Edo Higo Tsuba
TS-542
sold
A large iron tsuba 8.665 cm x 7.79 cm x 3.85 mm. An Edo Higo Kumagai work done in the style of Shimizu Jingo. An unusual mokugata that I believe to be a later Jingo. As per Robert Haynes, the shape of the plate, type of inlay, and surface treatment do not comport with even the very late Jingo work.
Genbei Yoshitsugu, this is a generic name used by most of the smith in this school. Originally from Sendai in Mutsu province, then Kumamoto in Higo province, and the later generations in Edo. The Edo Kumagai worked from 1700 to 1850. The ancestors of he Kumagai were silver smiths of the Kinzaemon line in Sendai
They specialized in making tsuba in the style of various Higo schools. They remained in Edo, and never returned to Kumamoto. Ref. Haynes, Nihon Tosho Kinko Daijiten, H 00560.0
