Geraint

Surely Hoshu and not Bungo..........

Interesting thread with so much involved. Dealers and auctioneers are often keen to identify a piece as from such and such a collection, the implication being that it has passed the scrutiny of a well respected collector and therefore must be good. The real issue is that objects work for us at many levels: an anonymous sword connects us to samurai culture at some level which intrigues most people and I imagine that most of us would have some opinion about it's quality judged by our inspection of the sword. If you knew that it had been owned by a named figure in Japanese history would you not find that appealing? Some years ago I showed my sister an object which I had acquired, interesting of itself but unremarkable. While she was holding it I told her who it had belonged to and her reaction changed immediately, she nearly dropped it. Direct connection with an historical figure certainly gets you that buzz. On another tack there was a very well known forger in the UK, (Sean Greenhalgh if you want to explore). A great deal of his success was based on the fact that he would find very old auction catalogues, look for pieces that had disappeared over the years, fake them and then turn up at a museum to ask if they were worth anything or not. The curators, experts in their field, recognised what they assumed were lost masterpieces and went mad for them. Provenance.

Thanks Robert. Signed in the hi on this one too. All the best.

Dear Martin. I am sorry if the title of the post mislead you, there was no intent to ask a question, merely to point out that this seemed unusual to me and to see if others had come across anything similar. I know that one or two people collect ko gatana and shared it for interest only. All the best.

Just for interest, a little something that I have just acquired. Not come across this before and then digging around in some old auction catalogues I found a similar one listed in a Glending sale from 1962, this time by Nobukuni Yoshimasa. The mei on mine is Nobukuni Mitsumasa, cf, Art and the Sword, Vol. 4, page 9. I would love to see any others if you have them. Enjoy.

Morning Denis. Looking forward to seeing it. I suppose the answer is to some extent obvious, forgive me. Front, side, back and top as well as inside the brim and a shot of where the shikoro attaches to the helmet from inside would be a good start. Mei if it has one. Can't believe that this answer will help much but, hey, ho! And Ian beat me to it with the authoritative view.) All the best.

Following Matt's offer I have one or two if you would like them Dennis. PM me if so. All the best.

Hi Rick. As no one else has stepped in, the lower image is of a late pressing, hence the thin and uniform edge. These were manufactured in some quantity and you find them on swords but also applied to a variety of decorative objects made for the Western market around the turn of the century, sorry that's 19th/20th century. I found a cigarette box once with about twenty of them fastened by thin pins soldered to the back . You also more rarely find genuine menuki, sometimes by master craftsmen, applied to higher status objects. Probably made of brass which is blackened on the face to resemble shakudo. Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings. All the best.

From memory there is a sword in the Boston Museum catalogue with a similar copper extension, I beleive the suggestion was that it would make a short nakago less likely to snap the tsuka in action when a longer tsuka had been used..........

Dear.......(sorry, no name) You are right, it is a copy of something that already exists, just not a very good copy. Compare the standard of workmanship with the naval dirk you already have, the differences should be clear. All the best.

I like the way that the tendrils continue over the seppa dai in low relief, I haven't noted that before on a Namban tsuba. All the best.

Hi Mark. Not quite right. Malcolm's post says that the kiri mon on your fuchi is used by many families. Don't get too hung up on the significance of the fuchi, assigning the sword to a family on this basis won't work. We are all keen to see more of the sword because it is the blade itself that will be the interesting bit. All the best.

Dear All. Some years ago one of the major London auction houses had a lot which consisted of several yari in a stand. The stand had been made of wood and for each yari shaft a pair of tsuba had been drilled in just this way and screwed to the stand to hold the yari shaft............. I will try to find the catalogue and scan the image for you. All the best.

Dear Mark. What you seem to have is a civilian mounted katana that has been converted for military use. The fuchi has nothing to do with rank, nor are they oak leaves. The menuki looks as if it might be a grain of millet. It is quite possible to find katana converted for field use though not common, sometimes a sarute is pierced through the end of the tsuka to allow the attachment of a tassel. This means that your tsuba hunt will probably be easier as you could use almost any type. All the best.

Hi Steve, What do you think about the nakago and the location of the mei? All the best.

Hi Jeffery, (We are expected to sign all our posts with a name, by the by.) I have found that tracing paper as such is not needed. A very thin and light weight white paper is great. I use a variety of pencils for mine rather than the Japanese materials but whatever technique you use this is certainly the best way of examining a sword in detail, even if you are not too pleased with the results compared to some that are published, the process is certainly worth it. Have fun with this! All the ebst.

Hi Miha, You suggest that the material is shakudo, which would be first guess for these though the colour for your images is hard to tell. The technique is not katakiri bori, that is engaaving in a surface where the chisel changes angle so that the lines are not regular, many examples available if you search the internet. Menuki are normally made by a different process, have a look at this. All the best.

You are spot on with the Chinese coins but I don't think the tsuba are fakes at all. Hard to say with these images but don't dismiss them too quickly. (Mind you, if he keeps them on that wet window sill they won't be much good for very long!) All the best.

Hi Bruno. If you have not already come across this one, http://www.aoijapan.com/img/fittings/2013/F13313.jpg Compare the treatment of the plate.............

Hi Bruno. I can see why you are heading in that direction but almost any artist trained in that school could be a possibility. Have a look at this thread, viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11103 All the best.

Hi Brad. I can't narrow down the generation of this smith for you but there are five generations listed in Hawley from 1624 to the 1700s. The later ones Hawley lists as signing simply Yoshinaga but the five character mei is a trait of Hizen smiths, and many others, so perhaps best not to assume that this restricts it to just the few. You may find it impossible to narrow this down unless you can compare the mei to one of the smiths via an oshigata in one of the reference works which I don't have but I am sure someone here will have. The crack in the same is almost universal if you mean the vertical slit. It is the join where the same is wrapped around the core of the tsuka. Regular horizontal slits are also common where same has been cut and matched from smaller pieces, the join often under the ito. The shaped seppa and fuchi, seppa seem to be silver foiled by the way, are designed to make it possible to draw one of the two implements stored in the saya, the kodzuka or kogai. I can't see from your images if there is a corresponding pocket in the saya for either of these but the shape of the ana cut in the tsuba usually suggests a kogai. Lots of references to sword mountings around, have a search on here. All the best.

Hi Brad. Gets pretty tricky quite soon, this game. Your translation was right, Hizen kuni Yoshinaga. There are several characters for Naga used in swordsmiths signatures and several generations used this mei. Images of the rest of the blade would help members comment. Certainly looks interesting. All the best.

Hi Alan. Nice photos, looking forward to seeing the whole koshirae. Dragons are often depicted in crashing waves in Japanese art so this one certainly fits that convention. Have a look for dragon tsuba and you will find many renditions to compare with yours. Happy New Year.

Agreed Thierry, but at the size quoted Ken's tsuba is approximately one thirteenth as thick as yours. :D

Hi Ken, 0.23mm? That's really thin!