Iron tsuba of round form represents an eight-spoke Wheel-of-the-Law and in the same time (because of the inner shape of cut-outs) - a sixteen-petal imperial chrysanthemum in openwork (sukashi). Decorated on both sides with vines, leaves, and tendrils in suemon-zōgan and sen-zōgan. Spokes and hitsu-ana decorated with rope-like linear brass inlay (nawame-zōgan). A somewhat look-a-like tsuba is referenced in Gary D. Murtha's Japanese Sword Guards. Onin-Heianjo-Yoshiro book on page 61. Mr. Murtha attributes his piece to Heianjo school of Azuchi-Momoyama or early Edo period. However, tsuba in this collection looks older and bolder than the one in his book. It is larger (84 mm vs. his 66 mm), the spokes are longer, the inlay is of better quality, it is relatively thin, with deep black patina, and with the traces of lacquer (urushi). This may indicate that this tsuba belongs to Ōnin school and dates at least to late Muromachi period, ca. 1550, if not 1450 AD. Mid to late Muromachi period (ca. 1450-1550). Dimensions: 84.3 x 83.2 x 3.2 mm "In Japan, the Wheel-of-the-Law is an attribute of such deities as  Senju Kannon, the Thousand-Armed Kannon, and Dainichi Nyorai, the principal deity of Shingon Buddhism [Merrily Baird]. May be used as a family crest (mon).  

Iron tsuba of slightly elongated round form with design of wild geese and drops on pampas grass (masashino) in openwork (sukashi). Rounded rim. Copper sekigane. Owari school. Early Edo period: early 17th century (Kan-ei era). Height: 78.8 mm. Width: 76.3 mm. Rim thickness: 6.1 mm. Center thickness: 6.4 mm. Provenance: Sasano Masayuki Collection, № 169. A description of musashino symbolism can be found at Symbols of Japan by Merrily Baird [Merrily Baird. Symbols of Japan. Thematic motifs in art and design. Rizzoli international publications, Inc., 2001]: Musashino - "the plain of Musashi - a large expanse in the Tokyo area, was celebrated in poetry for the grasses that grew there before the recent era of industrialization... The use of Musashino themes was particularly common in the Momoyama and Edo periods". Pampas grass with dew drops and wild geese in flight collectively provide strong autumnal connotation.  

Large and thin iron tsuba of round form (width > height) decorated with the design of a tiger sheltering in bamboo in suemon-zōgan brass inlay. A fragment of tail inlay is missing. Bamboo leaves on the reverse. According to Merrily Baird [Symbols, p. 166], tiger sheltering in bamboo symbolizes "weak giving shelter to the strong". Momoyama period. Unsigned. Dimensions: 90.8 x 91.2 x 3.4 (center), 3.1 (rim) mm. Custom wooden box. NBTHK Certificate № 4001593.

Ko-kinko ymagane cast tsuba of oval form with chiseled diaper pattern of double head waves on both sides and a rabbit cast and carved with its eye inlaid in yellow metal (gold or brass) on the face. Fukurin which holds together the sandwiched layers of metal (sanmai) is about 2.7 mm wide. Possibly, early Mino (ko-Mino) school. Size: 66.6 x 59.9 x 4.0 mm. Some connoisseurs believe that this kind of tsuba was in mass production at the time. Small animal believed to be a fox, however some attribute it to a long-tailed rabbit or a squirrel. I am leaning towards the rabbit. Similar example is found at Robert E. Haynes Catalog №3, April 9-11, 1982 on page 11, under № 15: “Rare design in style of Sanmai (three layers) / Wasei work. With yamagane core and heavy rim cover. The web plates are carved with double head Goto style waves and the face has a fox. The web plates were riveted at the seppadai.  See Lot 4, page 8. Ca. 1350. Ht. 6.6 cm, th. 3 mm” [underscore mine]. Quality of photo is so poor that I decided not to provide it here. The only difference betwen my tsuba and his is that his has a square hole on the right shoulder of the seppa-dai. Early Muromachi (if we follow Robert it is even Nanbokucho, 1337-1392) or Momoyama period. The Momoyama attribution is mostly based on a fact that “waves and rabbit” motif became most popular in Momoyama times. Mokkōgata tsuba of similar design in this collection - see TSU-0282.  

