An Iron tsuba and a Kyo-sukashi tsuba


The iron tsuba by Akasaka Tadamasa, Edo period (1615-1868), 17th centuryThe first carved and pierced with karigane (flying geese) and elaborate peach-shaped ryohitsu, unsigned, 7.9cm (3 1/8in); the second carved with three kasa (broad hats) within a half-pipe rim, unsigned, 8.3cm (3¼in); with wooden storage boxes. (4).
|For the maker of the first, Sozaemon Tadamasa, see Robert E.Haynes, The Index of Japanese Sword Fittings and Associated Artists, Nihon Art Publishers, Ellwangen, Germany, 2001, no.H09097. He may or may not have been related to the first master and died in 1677.The three kasa motif of the second tsuba may refer to the mitsu kasa no maru , the jomon (principal crest) of the Isawa Family.