) of vines or leaves all over the plate. Both hitsu-ana trimmed in brass. Nakago-ana of rectangular form, with copper sekigane. Four positive openwork (ji-sukashi) roundels at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock; and four negative openwork (in-sukashi) roundels with cherry blossom, bellflower, and two variations on suhama theme. Yoshirō school (Kaga-Yoshirō). The Momoyama or early Edo period, late 16th to early 17th century. Size: diameter 81.4 mm, thickness 4.7 mmat seppa-dai, 4.0 mm at rim. Christie's lot description: AN IRON TSUBA; EDO PERIOD (17TH CENTURY). THE DOLPHYN COLLECTION OF SAMURAI ART. The round iron tsuba pierced with roundels of various floral motifs interspersed among scrolling foliage, all inlaid with brass. 8.1 cm. high. Provenance: Pabst Collection (no. 338).
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  • Yoshirō mon-sukashi tsuba. Momoyama or early Edo period (1574-1650).

    Iron tsuba of round form, tapering from centre to the rim, decorated with eight roundels – circular emblems of flowers and/or family crests (mon) made of cast brass, pierced and chiselled in kebori, and with flat brass inlay (hira-zōgan) of water plantain (omodaka) and seaweed all over the plate. Hitsu-ana outlined in brass. Four positive silhouette roundels are 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12 – pointing crests/flowers; four negative silhouette roundels – bellflower, cherry and plum blossoms. Yoshirō school (Kaga-Yoshirō). Unsigned. The Momoyama or early Edo period, end of the 16th to the first half of the 17th century (1574-1650). Size: H: 88.3 mm; W: 88.7 mm; Thickness 4.0 mm (Seppa-dai), 3,2 cm (rim). Other Kaga-Yoshiro tsuba in this collection: TSU-0334: 7.7 cm; TSU-0342.2017: 89.6 cm; TSU-0344: 8.1 cm; TSU-0329: 8.0 cm; TSU-0376.2018: 8.1 cm; TSU-0379.2018: 8.2 cm. We see that the usual size is about 8 cm; larger pieces, such as this one and TSU-0342.2017 dedicated to Hachiman, are rare. Article about Yoshiro tsuba.
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  • Yoshirō mon-sukashi tsuba. Momoyama period (1574 – 1615).

    Iron tsuba of round form decorated with eight roundels – circular emblems of flowers and/or family crests (mon) made of cast brass, pierced and chiselled in kebori, and with flat brass inlay (hira-zōgan) of vines or leaves all over the plate. Both hitsu-ana are trimmed with brass. Nakago-ana of trapezoidal form. A distinctive character of this tsuba is a mon at 12 hours, depicting paulownia, or Kiri-mon [桐紋] – a symbol of the Toyotomi clan, led by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豊臣 秀吉, 1537 – 1598). Kiri-mon was also used as fuku-mon (alternative family crests) for the Imperial Family and Imperial Court. Another important emblem at 6 o’clock is the Katakura clan [片倉氏, Katakura-shi] family crest. Katakura Kagetsuna (片倉 景綱, 1557 – 1615), a retainer of Date Masamune (伊達 政宗, 1567 – 1636); Kagetsuna was operational in Hideyoshi’s Odawara campaign in 1590, which ultimately ended the unification of Japan. Unsigned but may be attributed to Koike Yoshirō Naomasa or his workshop (Yoshirō, orKaga-Yoshirō school). Dimensions: Diameter: 85.5 mm; Thickness at seppa-dai: 5.0 mm.

    Kiri-mon

    Katakura-mon
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