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Iron tsuba of oval form with design of stylized paulownia (nage-giri) in openwork (sukashi). Leaf veins carved in kebori technique. Rounded rim. Copper sekigane. Unsigned. Attributed to Kanshirō, third generation Nishigaki (1680-1761). Edo period: Early 18th century (Kyoho / Genbun era). Size: Height: 77.8 mm. Width: 71.9 mm. Rim thickness: 5.9 mm. Center thickness: 5.0 mm. Provenance: Sasano Masayuki Collection, № 264: "Nishigaki. Third generation Kanshiro (died in in the eleventh year of Hohreki, 1761 at the age of eighty-two). This oblong shape appears a little amateurish at first, however, it was done intentionally to add flavor to to the design. The neat composition is a feature of the third Kanshiro." -
Iron tsuba of quatrefoil form with design of bamboo stems and leaves, and a plank bridge in openwork (sukashi). Hitsu-ana of irregular form. Iron with smooth chocolate patina. Copper and shakudō sekigane. This piece is illustrated in Sasano: Japanese Sword Guard Masterpieces from the Sasano Collection, 1994 on page 295 under № 254 with the following description:Nishigaki. First generation Kanshiro (died in the sixth year of Genroku, 1693, at the age of 81). Sukashi design: Bamboo (take). Early Edo period, late 17th century (Kanbun / Enppo era). Height: 72.6 mm; Width: 71.5 mm; Rim thickness: .6 mm; Centre thickness: 5.1 mm. Rounded rim. The shape of this sword guard is a quatrefoil and the design is arranged in the form of a saddle flap. Two bamboo trunks with leaves comprise the design. Calm, soothing and sophisticated are the features of this artist in his later years. Such characteristics may remind one of the work of the first Hikozo.
Provenance: Sasano Masayuki collection, № 254. What is interesting, and what had been found by Bruce Kirkpatrick, is that in the earlier photograph of the same piece ['Sukashi tsuba - bushido no bi' by Sasano Masayuki, photography by Fujimoto Shihara, 1972 (in Japanese), page 245, №201] we clearly see kebori - linear carving that decorates the bamboo leaves and the planks of the bridge. The said kebori have totally disappeared between 1972 and 1994. The tsuba became absolutely flat! Now we can only speculate about the reasons for such cruel treatment of the artistically and historically important item.
Sukashi tsuba - bushido no bi. Author: Sasano Masayuki, photography: Fujimoto Shihara, 1972 (in Japanese). Page 245, №201.
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Iron tsuba of quatrefoil form with design of bamboo stems and leaves in openwork (sukashi) decorated with carving (kebori) . Copper sekigane. Early Edo period, late 17th century (Kanbun / Enppo era). First generation Kanshiro of Nishigaki school in Higo Province died in the sixth year of Genroku, 1693, at the age of 81). Height: 74.4 mm; Width: 74.2 mm; Centre thickness: 4.9 mm. Rounded rim. The design was quite popular among the Higo masters.
Kanshiro III, early 18th century (Sasano 1994 №267)
Matashichi I, late 17th century (Sasano 1994 №270)
The design of my tsuba closely resembles the one at the last example (Sasano 1994 №280), however, the form (mine is quatrefoil) and the execution (strength) are very different, which result in a very different spirit of my piece.
Shigemitsu II, early 18th century (Sasano 1994 №280)
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Copper tsuba of oval form carved in kebori and katakiribori with Tekkai Sennin sitting under bamboo on the face and with a pine tree on the back. Ishime-ji treated surface.
Signed on the reverse: Jōi (乗 意).
