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Circular form tsuba made by a mirror-maker, i.e. kagamishi. Cast yamagane plate with design of six persimmons on their peduncles surrounded by leaves. Slightly raised rounded square rim. Hitsu-ana is brutally cut later in time. Copper sekigane. Early Muromachi period (1393-1457) or earlier. The inscription on the box reads: "Kamakura or Muromachi Period. Yamagane Tsuba". Dimensions: 81.9 x 81.6 mm; thickness at seppa-dai 2.8 - 3.0 mm, rim 3.4 mm. -
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. -
Seller provided description:"Finely painted via the red-figure technique, an elegant pelike vessel of a classic globular form with a cylindrical neck rising to a flared rim, and twin fluted handles, all upon a raised, concave, disc foot.Side A depicts a winged Eros who stands in contrapposto facing toward the left, in the nude save sandals, bracelets, a beaded sash, and a stephane (wreath) holding a situla (pail) in his left hand and gesturing toward the seated maenad before him. Though with her breasts exposed, the maenad does wear a lower garment, and is bedecked with a stephane, multiple bracelets, and strands of pearls around her neck - all delineated in fugitive white and yellow pigment. She holds a mirror in her left upraised hand and leans upon a tambourine with her right elbow. Above and to the right is a maker's mark of a circular format with a central X that is further adorned by nested wedges and dot motifs. Side B presents two opposing standing draped male figures, the gent on the left leaning upon a walking stick. Complementing the figural program, is a lovely decorative program adorning both sides of the vessel, with bands of laurel leaves above and a repeating Greek key/meander below. An outstanding example, masterfully wheel thrown, so that we see absolutely no signs of any jogs in the transitions between the different elements of the vase. Moreover, it presents ideal proportions perfect for presenting the superb painted iconographic/decorative program. The painting was executed with the utmost skill and artistry - the red-figure technique enabling the artist to delineate the figures' musculature, facial details, as well as the cascading drapery folds with extensive fugitive paint embellishments.Expected surface wear with some scuffs and pigment losses commensurate with age, but the painted program is generally very well preserved. Area of repair/restoration to cloak of male on right (Side B). Minute nick to left of male on left (Side B). Nice root marks throughout and areas of encrustation. Thermoluminescence (TL) report: the piece has been found to be ancient and of the period stated. Equivalent age: 2400 +/- 300 years. Certificate of Authenticity from Artemis Gallery. Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection. Greece, Southern Italy, Apulia, ca. 330 BCE.Size: 6.75" in diameter x 9.875" H (17.1 cm x 25.1 cm)Polina de Mauny, being both attentive and knowledgeable, was the first who noticed a possible mistake in the description above. It is highly probable that the woman on side A is not a maenad but Aphrodite herself, holding a mirror and leaning on a shield. Maenads were "often portrayed as inspired by Dionysus into a state of ecstatic frenzy through a combination of dancing and intoxication". The situla, held by Eros, unequivocally alludes to Dionysian ritual, which has to do as much with maenads as with Aphrodite. The nature of two men on side B remain unclear. -
Oblong round shape (nagamaru-gata) tsuba with design of dragonfly (tombo or katsumushi) and wheel (kuruma) in negative openwork (kage-sukashi), round rim (maru-mimi ). Copper sekigane.
Okamoto Yasukazu's Owari to Mikawa no tankō, №181 characterizes the tsuba as follows: "Katsumushi, kuruma-sukashi no zu (dragonfly and wheel sukashi). Mei: Yamakichibei (Shodai). Such small tsuba are rare for the Shodai. The nakago-ana is also small so it was probably intended to be mounted on a tantō. Regardless of its size, the iron is outstanding and the workmanship shows the characteristic features of the Shodai (first generation). The kuruma-sukashi design is interpreted here in a half-moon shape and only on one side of the tsuba. Such a design is also seen on works of the Nidai (second generation)...". Signed to the left of nakaga-ana: Yamakichibei (山吉兵へ). Attributed to the First Generation (Shodai) master.
