Iron, slightly tatemaru-gata. Highlights in gold, silver, brass, and shakudō. One hitsu-ana. Notice the beautiful and skillfully done work of the hammered mimi with zogan added.

Image of Chinese statesman and poet So Tōba (蘇東坡) on his horse or mule, being led by a retainer. So Tōba’s intellect and outspokenness put him at odds with the Emperor, and he was sent to exile more than once during his lifetime. This image depicts So Tōba as he is heading into exile.

This tsuba is one of the best of Hizen Nagasaki Jakushi school tsuba I have ever seen. Its a rare, large sized, very unique and skillfully done example, which also appears to be in near pristine condition and is absolutely gorgeous in hand.

Mei/signature:
Mumei

School/province:
Hizen Nagasaki Jakushi

Period/age:
Mid Edo

Measures:
8.50 cm x 8.10 cm x 0.30 cm

Certificate:
No

Included:
NO kiri box included

Iron, maru-gata, sukashi of cherry blossoms and waves inside of rim embellished with gold inlay. Two hitsu-ana.

Masakiyo (civilian name of Takabayashi Isagi) was born in Shizuoka in 1929. This tsuba is a revival style of the Higo masters. The iron, the design, the execution, and the state of preservation are all superb. Few examples of this smith’s work are in existence today.

A superb and beautiful tsuba in pristine condition. I think the quality, condition, the signature, and the subject matter (Sakura – cherry blossoms) makes this an attractive piece. Very elegant, and very reminiscent of the best Higō works.

This would have no trouble papering to Hozon, or even Tokubetsu Hozon despite the recent vintage of the tsuba.

Mei/signature:
駿府住 雅清
Sunpu-jū Masakiyo

School/province:
Sunpu

Period/age:
Taisho / Early Showa

Measures:
8.20 cm x 7.00 cm x 0.50 cm

Certificate:
No

Included:
NO kiri box included

Iron, daisho pair of maru-gata tsuba in sukashi, with design of ginko leaves. Lovely daisho (pair of large and small tsuba) to be mounted with the traditional two-sword set of katana and wakizashi worn by samurai. The image is of ginko leaves, and is an allusion to the hearty, and resilient ginko trees of Japan, which grow even in harsh conditions – a favorite theme of the samurai, on both sword fittings as well as on family crests. They are also known for their brilliant autumn colors. This is a remarkably well-preserved set from the late Edo period. Sakunoshin Tomohisa was a metalworker from the late Edo period.

NOTE:
I have no reason to doubt this signature and consider it authentic

Mei/signature:
長州萩住　作之進友久
Chōshū Hagi-jū  Sakunoshin Tomohisa

School/province:
Chōshū

Period/age:
Late Edo

Measures:
Dai: 7.30 cm x 6.90 cm x 0.45 cm
Sho: 6.90 cm x 6.70 cm x 0.50 cm

Certificate:
No

Included:
NO kiri box included

Iron, maru-gata, pair of daisho (big and small) tsubu, image of chrysanthemums in positive and negative silhouette in the so-called “Ko-Hagi” style. This particular design is also found in Torigoye and Haynes’, “Tsuba Geijutsu-Kō”. In this book Haynes submits that this style is actually the work of Kyoto artists, and was misnamed by an early Japanese tsuba scholar as “ko-Hagi”. Further research is required to ascertain whether this tsuba was made in Kyoto or not, but regardless of the origin, the style is classic “Ko-Hagi” style, with chrysanthemums in two types of sukashi (positive and negative).

The chrysanthemum outline at the top of the tsuba is done in negative sukashi style, while the surrounding chrysanthemums and leaves are done in positive sukashi. The contrast gives the tsuba an interesting quality of both realism and symbolism.

To find a daisho pair of tsuba in this condition is becoming more and more rare.

NOTE:
There is a near identical tsuba design in the Torigoye/Haynes book. He definitively states that even though this style is called “Ko-Hagi,” the tsuba itself was made in Kyoto. We have no way of knowing if Haynes is right or wrong. The tsuba-collecting world widely regards these as coming from Hagi in Chōshū, so I feel it would be hard to push against the entire tsuba-collecting community without some hard evidence. So I stick with Ko-Hagi/Chōshū.

Mei/signature:
Mumei

School/province:
Ko-Hagi/Chōshū

Period/age:
Edo

Measures:
Dai: 8.50 cm x 8.40 cm x 0.40 cm
Sho: 8.00 cm x 7.90 cm x 0.40 cm

Certificate:
No

Included:
NO kiri box included

Iron, mokkō-gata, brass inlay of bell flowers and tendrils. “Okezoko-mimi” with brass inlay continuing on to the rim.

Note:
Its seems slightly unusual to have a mokko-gata shape with “okezoko-mimi” on a Heinajō/Yoshirō tsuba. Varshavsky’s site has two photos of such tsuba from various museum collections, but they seem to be rare.

Mei/signature:
Mumei

School/province:
Heianjo/Yoshirō

Period/age:
Edo

Measures:
8.00 cm x 7.80 cm x 0.50 cm

Certificate:
No

Included:
NO kiri box included

Clockwise from the top they are: mitsubishi (three diamond shapes), wisteria (sage fuji), butterfly (chō), oxalis or wood-sorrel (katabami), next is an unidentifiable three-leaf shape which may be ivy or oak (tsuta or kashiwa), then a nine-dot shape representing the stars (kuyō), and lastly a 16-petal chrysanthemum (kiku).

The appearance of so many crests may represent an alliance, or a joining of families by marriage.

Ex. The Naunton collection. Published in the book “Japanese Sword Fittings: Collection of G.H. Naunton Joly, Henri L. Ref. item no. 961.

Mei/signature:
Mumei

School/province:
Bushu/Akasaka

Period/age:
Edo

Measures:
7.60 cm x 7.00 cm x 0.40 cm

Certificate:
No

Included:
NO kiri box included