Edo period (First half of 18th century). Dimensions: 69.6 x 66.5 x 4.5 mm Sugiura Jōi (杉 浦 乗 意) 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]. -
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. -
Iron tsuba with brown patina in mokkō-gata form with woven design. Size: 72 x 67 x 5 mm. -
Japanese lacquer writing box (suzuribako) with an eagle sitting on a pine tree over the see waves. Rectangular box with rounded corners, slightly convex overlapping lid. Lacquer on wood with maki-e decoration in gold powder. The lid decorated inside with pine cones and needles over gold maki-e. Edo or Meiji period, 19th century. -
Iron tsuba of round form with design of lattice (kōshi-mon, 格子文) cut in openwork (sukashi), with low relief shallow linear carving along the bars. Well forged plate with brown-ish hue. To the right of nakago-ana there is a clear inscription of the character Shō (正), which is explained by Markus Sesko is follows: "The Shinsa obviously recognized more from the signature when having the tsuba in hand, i.e. they were confident to say it is signed "Shōami" but the rest is illegible (ika-fumei, 以下不明). That is, if they were just able to read the first character SHŌ (正) and saw that there were two more, most likely A (阿) and MI (弥), they would have put those character in boxes on the paper. Boxes around characters namely means that the character is not 100% legible but it can be assumed what it is." Momoyama or early Edo period. Dimensions: 85.9 mm diameter, 3.6 mm thickness at seppa-dai. Weight: 79 g. NBTHK certificate № 425069 with attestation: Hozon - "Worthy of preservation". A similar tsuba is presented at Japanese Sword Fittings from the R. B. Caldwell Collection. Sale LN4188 "HIGO". Sotheby's, 30th March 1994, №15. The description says: "A rare early Kamakura-bori tsuba. Nambokucho period (late 14th century). Of circular form, the dark plate carved and pierced with a gate design, the struts with double engraved lines. Unsigned. 8.5 cm." The lot was sold for 1,840 GBP.We have two possible explanations of the discrepancy between Sotheby's and Shinsa/Sesko attribution: 1) either Sotheby's or Shinsa/Sesko were wrong in their attribution or 2) these are two different pieces, one - Kamakura-bori from the 14th century and another - Shōami from 16th/17th century. Anyway, I would consider my piece as a Shōami tsuba of Momoyama - early Edo period, just for the sake of modesty.
Caldwell Collection. Sotheby's 1994, №15.
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Iron tsuba of round form decorated with a deer and maple leaves in positive silhouette openwork (ji-sukashi), with details finely carved in low relief (kebori). Nakagō-ana plugged with copper fittings (sekigane). Traces of lacquer on the surface.
NBTHK: Hozon, №424947.
Design: An autumnal tsuba with an allusion to Kasuga Shrine in Nara.
Attributed by NBTHK to Shoami. Age: Probably the Momoyama period (1574 – 1603) or early Edo period (1603 – 1650), but judging on the item's substantial size (diameter 86.6 mm) and considerable thinness (3.4 mm) may be attributed to earlier times (late Muromachi period, 1514 – 1573). -
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 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 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 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). -
Iron tsuba of oval form with the design of two immortals (Gama Sennin with the toad upon his head and Tekkai Sennin with his iron crutch) beside a waterfall carved in low relief with a high relief effect (takabori) and with details inlaid in gold. A waterfall carved on the reverse. Nakago-ana is plugged with copper sekigane. Unsigned. Allegedly, Mito School.
Edo period, ca. 1700.
Size: Height: 87.0 mm; Width: 82.8 mm; Thickness: 4.4 mm; Weight: 179 g.
No longer available. -
Iron tsuba of ryō-mokko-gata form decorated with a spotted deer (Nara deer or sika deer) motif in low relief carving (sukidashi-bori) and flat silver inlay (hara-zōgan); deer's eyes and details in gold inlay. Signed on a copper cartouche: Noriyuki. Grass in low relief carving on the reverse. There were two Noriyuki in Hamano school - father (Noriyuki I, 1736-1787) and son (Noriyuki II, 1771-1852). Frankly speaking, I don't know which one made this particular piece. Edo period, late 18th or early 19th century.Size: 71.5 x 70.0 x 3.0 mm.
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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. -
An iron tsuba of round shape inlaid with shakudō, gold, and silver with a motif of a weather-beaten (nozarashi) skull and grasses growing beside as well as through the eye-pit, and a crescent moon above the scene. Grasses on the reverse. Unsigned. Dimensions: 71.7 x 70.6 x 4.2 mm Reference: Skull, bones and grave markers SOLD -
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
