This is an excellent set of menuki depicting either kawara (roof tiles) or cart wheels, a popular Buddhist motif. Its construction method is rather special: thin metal base is plated with 3 different metals: copper (red), shakudo (black) and gold (yellow) and then its hollow back is filled with resin to make it more durable. It's hard to find a well preserved set of this kind due to its fragility.

Era: Edo

Dimensions

Width: 2.7cm (each)

Very interesting tsuba with design of tea ceremony utensils, early to mid-Edo period. Katchushi plate may be from Momoyama - early Edo. The plate was skilfully adorned with tea utensil ornaments in mid-Edo period.

Dimensions

Width: 83.0mm
Height: 82.0mm
Thickness (at nakago ana): 3.0mm

This is a massive (almost 10cm in diameter) ubu Katchushi style tsuba. I believe it’s an utsushi of Muromachi Ko-Katchushi tsuba, made in mid-Edo period (in my opinion, with cautious agreement from most experts I showed it to).

The plate is thin, the sukashi motives are that of a gorinto (Buddhist grave marker) and a wachigai (two intersecting circles). The patina is dark chocolate brown. The plate is forged (you may see traces of layering on the rim) and coarse tsuchime (hammer work) imitates a weathered plate quite well. There are faint traces of black lacquer all over the plate, including the rim and sukashi walls. Sukashi is made skillfully, especially the thin sections of wachigai rings. The tsuba has old sekigane.

Width: 98.5mm
Height: 99mm
Thickness (nakago ana): 2.5mm
Thickness (raised rim): 3.8mm

Comes in a box but w/o pillow.