Geraint

Dear Tlongnaws. Welcome to NMB. There is a thread here that might help. All the best.

Glen. That last one you posted is pretty much a dead ringer for mine; seppa dai, shape of the ryohitsu, tendril design and so forth. Also the first one, having signed examples is interesting and from what I gather rare. Thank you for posting these. All the best.

Dear Peter. In answer to your first point here is a tsuba that I believe to be of Japanese manufacture. There are slight asymmetrys to the design in that the dragon on one side seems to have a pearl in it's mouth and the tendril that forms the inner mimi turns into the body of the tsuba. The material is shinchu or sentoku, the seppa dai is the classic Namban design and the ryo hitsu are original to the tsuba. The stylistic features and the undercutting on the lower half of the tsuba are quite typical. All the best.

Hi James. Welcome to NMB. For information about this smith see here, http://www.nihontocraft.com/Mishina.html As you will see he is well documented but just a word of caution, the signatures on ko gatana, i.e. the blade, are usually held lightly as many of them are clearly not made by the person whose signature they bear. Enjoy the journey! All the best.

These are really not my field but I think the give away here are the nice shiny file marks where the new mekugi ana has been drilled. Only shows in the one photo. All the best.

Dear Jace. A large shinshinto katana with an o gissaki in nice original mounts, spotted many years ago as I was cycling past an antiques shop I knew. Groaned and pulled over on the basis of, "Well at least I can have a look!" Went in and drew the blade out a little to see a sticker, yes, on the blade, which said £30. Force of habit more than anything else, I asked if there was anything they could do on that and to my surprise the owner said he could do it for £28. With trembling hands I wrote the cheque, knowing that it would make me over drawn, first and last time for that. Next problem was cycling home with it. I still have it, papered now to Inshu Kanesaki. Iron mokko tsuba, gold foiled habaki and seppa, shakudo fuchi kashira and menuki of samurai fighting in boats. All the best.

Dear David. Usually Japanese swords are measured from tip, kissaki, to the machi, the place where the tang begins. If that is so then I have a hard time believing that this is 23 inches long! All the best.

Dear John. Thank you for your input on this one. The more I look and fondle it the older it feels. I'll do some more digging. All the best.

Dear Roger. Imagine inlaying a piece of iron into the surface of your tsuba but rather than making it thin and flush with the original surface, you make it thick so that it stands proud. you can then carve the raised inlay. All the best.

C'mon Piers, stop teasing and show us the polished yari! All the best.

Dea Michael The first exmple is lacquered leather to match the saya colour. @Charles I don't think baleen, that presents as thin, slightly shiny strands, often found on tanto koshirae. Looks almost like a plastic. @Adam, I really like your tsuka, certainly looks like leather. I have two wakizashi mounted in rather similar ways, the one I posted I am fairly sure is leather, but lacquered. The other is more of a puzzle as on close inspection I think I can see a grid pattern under the surface so perhaps a thin leather wrapped around a woven tape for greater strength. Enjoying this thread guys, keep them coming!

Dear Michael. There are a huge range of styles and materials used for this, just when you think you have seen them all another pops up. I'm quite partial to this style. From your desvciption it sounds as though what you are seeing is plainer than this, as Mark suggests a scren shot will help. All the best.

Dear George. As you know opinions based on images are not likely to be consitent here but for what it's worth I think the first one is probably right based on workmanship and the koshirae is/will be nice. The second is also interesting with orikaeshi mei though I can't see enough to be convinced about the mei. The rustic koshirae I also find interesting. The last one, as Domink suggests, is the big question and if rght worth full restoration without a doubt. If you look up Inami Hakusui you wil find out all about him but thought eh paper work is nice to have and should stay with the items it is not regarded as conclusive. Love to know how this story ends, you sure have a knack for finding interesting stuff! All the best.

Thanks again Dale. I had thought Akasaka but when it arrived there are quite a few tekottsu on the mimi and no sign of layers in the sukashi, a bit too large for Owari? Perhaps Shoami it is then? All the best.

