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Kanshiro III, early 18th century (Sasano 1994 №267)
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Matashichi I, late 17th century (Sasano 1994 №270)
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Shigemitsu II, early 18th century (Sasano 1994 №280)
Kanshiro III, early 18th century (Sasano 1994 №267)
Matashichi I, late 17th century (Sasano 1994 №270)
Shigemitsu II, early 18th century (Sasano 1994 №280)
Circular tsuba (marugata ) with design of futatsu-domoe (twofold tomoe) in negative openwork (kage-sukashi), folded-over rim (uchikaeshi-mimi ). The ‘head’ of the left tomoe altered to form an opening for scabbard accessory (kata-hitsu-ana), adorned with gold ategane fitting with file marks (tate-yasurime). The hammer-blow finish of the surface (tsuchime-ji). Signed to the left of nakaga-ana: Yamakichibei (山吉兵). Attributed by Steve Waszak a the Second Generation (Nidai) master.
NBTHK paper [translated by Markus Sesko]:Tomoe-sukashi-tsuba (巴透し鐔).
KANTEI-SHO (鑑定書) - APPRAISAL No 451718
Futatsu-domoe sukashi-tsuba (二巴透鐔) ‒ Tsuba with two tomoe comma openwork design
Signed: Yamakichibei (山吉兵)
Round shape (marugata ), iron, hammerblow finish (tsuchime-ji ), negative openwork design (kage-sukashi ), folded-over rim (uchikaeshi-mimi ), one opening for scabbard accessory
(kata-hitsu-ana) (with gold ategane fitting)
According to the result of the shinsa committee of our society, we judge this work as authentic
and rank it as Hozon Tōsōgu.
February 20, 2007
[Foundation] Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyōkai, NBTHK (日本美術刀劍保存協會)
Diameter: 76 mm, thickness at center 3.9 mm, thickness at rim: 5.1 mm; weight: 102.5 g
Tomoe (Comma): The character 巴 (Chinese pronunciation bā). A pattern resembling the two-comma tomoe (futatsu-domoe) has been found in ancient cultures on all inhabited continents. ...aside from their military function, a ritual or fetish value, perhaps related to their testicular shape. It also has yin-yang connotation. The gold sekigane confirms the high value of the piece to the owner.
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".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 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.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.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".
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: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.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 square with cut-off edges form (sumi-iri-kakugata) with lattice design in openwork (sukashi) and solid center. Hitsu-ana plugged with lead.
Unsigned. Late Muromachi period, ca. 16th century.
Size: 81.3 x 80.0 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 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 could have been trimmed with brass now lacking. Nakago-ana of triangular form, possibly enlarged, with copper sekigane. All typical emblems with bellflower, two variations on suhama theme, and 3, 4, 5, and 6-poinitng mon variations. A distinctive character of this tsuba is a mon at 12 hours depicting water plantain (omodaka).
“Omodaka was also called shōgunsō (victorious army grass); because of this martial connotation, it was a design favored for the crests of samurai families” [Family crests of Japan, Stone Bridge Press, Berkeley, California]. Yoshirō school (Kaga-Yoshirō). The Momoyama or early Edo period, beginning of 17th century. Size: Height: 81.4 mm; width: 81.2; thickness 3.8 mm at seppa-dai.Japanese art and handicraft, Plate CX, #128.
Compton Collection, Part I, #7.
Tsuba of oval form decorated with vines, tendrils, and leaves on trellis in brass inlay with details carved in kebori, and pierced with six family crests (mon) with two, three and four pointing stars in openwork, each outlined with brass wire and carved in kebori. Original hitsu-ana outlined with brass wire was probably enlarged later. Copper sekigane.
Momoyama to early Edo period (end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century). Dimensions: 68.3 x 64.5 x 3.4 mm.Tsuba of oval form decorated with clematis six-petal flowers, tendrils, and leaves in cast brass with details carved in kebori, inlaid on iron plate carved in low relief (kebori and sukidashi-bori). Hitsu-ana plugged with shakudō. Copper sekigane.
Heianjō (or Ōnin) school. Unsigned. Mid Muromachi period (1454-1513). Dimensions: 87.2 x 84.3 x 4.3 mm. Tsuba is illustrated and described in Gary D. Murtha's "Onin-Heianjo-Yoshiro" book on pages 38-39. Mid-Muromachi is the age attribution by Gary. “A picture book of Japanese sword guards. Victoria & Albert Museum“, published in 1927 presents us with a somewhat similar tsuba: "Floral ornament. Iron, with brass incrustation". V&A attributes the tsuba to Ōnin style, 16th century.Thin iron tsuba of round form pierced with six three-leaf wood sorrels (katabami) in ko-sukashi and inlaid with brass decoration along the rim. Kozuka-hitsu-ana probably cut at a later date.
Late Muromachi or Momoyama period, 16th century. Dimensions: 78.0 x 77.7 x 2.5 mm.