Noriaki, Goto Ichijo Mon.

Ford:
“This particular tsuba appears to be to very strongly reminiscent of later Goto Ichijo work. The shape of the guard, the very particular way in which the rim is upset, even down to the actual kogai hitsu. The kata-kiri and hira-zogan accents are typical also.

I don’t get the feeling this is after any of Ichijo’s followers though, rather the direct influence of Ichijo.

Hashimoto Isshi, Funada Ikkin, Nakagawa Issho, Wada Isshin et al seemed to have developed their own expression in a way that makes it slightly distinct from their teacher’s influence.

I’m actually a big fan of this groups work. I love the combination of the bold and expressive kata-kiri, the subtle stone-like textured grounds and the sensitive working of the rims”

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/2719-unrecorded-looking-for-comparison-mei/

Guido:
“The description says (loosely translated) that this artist is not recorded, but looks like from the GotÅ IchijÅ Mon. Funada Ikkin had a student by the name of Kazuaki 一明, and Norikaki 則明 may have been Kazuaki’s son or student. In any case, the author goes on, it is quite clear that the Tsuba is made in the tradition of IchijÅ.

Mr. Homma wrote that in 1977, and I don’t know his reputation, but he obviously considers the name an important factor in his evaluation. BTW, in the above scan, and the Hozon papers from 1992, the Hitsu-ana was plugged, but the plug was already gone when I bought it. I wonder if it just fell out, or if it was removed intentionally.”