Very fine iron plate well hammered and turned, tapering and rolling to the rounded edge. Tsuba of a cross-form mokko shape (juji-mokko-gata) decorated with spider web inlaid in gold on both sides. The face is carved with a silver-damascened spider holding a gold-damascened butterfly (nunome-zōgan). Kozuka and kogai hitsu-ana of inome (boar's eye) form. The udenuki ana may be of purely decorative purpose.

Signed: Yatsushiro [八代] Jingo Saku [甚吾作], a signature of Chisokutei Amatsune, one of the last Jingo masters.

Late Edo period, Tenpō era, 1830-1844.

Size: Height: 77.5 mm; Width: 72.8 mm; Thickness: 4.1 mm; Weight: 141 g.

In a custom wooden box.

Here is what Markus Sesko wrights in his book The Japanese toso-kinko Schools, 2012, on page 374:

An artist who worked in the style of the Shimizu-Jingo school was Chisokutei Amatsune (知足亭天常). He was actually a samurai from Yatsushiro who made tsuba as a sideline. An extant old hakogaki of one of his pieces mentions that he died in Edo in the sixth month of An'ei eight (1779) at the age of 73. But the era of An'ei is probably wrong because Chikokutei (sic) is today dated by most experts around Tenpō (1830-1844). His relationships with the Shimizu school or under which Jingo master he had studied are unknown. From the point of view of production time and the finishing of nakago-ana, he is rather associated with the 5th and last gen. Shigenaga who died in the seventh year of Kaei (1854). A peculiarity of  Chisokutei was that he signed his Jingo copies with  "Yatsushiro Jingo Saku" ([八代甚吾作) but added the small syllable "chi" (チ) or the character "Chi" (知) for "Chisokutei" to identify them as copies.

No longer available.

Iron tsuba of round form decorated with two boar's eyes (inome) and two dragonflies (tombo) in small openwork (ko-sukashi) outlined with brass wire. The plate also decorated with 2 to 5 concentric circular rows of brass dots (nail heads) in ten-zōgan. Center of the plate outlined with the inlaid circular brass wire. The inlaid metal is of red-ish hue, so it may be copper, and not brass. The surface has remnants of lacquer. Ōnin school. Mid Muromachi period, middle of 15th century. Dimensions: Diameter: 90 mm, thickness: 3.2 mm. Notes regarding design: "According to various sources, the dragonfly (tombo) 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."  [Merrily Baird. Symbols of Japan. Thematic motifs in art and design. Rizzoli international publications, Inc., 2001, p. 108]. "The dragonfly (tonbo), was also called kachimushi in earlier times, and due to the auspicious literal meaning "victory bug" of the characters of this word it became a popular theme on sword fittings." [Iron tsuba. The works of the exhibition "Kurogane no hana", The Japanese Sword Museum, 2014, p. 13]. Two other cutouts - in the form of what in European tradition symbolizes the heart, on the top and in the bottom of tsuba disc - may have two different explanations. The most usual one, inome - "Heart-shaped pattern, which is said to go back to the shape of a wild boar's eye" [Markus Sesko. Encyclopedia of Japanese Swords. Print and publishing: Lulu Enterprises, Inc., 2014.]. This understanding is shared by Robert Haynes [Robert E. Haynes. Study Collection of Japanese  Sword Fittings. Nihon Art Publishers, 2010.] and elsewhere, with an exception of Okabe-Kakuya [Okabe-Kakuya. JAPANESE SWORD GUARDS. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In cooperation with the department of Chinese and Japanese art; - 1908, p. 14], who provides the illustration of inome-shaped cut-outs with the following explanation: " The tsuba shown in Fig. 13 approaches a square form with rounded corners and is perforated with Aoi decoration. But this book was written long time ago, when people even at MFA might not know enough... The same interpretation of the said heart-like symbol (aoi leaf) is given at Helen C. Gunsaulus. Japanese sword-mounts in the collection of Field Museum. // Publication 216, Anthropological Series, Volume XVI; Chicago, 1923; p. 54: "This mokkō-formed tsuba recalls the aoi form, perforated as it is with the four aoi leaves." It is possible that the "wild boar's eye" theory was developed by later scholars.   There is also a theory, supported by Graham Gemmell, saying that: “In simple terms Onin works are decorated Ko-Katchushi tsuba. … But, not content with iron alone, they began to decorate it with what was, in the early Muromachi period, a rare and valuable metal, brass. The Onin workers cut the design into the iron, using narrow channels, cast the brass, piece by piece, and then hammered it into the iron plate as though they were putting together a jigsaw. When complete the tsuba would be black lacquered exactly as the plain iron ones had been, the brass shining dully through it in a way that fulfilled the goal of shibui or restrained elegance.” [Tosogu. Treasure of the samurai. Fine Japanese Sword Fittings from The Muromachi to The Meiji Period, by Graham Gemmell. // Sarzi-Amadè Limited, London, 1991. An exhibition held in London from 21st March to 4th April, 1991]. The following illustration from Helen C. Gunsaulus. Japanese sword-mounts in the collection of Field Museum. // Publication 216, Anthropological Series, Volume XVI; Chicago, 1923; pp. 43 supports the idea. Helen C. Gunsaulus' description of the dragonfly emblem is as follows: "This motive, the dragon-fly  (akitsu), is generally accepted as a symbol of the kingdom of Japan, and the origin of the idea is traced to the legend recounted in the Kojiki and Nihongo of the Emperor Jimmu's view of the island from mountain top. He is said to have thought the kingdom looked like a dragon-fly touching its tail with its mouth. From this it received its name Akitsu-shima... etc."  

