Okada Umetada Tsuba
"Choshu Hagi Ju Umetada Saku"

Diameter: 7.4 cm x 7.3 cm
Thickness: 3.5mm

An iron sukashi tsuba signed "Choshu Hagi Ju Umetada Saku". The Choshu Umetada group started with Masatomo around Kanbun (1661 - 1673). The second generation of this group was Nobumasa. In 1693, a Tokugawa Bakufu officer staying in Hagi visited Nobumasa and was impressed with his skill. The officer's family name was Okada and he gave Nobumasa the use of his family name at this occasion. Nowadays, the whole group is known as "Okada" including the 1st generation Masatomo. The 2nd generation Nobumasa signed both Umetada and Okada throughout his life. He died in Kyoho 5 (1720) at the age 79. There were some other craftsmen in the Okada group who signed "Umetada Saku" as well. This tsuba shows considerable age in its workmanship, material and patina. The plate is only 3.5mm thick which gives an older feeling. Because it is hard to imagine this as any later than Genrouku, we suspect that this could be a work of Nobumasa. Great tsuba for study and comparative analysis of this group. This comes with a nice Paulownia wood box and is attractively priced.

Price: $595