Sad to hear today that Ford Hallam has passed away. A gifted Tosogu who made many wonderful pieces. I am very lucky to have some of his works in my collection.
A few words he sent me about this Koshirae: (Having the "simpler monogram mark" he mentions)
" Hi Gwyn,
The full mei I use was given to me by my teacher about 17 years ago. I've used that almost exclusively on tosogu since then.
The kanji read Fu O Do, this is the closest to my name phoneticaly possible with the On reading of kanji. The meaning is lit; walking in the kings/heavenly road.
The simpler monogram mark I used before this, and very occasionally on very small fittings, is actually made up of my initials, F I H
It was designed to seem slightly Japanese but not an obvious kanji.
Kind regards,
Ford"