NBTHK paper (translated by Markus Sesko): The Tokubetsu-Kichō Kodōgu. Kachimushi-kuruma sukashi-tsuba (勝虫車透鐔) - Tsuba with sukashi motif of dragonfly and cartwheel. Signed: Yamakichibei (山吉兵). Iron, marugata, ko-sukashi. Issued on April 1, 1977. [Copy only] Dimensions: H: 66 mm; W: 63.2 mm; Th(center): 3.8 mm; Th(rim): 3.5 mm. Weight: 68 g. -
Underglaze cobalt blue and white porcelain plate decorated with a bamboo border, key fret above the blue ring, and a bush of chrysanthemums in the centre. The bottom is decorated with stylized clouds and flowers, a border of lotus petals and signed with a general mark in the centre. Diameter: 29.5 cm; Height: 3.5 cm. -
Iron tsuba of round form (maru-gata) with 8 openwork petals outlined with brass wire (sen-zōgan) and decorated with brass dots (ten-zōgan), on both sides. Seppa-dai and hitsu-ana outlined with brass wire. Late Muromachi period (Ca. 1514-1573). Ōnin school. Unsigned. Dimensions (mm): 80.4 x 79.8 x 3.6 (center) 3.2 (rim). Similar tsuba in this collection: TSU-0374.2018
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Fuchi-kashira of copper, carved and inlaid with gold and shakudō, with the design of Kanzan (on kashira), Chinese: Hanshan, an eccentric poet of the Tang dynasty with a scroll (618-906) who befriended Jittoku (on fuchi, Chinese: Shide, a kitchen helper at a mountain temple, holding a broom). Fuchi is signed Josui (如⽔). Fuchi (Jittoku, holding a broom): 38 x 22 x 12 mm. Weight: 23g (Nakago hole: 27 x 8.5 mm); Kashira (Kanzan, reading a scroll): 34 x 17 x 9 mm. Weight: 10g. Materials: Copper, gold, shakudō. Techniques: Tsuchi-me-ji (hammer-marked surface); usu-shishiai-bori or usuniku-bori (low-relief carving which leaves the image somewhat higher than the surface - high relief effect); zōgan (inlay). Josui was a daughter of Jochiku Kamo (Markus Sesko, Genealogies). -
Iron tsuba of round form with design of diamond-shaped family crest (waribishi-mon) in openwork (sukashi). Bevelled, raised rim. Kozuka-hitsu-ana plugged with tin or lead. Ko-Katchushi school. Early Muromachi period: Early 15th century (Oei era). Size: Height: 89.3 mm. Width: 89.0 mm. Rim thickness: 4.3 mm. Center thickness: 2.9 mm. Provenance: Sasano Masayuki Collection, № 41: "In this tsuba, a family crest incorporating four lozenges sits upright on the right side of the nakago-ana. The straight lines of the lozenge add substance and power. Initially, the crest creates confusion regarding the age, yet the overall impression is one lacking in vigor and probably dates rather later than Nanbokucho period". -
The thin, four-lobed iron plate of brownish color is carved on each side with two concentric grooves in the middle of the web, and with four thin scroll lines (handles, kan) that follow the shape of the rim. The hitsu-ana were added at a later date. Copper sekigane. Kamakura-bori school. Muromachi period, circa 1400-1550. Size: Height 80.4 mm, width 79.0 mm, thickness 3.2 mm at seppa-dai and 2.7 mm at the rim. Weight: 97.7 g. NBTHK Certificate №4004241: 'Hozon' attestation. As for the motif: the concentric circles is a widespread and generic design. It is described by John W. Dower [The Elements of Japanese Design, 1985, p. 132, #2201-30] as follows: Circle: Enclosure (wa). As a crest by itself, the cirlce carries obvious connotations of perfection, harmony, completeness, integrity, even peace. [...] Ordinary circles are labeled according to their thickness, with terminology ranging from hairline to "snake's eye". The motif that is described by both Compton Collection and R.E. Haynes as "scrolls", presented by John W. Dower as "Handle (kan): Although probably a purely ornamental and nonrepresentational design in origin, over the centuries this motif acquired the label kan, denoting its resemblance to the metal handles traditionally used on chests of drawers. [...] Very possibly the "handle" motif represents an early abstract version of the popular mokko, or melon pattern." Early Chinese Taoists claimed that special melon was associated with the Eastern Paradise of Mount Horai just as life-giving peaches were associated with the Western Paradise of the Kunlun Mountains. [...] A design motif called mokko (also translated as "melon" in accordance with the two ideographs with which it is written) may have nothing to do with the fruit. Mokko designs... are widely used as crests of both private families and Shinto shrines and are repeated as background designs that evoke a sense of classicism" [Symbols of Japan. Merrily Baird, 2001]. There is a look alike tsuba at Dr. Walter A. Compton Collection, 1992, Christie’s auction, Part II, pp. 14-15, №16:
The description goes: “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.
