Anthony de Vos

Hi! The Saotome’ School of kabuto makers is believed to have been founded by Ietada, after Sekigahara. One can often see Saotome tsuba dated much earlier than that. I believe that the tradition to date Saotome tsuba to Muromachi and Momoyama might need to be reconsidered. Anthony

Hi! Some later info regarding a sword for JD. Sometimes FLAK miss the target🤣

Hi! I bought many things from him in the past and have also visited his shop. He answers in mail contact. He even found me a Bamen school koboshi. Never had a problem. Some items nowadays sometimes look like they had a ”touch up” Anthony

Hi! Agreed, some nice prices and many nice items. Anthony

Hi Ian! Thanks for the info! Great to get a name to the tsuba. I hope you got some nice items. I agree, there was plenty of eye candy at the auction. Lot 8, 61, 68 and 336 was also items I liked. Maybe not the most expensive or rare of all the lots but they stirred my heart. 😁 Anthony

Hi! Any views regarding the Cooper Collection sale. I thought it was some nice tosogu up for grabs. I got only two lot’s but was happy anyway. I was overbid on many. Got lot 317, liked it a lot. I took a huge chance on lot 335. They had two identical pictures, quite blurred, by misstake, nothing from the back. Described as signed but as with all lots no description of the mei. I have no clue so it will be fun to see what it is…..I hope!🤣 Someone else getting something? Regards, Anthony

Hi! I found some nice tigers that I think work well together. The F/K is signed Yanagawa Naokatsu. Do anyone have an idea what school the tsuba could belong to? Anthony

Nice, Gary!

Hi! His kodzuka is one of the finest work I have ever seen. It’s sbsolutly stunning. He is working on a new piece of tosogu besides his other engraving work. Anthony

Hi! I liked the yari hidden in the kanabo, rare sight. Unfortunately the underbidder since I had no time to follow the auction. The rest, maybe with the exeption of one or two yari, looked terrible. Anthony

Hi Uwe! I have no space but that is not the problem here. The armor belongs to my brother Eric He plans to emigrate and because of that sell the armor along with around ten Saotome kabuto and masks. I just posted it because just as Gary’s beautiful armor it’s crowned with an Iechika kabuto. Anthony

Hi! What a coincidence! My brother Eric got a beautiful Gosoku in burgundy odoshi. The kabuto is also Saotome Iechika. The armor is papered by NKBKHK. He is emigrating and plans to sell it. Anthony

Exellent!

Hi! I am looking for a fuchi and possibly a kodzuka that match this rooster theme. Optimal would be with Masaaki mei. Anthony

Simon, I was obviously late. 😁

Hi! As always some problems with the descriptions. I am in no way an expert but have a few saotome kabuto, I have problems with lot 13. I believe it's not from the Saotomé school. I also think that armor lot 36 could be later than Meiji. Anthony

Hi! One thing to consider when talking about prices on items, collectibles and otherwise, is the loss of buying power in fiat currencies. We tend to compare the amount of money, an item cost, in a certain currency between years or decades, without taking into account the loss of value in the currency itself. If you look in a chart decribing the actual buying power of a certain currency you will notice that some prices hasn't changed that much at all. You pay more in nominally value but in reality it's the same price as for a decade or two ago. A great example is the buying value of one ounce of gold. Almost the same today as 1900 while the grenback lost more than 99% of it's buying power. Anthony

Hi! Very interesting! I wish there were a safe reliable shipper, accepting to ship firearms to Sweden. It’s just a legal to own in Sweden as in the US, without any registration or paperwork. Unfortunately shippers like DHL, Fedex et al, don’t care.. Anthony

Hi! Just a reflexion from a newbie. I know the history regarding the ”Green paper fraud scandal”. I don’t think it’s very flattering for an organization to first issue papers for money and then deem them worthless, encouraging everyone to pay more money to get new papers. It’s a great business idea though. Maybe we will se it again in a couple of decades. Todays papers losing credibility, ”new knowledge as the reason. After all, fine fittings to paper is not infinite… Anthony

RIP

Hi! Sword fittings is a very new interest of mine, previously collecting other Japanese fields. I would like to express my gratitude to Bob and everyone contributing with valuable information. It is a great learning tool for a beginner. I hope it never ends... Regards, Anthony

Ian, you are just getting old or had one Campari to much. I experience the same problem probably for the same reason... Anthony

Hi! Very interesting gun. I have an Enfield with the rare cutlass bayonet, they came also with the yathagan bayonet that was more common. My example have, beside the registration numbers, a beatiful inlay along the barrel. Anthony

Hi! Is tsuba 241 Made by a Mito school smith? Regards, Anthony

Hi! Is there any possibility that this is a naginata Bukuro? Anthony