Japanese Matchlock Help!

[Novice Son]

Hello Gentlemen,

I'm quite new to Japanese Matchlock's and this board seemed very knowledge on the subject, so I was wondering you fine gentlemen could help me with mine. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. 

Also, if anyone could point me in the direction of a book, or website that has a good comprehensive study and explanation of the history and evolution of Japanese Matchlock's for a beginner, I would greatly appreciate that as well. 

Thank you in advance.


 

[Viper6924]

Next time please sign with your real name. Makes for a much more friendly forum.

Well, I must say that you’ve done very well for a beginners gun.

What you have there is a very healthy looking 10-monme Seki-ryu matchlock. A quite rare style of matchlock. The first model was made shortly after the Summer-siege of 1615 by a former retainer of the Yonezawa domain by the name of Seki Hachiza’emon Yukinobu. He more or less copied the design from his Sensei in Yonezawa.

This particular stule of matchlock was made all through the Edo period. Elongated trigger guard and an iron ramrod is first and foremost what makes this gun stand out amongst other matchlocks.

I’m sure the signature on top of the barrel can be translated by someone gifted in the Japanese language.

As to books, the output is rather limited. I would rec Sugawa-san’s book ”The Japanese Matchlock 1” as a behinners book in English.

If you look carefully here under the Matchlock-section of this forum you will be able to find another book in English that might help you further your knowledge regarding matchlocks

Congrats to a very nice first gun. Wish I’d been as lucky back when I stated collect matchlocks.

 

Jam

[Novice Son]

Thank you for your analysis sir and in the future I will absolutely sign my name.

I've actually collected antique firearms for a good portion of my young life, and have looked at Japanese Matchlocks on the internet in absolutely awe of their beauty, but I'm almost completely ignorant to everything regarding them. This matchlock looked so much different than most of the examples I've seen, seemed to be original, and was most importantly available to me for purchase, so I decided to roll the dice.

I'm certainly relieved to hear your congratulations, rather than the information I've bought an elaborate fake from the popular but unknown Japanese Matchlock Black Market.

Bob

 

[Baka Gaijin]

Hi Bob, Jan (or Jam as he sometimes signs) is being very modest here.

 

He is the author of a very fine Book:

 

http://www.lulu.com/shop/jan-pettersson/the-yonezawa-matchlock-mighty-gun-of-the-uesugi-samurai/hardcover/product-23384395.html

 

I and many others here have a copy.

 

I would heartily recommend it.

[Novice Son]

Malcolm,

Thank you sir for the recommendations. 

Jan/Jam,

Thank you sir for sharing your knowledge with me. 

Bob

[Viper6924]

You welcome, Bob! This is one of the main reasons behind this forum; to share information and assist whenever possible.

 

Malcolm, thanks for your kind words. You know they are appreciated!

 

Jan (sometimes it’s hard hitting the right key)

[Bugyotsuji]

Yes, I would agree with the above, but there is yet more to dig up regarding these guns and their background. Jan's book will help to a large degree.

 

The name along the right side-panel of the barrel says Kunitomo Tamba and generally refers to Go Shu Kunitomo Tamba Daijo Munetoshi. The Jinshin 905 number from 新潟懸 Niigata Ken (?) on the left of the barrel is hard to see in that shot, but should be easy enough to read with the right focus. The stylistic Chinese characters on top of the barrel will take someone with special training to read.

 

A 10-Monme should have two brass barrel bands, but that should not be too hard to fix.

 

A nice gun, and when you get bored with it, very soon I hope, please send it to me.

[Novice Son]

Piers,

Thank you as well sir. The two barrel bands absolutely makes sense, especially considering the location of the first.

I very much appreciate the translations. I'll try to get a better shot of the right side of the barrel.

I have a couple of beginner questions, I hope they aren't too bothersome. 

Why would there be stylistic Chinese characters on the top?

I purchased this from a friend out of his private collection. My next question comes because I am a fairly honest man and because I honestly don't know. I think I have a general idea of the value of Matchlocks, but can any of you give me a rough estimate of what the value of this would be on the American market? He is a friend, and I really want to make sure he is properly taking care of. 

I'm also very much curious about the differences between the highly decorated, moderately decorated, and plain Matchlocks. I have noticed, because of the threads on this board, that the plain Matchlocks were probably for military use. Does that mean the highly decorated matchlocks were rarely used as intended? Were they used as status symbols and only displayed? Also, would it be fair to assume that the highly decorated matchlocks were probably only for a someone of high status?

Thank you everyone for the assistance thus far. 


 

[Bugyotsuji]

So many questions and so little space to answer. Seki guns tend to have one, two, three or four silver characters along the top of the barrel, signifying some classical fighting motto or virtue. As we hark back to Latin and Greek, the Japanese trace many of their cultural roots to ancient China, including even the writing system itself. ‘Kanji’ literally means Chinese letters. So with this gun there is typical Seki decoration, tastefully done, and yes it would probably have been owned by a well-to-do samurai.

[Bugyotsuji]

The philosophy on decoration would have varied by area. And sometimes you can get a feeling from the amount/style of decoration as to where it was made. The flashiest guns were probably non-military guns for merchants in Osaka, of under around 3.5 Monme bore size.

As to the value of your gun above, I am guessing anywhere between 3,000 to 6,000 USD depending on many factors, but most people know little about them so they may change hands for silly low prices.

[Novice Son]

Thank you Piers. 

I had noticed that some of the firearms posted had a "saying" on them, and thought that might be what it was. It didn't want to be presumptuous though.

The explanation regarding the Chinese makes perfect sense, especially with the analogy to Latin. 

The philosophy regarding decoration is similar in other antique firearm realms, so that would make sense as well. 

I agree, the knowledge we have about these firearms is very little here, and I think it very much affects the private sale price. 

Again, I very much appreciate the help Piers. 

Bob


 

[Viper6924]

The last 10 Monme Seki-ryu matchlock I saw for sale was at an auctionhouse in London. It was a very similar looking gun to the one you have, Bob. If my memory doesn’t fail me the asking price was set to around £4000. It didn’t get any bids so I guess the market didn’t agree with that price.

 

The question of decoration vs non-decoration is an interesting one. I guess it was often down to personal taste of the person ordering the gun. But as Piers says, military-grade matchlocks tend to be less decorated than hunting and practise guns. Bling or not to bling, that’s the question

 

Jan

[Peter Bleed]

Bob,

If you wants information about the worth of Japanese matchlock I would tell him that prices are 1) highly diverse (mainly because the guns are highly diverse), and 2) generally falling.

As accurate as those two points may be, readers of this thread might want to note a gun being offered at an upcoming auction.

 

https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/72/3324/attractive-cased-exhibitionoffering-grade-Japanese-matchlock

 

Peter

[Viper6924]

Oh dear God! Someone taken a perfectly good Seki-ryu Tan zutsu and ruined it. I hope there is a special place in matchlock hell reserved for the person who did that to the barrel. Is that paint?

And what to say about RI Auction? 10-15000 dollar. Well, I guess they are in dire need of a matchlock appraiser...

 

Jan