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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: -
A ko-tosho tsuba made of iron, of the round form (丸型, maru-gata), pierced in negative silhouette (文透, mon-sukashi) with the design of Shingon Buddhism symbols of vajra [金剛杵] (kongosho), Sun, Moon and Star [月日星] (tsuki-hi-hoshi) – three sources of light [三光] (sankō). Round rim. No hitsu-ana; the shape of nakago-ana may suggest use on naginata [薙刀. Muromachi period (1393 – 1573). Height: 94.4 mm, Width: 93.4 mm, Centre thickness: 3.1 mm. Another possible explanation for "The element at the 11-o’clock position is in my opinion a kemari ball for the courtly game of the same name (picture attached)" [Markus Sesko].
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi [月岡 芳年] (Japan, 1839 – 1892): Tokugawa Yoshimune [徳川 吉宗] (1684 – 1751) playing kemari [蹴鞠]
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Iron tsuba of round form with design of military commander's fan (gunbai) in openwork (sukashi). Square rim. Hitsu-ana plugged with lead or tin. Ko-tosho school. Mid-Muromachi period (1454-1513), Entoku era (1489-92) / Meio era (1489-1501). Height: 80.3 mm, Width: 81.5 mm, Rim thickness: 3.0 mm. Centre thickness: 3.5 mm. Provenance: Sasano Masayuki Collection, №23 in Japanese Sword Guard Masterpieces from the Sasano Collection, 1994: Ko-tosho. Sukashi design: Military commander's fan (gunbai). Mid Muromachi period. Late 15th century (Entoku / Meio era). The military commander's fan (gunbai) was cherished by samurai warriors. This tsuba is relatively thick, with the large fan nicely positioned on the plate. -
Iron tsuba of round form with design of triple diamond (matsukawa-bishi) in openwork (sukashi). Square rim. Ko-Tosho school. Nanbokucho period: Late 14th century (Oan/Eiwa era). Height: 92.3 mm. Width: 92.3 mm. Rim thickness: 2.5 mm. Center thickness: 3.0 mm. Provenance: Sasano Masayuki Collection, № 15: "Two small lozenges are attached to each end of a larger lozenge. Most Ko-tosho tsuba have inspirational designs, however this has a rather casual appearance, although it represents the unstable political situation at the time".
