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.-
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Artist: Utagawa Kunisada [歌川 国貞], a.k.a. Utagawa Toyokuni III [三代 歌川 豊国] (Japanese, 1786 – 1865). Signed: Toyokuni ga [豊国 画] in a red toshidama cartouche Block carver: Yokokawa Takejirō [横川竹二郎] (Japanese, fl. 1845 – 1863); seal: Hori Take [彫竹]. Publisher: Iseya Magobei [伊勢屋孫兵衛] (Japanese, fl. c. 1794 – 1868); seal: Hanmoto, Masu [板元, 益] (Marks 19-039 | 150d). Date-aratame seal: Ansei 2 (1855). Title: Time in Fukagawa, Iyo Province (Fukagawa Iyo setsu). Ref.: [LIB-3008.2022] Andreas Marks. Japanese woodblock prints: Artists, publishers and masterworks, 1680 – 1900. — Tuttle Publishing, 2010; p. 221. –> 1855 Kunisada. "Iyo Province-time at Fukagawa" (Fukagawa Iyo setsu). Fan print. Japan Ukiyo-e Museum, Matsumoto. -
Iron tsuba decorated with sparrows and bamboo inlaid and chiseled in yellow brass, with snow lying on bamboo leaves inlaid in silver-ish shibuichi. Copper sekigane. The kogai-hitsu-ana probably cut out at a later date. Heianjō school. Unsigned. Height: 86.0 mm, Width: 85.4 mm, Thickness at seppa-dai: 2.9 mm. Momoyama or early Edo period, first half of the 17th century. Merrily Baird, Symbols..., page 118: "The association of the sparrow (suzume) with both bamboo and rice heads is an old one found in Japanese poetry, paining, and design." -
Iron tsuba of four-lobbed mokkō form (possibly it was circular and then altered to produce the mokkō) with slightly raised rim decorated with three kukurizaru ('tied up monkey' toy) in openwork (sukashi) next to kogai-hitsu-ana; inlaid in red-ish copper (suaka) with the design of bamboo stems and leaves, and shapeless masses which most probably represent snow. Kozuka-hitsu-ana plugged with shakudo. Probably original kogai-hitsu-ana. Copper sekigane. Surface still covered with lacquer (urushi). Late Muromachi period (1514-1573). Size: 86.1 x 85.8 x 2.6 mm NBTHK Certificate №4002543: Hozon - "Worthy of preservation" (Attribution: Mumei Heianjō Zōgan) -
Iron tsuba of round form inlaid with brass and shakudo (suemon-zōgan) with a design of tendrils, leaves, double gourds, and folding fan with two wild geese on the face and the same design only with a fan with two interlocked rings (wachigai) on the back. Design is supplemented with a round family crest (mon) of three fans in openwork (sukashi). Hitsu-ana and the mon are outlined with brass rope. Copper sekigane.
Some attribute such tsuba as belonging to Heianjō or even Yoshirō School, and date them to Momoyama period. I keep this piece under Ōnin rubric, late Muromachi, but this is just a question of personal preference.Some inlay is missing, some repaired; traces of rust. Otherwise - decent condition.
Late Muromachi period (1514-1573). Size: 77.4 x 77.1 x 3.8 (center), 3.2 (rim) mm -
Mikhail Belomlinsky. Born 1934, Russia. Helicopter. Watercolor painting on paper from Chukotka expedition, 1975. Size: 36 x 48 cm. -
Mikhail Belomlinsky. Born 1934, Russia. Village, dogs. Watercolor painting on paper from Chukotka expedition, 1975. Size: 36 x 48 cm.