And another one in Robert E. Haynes Catalog #9 on page 24-25 under №23:
R.E. Haynes description: “Typical later Kamakura-bori style work. This type of plate and carving show the uniform work produced by several schools in the Muromachi 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.
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Bronze tsuba of mokkō form with narrow slightly raised rim carved in kebori with the sea weed and inlaid with a lobster (ebi) made of copper on the face and two sea shells made of shakudo on the back. Lobster's antennae inlaid in gold, and eyes inlaid in shakudo. Ishime-ji treated surface.
Unsigned.
Late Edo period (mid-19th century). Dimensions: 76.3 x 71.1 x 3.7 mm -
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. -
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).
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Footed conical bowl decorated with green and amber bleeding concentric circles on cream background inside and outside. Diameter: 13.5 cm, H: 6.2 cm; -
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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Late 19th-century (1850-1870) Japanese export fan. This fan has a double leaf painted with a different design on either side. Ivory encrusted with gemstones (birds and shippomon motif). Painting by ukiyo-e artist and printmaker Katsushika Isai (1821–1880) represents a riverside landscape with figures; birds and flowers on the reverse. Signed: Isai ga (為斎画) - "Painted by Isai". -
Shingen school (or style) tsuba of round form with iron core and web, covered with a thin brass plate decorated with star-shaped punch marks. The rim of tsuba is a brass nawame-fukurin. Between the central brass plate and the rim there is woven wire of brass and copper in a basketweave pattern. Both hitsu-ana have raised rim. Traces of oxidation. Unsigned. Edo period, 18th century. Size: Height: 88.4 mm, Width: 86.6 mm, Thickness at seppa-dai: 4.6 mm. Weight: 132.4 g. Robert E. Haynes in his "Study Collection of Japanese Sword Fittings. Nihon Art Publishers, 2010" on p. 117 says: "Brass outer plate of round shape. This tsuba has an iron core tsuba of spoke form as made by Saotome school, ca. 1500. There are brass plates on either side connected to the rim by woven brass and shakudō wire. The wire has been hand drawn, which is very difficult. The hitsuana are brass lined and the rim has a brass cover. This type of tsuba is referred to as a Shingen tsuba. This is a reference to Takeda Shingen Harunobu (1521-1573), the great and famous daimyō." For reference see the MFA collection. A look-a-like tsuba is illustrated in Compton Collection, vol. 2, p. 26-27, №52:More details and examples can be found at: http://varshavskycollection.com/shingen-tsuba/
Compton Collection, vol. 2, p. 26-27, №52.
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Round iron plate of grey colour decorated in low relief (sukidashi-bori) on the face with sea waves (both layered waves, seigaiha, and rough waves, araumi), sago palm (cycas revoluta, sotetsu), presumably orchid leaves (ran) - five of them - hanging from the above, and reeds (ashi), and on the back with waves (seigaiha only), rocks, chrysanthemums (kiku), clove (chori), reed, and presumably orchid leaves - three of them - hanging from the above. The kozuka-hitsu-ana was probably cut later. The plate is lacking the raised rim, typical for the kamakura-bori school. Muromachi period. Dimensions: Height: 76.8 mm, width: 76.1 mm, Thickness at seppa-dai: 3.3 mm, at rim 2.0 mm. Height of nakago-ana: 29 mm. Weight: 82.4 g. NBTHK certificate № 402152: Hozon - "Worthy of preservation". A similar (most probably the same) tsuba is illustrated and described at Butterfield & Butterfield. IMPORTANT JAPANESE SWORDS, SWORD FITTINGS AND ARMOR. Auction Monday, November 19th, 1979. Sale # 3063 under lot № 66. It describes the piece as following: “Kamakura bori work of the Muromachi period. Round thin plate with some small iron bones in the edge. Carved with design of plants (sego palm) rocks, and waves on the face. The back has half of two chrysanthemums, waves, clove, and sego palm leaves. The kozuka-hitsu has been added and later enlarged. A good typical example without the rim most have. Diameter: 7.7 cm., thickness 2.5 mm. Estimated price $100-200":
Butterfield & Butterfield, 1979. Sale # 3063, lot № 66.
