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:
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:
Iron tsuba of round form with design of rudder, paddle, and stars in small openwork (ko-sukshi) outlined with brass wire, and further decorated with inlay of five concentric rows of brass dots or nail heads (ten-zōgan) and circular brass wire inlaid inside the innermost row of dots. Two lower round openings may also serve as udenuki-ana. Copper sekigane. Unsigned. Late Muromachi or Momoyama period, 16th century. Diameter: 90.4 x 89.8 x 2.8 mm.