Bamen Tsunemasa (1741-c.1817). Iron tsuba, roundshaped with openwork representing a bird flying in front of a full moon partially obscured by mist. Edo period. The Bamen line originally came from Bamen village in Echizen province (present day Fukui Prefecture). Bamen Tsunemasa lived and worked in Okachimachi, Tōkyō.
The Bamen school is famous for the emergence of the Tsunemasa, which is a special trick added to the open tsuba. The horse mask also has the character “Mamen” on it, and was originally a group of helmet makers and blacksmiths, whose origins date back to the Sengoku period and were a family that lived in Echizen Province. The name Umamen is the surname given to him by the Honda family, the feudal lord. Until the end of the Edo period, many members of this family were engaged in work related to blacksmithing, such as making agricultural tools, helmets, and guns.
Tsunemasa’s common name was Ichijuro. Because of his unique surname, Umamen, there were many books in the past that stated that he was born as a Umamenshi, but it is thought that his master was the metalworker Jokatsu Kikuchi. The reason why there is no commonality in the works is because Josei grew up in iron making as a family business, so he learned the construction methods of various schools of openwork tsuba from the same period, and the font for the character “Jo” is similar to “Jokatsu.” Approximate.
Josei was born in the first year of the Kanpo era (1741), and we can confirm that he lived from the end of the Bunka era to the beginning of the Bunsei era. He lived in Shimotani Okachiji-cho.
The inscription “Umamen Josei (Kao)” is inscribed on the left side of the face. There are ages such as 5th year of Kansei era, 10th year of Kansei era, and 6th year of Bunka era, and the year inscriptions include 68 years old, 70 years old, 72 years old, 73 years old, 75 years old, etc. Those with place names added include inscriptions such as “Bushu Resident Umamen Josei” and “Inanban Tetsuzukuri.”
He specializes in a construction method in which the base of a round iron tsuba is made transparent, creating a shadow-like design with a transparent pattern. The popular openwork tsuba schools at the time included the Akasaka, Akao, and Bushu Ito schools, and the technique of openwork tsuba, which adopted the strengths of each school and sublimated it aesthetically, had a great influence on each school.
The forging of the base iron on this tsuba is exquisite, the composition is bold and the design is excellent, and the sense of perspective is skillfully expressed, and the skill with which the chisel is used is outstanding.
Mei/signature:
場面序政（花押）
Bamen Tsunemasa + Kao
School/province: Bamen line. Echizen province
Period/age: Edo, 1741-c.1817
Measures: 7.50 cm x 7.30 cm x 0.45 cm
Certificate: No
Included: NO kiri box included
