Category: Tsuba

A kamakura tsuba with To Kissho-mon (tower, auspicious omens motif) design from the Muromachi to Momoyama period (16TH C.).
Please note that this tsuba was in the collection of the famous tsuba and tosogu collector Kokubo Kenichi and was published in one of his collection catalogs.

Exceptionally well-cut tsuba with Tomoyoshi’s famous dragon design.

Fine kiri-mon tsuba on shakudo-nanko. The kiri-mon overlay covers the edge of the tsuba. A small and delicate piece for a person of higher rank. Attributed to Yoshioka according to the NBTHK Hozon certificate.

If you like dragons on your tsuba and love shakudo-nanako, this is the tsuba for you. Attributed to Kyo Kinko by NBTHK Hozon certification. Truly magnificent, the way the two dragons form the rim of the tsuba.

A robust and powerfully crafted tsuba with a wheel motif. This tsuba conveys the impression of the powerful forging skills of a Myochin master. The Myochin were primarily known for their armor production.

Kamiyoshi tsuba with cherry blossom and warabite design, forged from fantastic iron.

A very similar tsuba of the first generation Kamiyoshi is published in Ito Mitsuro’s book “Works of Hayashi & Kamiyoshi” No. 176, but has a few less details than the work shown here. This tsuba was probably made by the second generation Kamiyoshi Fukanobu.
It already has an NBTHK Hozon paper and comes in a high quality custom made box.

This tsuba comes from the collection of the famous kodogu collector Kokobu Kenichi and is attributed to Echizen Akao. The design shows the crescent moon with stars and a flying bird, probably a swallow, while everything is surrounded by clouds. The design looks surprisingly modern with the curved lines as clouds, while the moon forms the hitsuana.

Carved on the iron base we see a rain shower (shigure) and a peony, with the flower of the peony inlaid in shakudo. The tsuba is signed Sadao and on the ura side we find his kao very cleanly and finely carved. Since Sadao was a student of Kano Natsuo, we can clearly see the influence of his master, as the entire tsuba is reminiscent of a Natsuo design.

This tsuba was published in the NBTHK monthly magazine Token Bijutsu (Feb. 2007) and also in the series “Tosogu Classroom” by Fukushi Shigeo, which I will quote as follows:

Ajiro-mon no zu tsuba – Bamboo wickerwork

mei: Odawara-ju Masatsugu saku
tatemaru-gata, shakudo, sukesagebori, golden nawame-fukurin, two hitsu-ana

This tsuba is rather unusual, isn’t it. I think it depicts a kind of ajiro bamboo wickerwork. The design is quite elaborate and must have been time consuming to make. The raw material is shakudo and the pattern was worked out in sukisage-sukidashibori. The rim is trimmed with a golden nawame-fukurin and because of the smallish signature I think we have here again a later work of Masatugu.

Please compare this tsuba with this ajiro-mon tsuba.

Sukashi tsuba with the famous “Musashino” motif. A great battle was fought in the fields of Musashino (near Tokyo). Typically, this design only shows some blades of grass with raindrops or morning dew, suggesting the aftermath of the great battle. In some more rustic or aggressive designs, even bones or skulls are shown.

On this Edo period tsuba, we also find drops of water on the grass and in addition, karigane flying over the field. A very nice interpretation of Musashino.