Iron tsuba of mokko form decorated with brass flat inlay (hira-zōgan) all over on both sits and going over the rounded rim. Black patina, well-forged iron. Hitsu-ana outlined with brass inlay. Former owner's catalogue number in red paint reads 25-17-61. Gary D. Murtha provides detailed account of this type of tsuba in Japanese Sword Guards. Onin-Heianjo-Yoshiro book on pages 118-122. He calls this type of tsuba "Heianjo Mogusa Tsuba": "The term mogusa is commonly used for an inlay design that represents an aquatic weed, similar to a duck weed or sago plant, which is known to quickly invade and overtake bodies of water. [...] Perhaps the visual image has some cross-over meaning for samurai in that, like the plant, a small aggressive samurai force could conquer a larger foe/area." I tried to find any reference to "mogusa" in literature, - to no avail. Neither on the vastness of internet, including Wikipedia... I did find the "duckweed" (one word), but visually it has nothing to do with the pattern on tsuba. "Sago plant" probably stands for 'Sago palm", and there is some very distant reminiscence in the construction of the sago palm leaf and the said design of inlay, but I would not go that far. In the old catalogues, such as Naunton and Hawkshaw collections, this pattern as called "sea weed" and/or "conventional fir". I will stick to these descriptions, tested by the time, and leave the enigmatic "mogusa" alone. Obviously, this type of tsuba has transformed into Yoshirō tsuba, both in Kaga province and Bizen province. Momoyama period (ca. 1660). Dimensions: 74.5 x 73.7 x 4.4 mm.

Iron tsuba of round form with design of the Chinese character for cinnabar (shu-no-ji) in openwork (sukashi). Round-cornered rim. Copper sekigane. Kanayama school. Early Edo period: Early 17th century (Kan-ei era). Height: 70.0 mm. Width: 69.6 mm. Rim thickness: 6.8 mm. Center thickness: 5.8 mm. Provenance: Sasano Masayuki Collection, № 139: "Many areas have a coarse texture and strong tekkotsu, with the thickness of the metal graduating from the rim to the seppa-dai. The combined color of the iron and motif date this work to the early Edo period".  

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.

Iron tsuba of round form with design of hatchet executed in openwork (sukashi) and three fan panels motif on both sides carved in low relief (sukidashi-bori). Designs on the fan panels - face: bellflower, plum blossom in mist, grass leaves; - back: clouds, grass, and half plum blossom in mist. Copper sekigane. Koga-hitsu-ana probably cut out on a later date. Kamakura or kamakura-bori school. Edo period. Height: 83.8 mm, Width: 82.2 mm, Thickness at seppa-dai: 3.2 mm. NBTHK certificate № 4005500: Hozon (worthy of preservation).