Oh, well spotted Dale, thank you. I'd never have come across that. Needless to say that's not where it came from to me. What do we think of the Shoami attribution? All the best.

This tsuba has just joined the collection and I wondered if anyone would care to comment on it. I have seen a similar design somewhere but having scoured the memory palace, well more of a memory ruin these days, I have failed to come up with it. 77mms x77mms, Uniform thickness of 6mms. Thanks one and all. All the best.

Hi Jody. Welcome to NMB. Not sure how much you know so forgive me if I over simplify. This is not a military sword but an earlier civilian mounted or Samurai sword. It looks to have been slightly shortened at the nakago/tang. I appreciate that you are wroking with your phone but an overall shot of the bare blade and another of the whole of the nakago would be helpful. Don't do anything more than wipe the blade with some light oil and avoid touching it with your fingers. Looking forward to some others jumping in here. All the best.

Dear Mike. Forgive me if you know this alredy but don't clean anything! Wipe the blade with some light oil and cloth but nothing more. When you look up Tanba no kami Terukado you will find lots of information. He was working in the 1600s. However there is always the possibility of this being an incorrect signature so don't get too excited just yet. Give us some more pictures and we will see where this goes. Welcome to the complex world of Japanese swords! ALl the best.

Kevin, not very much value for the smaller bits and pieces I'm afraid. Sorry I can't make out the signature on the smaller tsuba. Do we have a photograph of the other side of the larger tsuba? I would guess around$100 to $150 for that one if the back is in the same sort of condition Others will add to this later on. Just one question, are there two of the little ornaments on the hilt? They are menuki and if so and they are OK then maybe a bit in them, can't tell from these photos. All the best.

Hi Kevin, welcome to NMB! So the smaller copper washer like objects are called seppa, they fit on either side of the tsuba or handguard. The broken leather washer would have been on a military sword and the tab would have had a press stud on it so that it could pass through one of the slots on the tsuba and clipped to the scabbard. The broken bit with the cloth tape is the pommel end of a tsuka or hilt. It has an iron kashira or pomel cap. The other bit is a tsuka but it looks like one that someone was attempting to make up. The metal collar with the flowers is the fuchi. The two larger items are tsuba or guards, the smaller one is for a tanto or dagger, the larger one is the most interesting of the lot. If that's not clear then please do ask. ALl the best.

Dear Piers. From what I can see I think I would label your tsuba as Nagoya mono; the colour of the alloy, the nanako and the tagane marks around the nakago ana would support this. I imagine that the soaking in hot water would have removed some of the accumulated dirt and the fact that it softened the adhesive is a trick worth remembering. All the best.

Dear Piers. Result! Was it Superglue or epoxy do you think? I note that you have called it a kenjo tsuba, what makes you apply that label to it, I wonder? Alll the best

Nice find! All the best.

Dear Jacob. Just in case this all means very little to you. The kiku mon is the chrysanthemum carved on the tang. This is used by several smiths in the Edo period r around 1600 to 1700 and others. It is usually carved at the top of the tang followed by the name of the smith, the position of yours suggests that the tang has been shortened, removing the signature. This is not uncommon though less desireable. The tang appears also to have hade the edges modified making the kiku mon look crowded. Fumbari is a term that means a narrowing of the blades wifdth just above the end of the tang. It shouldn't be visible at this point if the tang has been shortened, hence Colin's suggestion that the blade maY have had some metal removed from the edge about half way up. All OK so far? More pictures please. All the best.

In fairness to the curator all that they actually are reported to have said was that it was a mumei blade from the 1600s, the rest is sales hyperbole. I am pretty sure that the idea that the MFA sends it's swords to anyone other than accredited Japanese experts is a nonsense. What we have here is a well written sales pitch from someone who may have done a walk in at the MFA and asked for an opinion from someone who has been sent down from the department to keep the punters happy at the front desk. All the best.