Ko-kinko ymagane cast tsuba of mokko form (kirikomi-mokkō-gata) with chiseled diaper pattern of double head waves on both sides and a rabbit cast and carved with its eye inlaid in yellow metal (gold or brass) on the face. Fukurin which holds together the sandwiched layers of metal (sanmai) is about 2.4 mm wide. A look-a-like tsub of oval form instead of mokko-gata  is illustrated at Robert E. Haynes's Catalog #3,1982 on page 11, lot 15: "Rare design in style of Sanmai (three layers) / Wasei work. With yamagane core and heavy rim cover. The web plates are carved with double head Goto style waves and the face has a fox. The web plates were riveted at the seppadai.  See Lot 4, page 8. Ca. 1350. Ht. 6.6 cm, th. 3 mm" [underscore mine]. Quality of photo is so poor that I decided not to provide it here. Muromachi (if we follow Robert) or Momoyama period. The Momoyama attribution is mostly based on a fact that "waves and rabbit" motif became most popular in Momoyama times. Size: 68.5 x 59.8 x 4.0 mm. NBTHK Certificate № 423120. This tsuba is listed at Yakiba website with the following passage: "Attributions as well as dating of this type of tsuba has been the subject debate over the years. There are those who believe these type of tsuba to be ko-Mino (early Mino School) tsuba, others believe them to be tachi-kanaguchi tsuba. Still others insist they are simply ko-kinko (early soft metal) tsuba. This tsuba was authenticated and determined to be "Ko-Kinko" by the NBTHK". Oval form tsuba with the same design can be found in this collection - TSU-0323.

Shingen school (or style) tsuba of round form with an iron core of spoked-wheel shape, with its centre covered with a copper plate decorated with star-shaped punch marks. From this copper plate outward, the body is formed by brass and copper wire (flat and twisted) in a weave pattern. Both hitsu-ana are outlined in brass with a raised rim. Copper sekigane. Unsigned. Edo period, 18th century. SOLD   Height: 98.0 mm, Width: 97.4 mm, Thickness at seppa-dai: 6.0 mm. Weight: 290 g. NBTHK certificate №436696: 'Hozon' attestation. Citing "JAPANESE SWORD-MOUNTS IN THE COLLECTIONS OF FIELD MUSEUM" by Helen C. Gunsaulus, Assistant Curator of Japanese Ethnology. 61 plates. Berthold Laufer, Curator of Anthropology. Field Museum of Natural History, Publication 216, Anthropological Series, Volume XVI; Chicago, 1923; p.45: "An unusual group of tsuba popular in the late sixteenth century and afterwards is made up of those guards known as Shingen tsuba, a name which was derived from a sixteenth-century warrior, Takeda Shingen (Takeda Harunobu, 1521-73), who is said to have preferred this style of guard, as it combined strength and lightness. Under the category of "Shingen", four different types abd generally listed, though a fifth appears in the drawings in the Boston Catalogue of Okabe Kakuya "Japanese Sword Guards" (p. 21). It is square, that form which is said to have been used in Ashikaga days for scaling walls, the sword having been set up as a step. [...] The following descriptions include, however, the Shingen tsuba usually met with.

1. So-called Mukade ("centipede") tsuba are made of iron in which a centepede is inlaid in brass or copper wire. Mukade tsuba of Myōchin and Umetada warkmanship have been found with the inscription, "Made to the taste of Takeda Shingen".
2. There are those of solid iron, with need centers of brass, to the edges of which is affixed a weaving of brass and copper wires which is bound to the foundation disk by a rim, usually decorated simply.
3. Another type is of solid iron, bored at intervals and laced with braided or twisted wires of copper and brass.
4. The fourth type is a chrysanthemoid form, chiselled in open work and laced or woven tightly with copper and brass wire."

I believe that my tsuba [№ TSU-0338] belongs to the fourth type. However, this particular specimen does not conform with the description of Shingen tsuba as combining strength and lightness. Its weight is 290 g, which tells us that most probably it had purely decorative function (as most tsuba in Edo period). A somewhat similar design can be found at wikimedia. A look-a-like tsuba is illustrated at Compton Collection, Part II, p.p. 26-27, №54. It is dated ca. 1700. It was in a box with Sato Kanzan inscription, and had NBTHK certificate attesttion of 'Tokubetsu Kicho'. Price realized: $5,280.