Geraint

My pleasure.

Hi Joe. The exhibition was brought to the UK by the Token Society and was a very memorable event. The opportunity too study such an array of work by some of the best gendai smiths was truly awesome. I believe the same event hosted a rather special display of work by Sumitani Masamine who appeared in person. That was quite special! I can still feel the weight of an extraordinary omi yari that he had made, on my mind if not in hand. Hope the attached helps. All the best.

I have a copy of the translation if you need some pages copied Joe. All the best.

Not like this one? http://www.japanesesword.com/AntiqueSwords/Swordsunder2500.htm

You are right Steve. A small English ship was wrecked on an offshore island and the strange shape of early cricket bats carried in the hold was a source of fascination to the Japanese, hence the name of this type of koshirae, kirike-to-batto koshirae. An interesting aspect of Namban art. Apparently the cricket gear was being transported as part of the luggage of an officer with the East India Company and therefore the stylised initials EIC often feature in the design of the kodogu on such koshirae. All the best.

Dear Grant. Brilliant photos and a good find for the tsuba. If you think in terms of design and execution then the flowing and balanced distribution of figures allied to the fine carving and modelling and the detailed inlays work would all suggest that this is a good piece. Can't help with the attribution except to say that I think it is well above the average Soten school work but probably quite late. Look at the way the dragon is carved and his head comes above the level of the surrounding plate. And as always look at the carving of the faces. If you can see character in faces carved on this scale then whoever made it was damn good at his craft. Enjoy, I think you have got a keeper. All the best. P>S> The thread referred to is in the Tosogu section, headed, Yet another Soten tsuba.

And it would mean that the little patched piece of same was not visible........ All the best

Hi Andy. With regard to the Echizen noju kanji, they sometimes occur like this when there is a full signature on the other side of the tang. Echizen noju simply means the place name where the sword was forged, a smith by the name of Shigetaka and others sometimes put this on one side and used the other side for the fuller signature. Either that or we would expect to see more characters following on. At least both swords are genuine Japanese swords though it is still possible that they have false signatures. More photographs of the whole blade and the whole tang from both sides would help. All the best.

At least they all have kogatana and as such will happily fill a pocket on a low end koshirae. Useful to have in the bits box. All the best.

But when he says clean the blade he means only wipe it with a cloth and perhaps some light oil, don't do anything else and don't clean the tang at all. I'm sure you knew that already but I would hate to see it all shiny from glasspapering. A kaigunto with an older blade and what looks like a sanmai awase tsuba, can't be bad for what you paid. Well done. All the best

Hi Phil. With regard to your second sword it's a Sudanese kaskara, any search engine will show you quite a lot about them. As you say rumored to be modeled on Crusader swords but........... At least this one's not Chinese. All the best

Dear Steve. Hard to say very much from these images and without measurements. What do you think of it so far? It seems to be o suriage, rather slender with a somewhat larger kisaki. As you can't see the boshi then we have to wonder if that is the original kisaki shape. I have not come across mune hada being used as a kantei point and we cannot make out what the hada on the blade is from the images. Is the shinogi raised or low? I think you will get more feedback when you give some more information, any opinion at this stage is based on pretty slim evidence, (especially mine) Having said that it would be nice to think that this was a fairly early sword. Have fun.

Is that travel sickness Thomas?

Hi Mark. Might be my imagination but I think I can see Bizen kuni Osa......... All the best.

Thank you Christian! I needed that.

Dear Michael. I think the answer to your question is, "No", unless you find one with an inscription to a particular person. All the best.

Hi Francis. Look also at the fit of the habaki, be prepared for the blade and sword to be associated rather than belonging together........... All the best

Dear Michael. I can't make out the mei, you might try some talcum powder which you brush off leaving traces in the mei and then photograph with the mei vertical to see if we can get to grips with it. However, the nakago jiri might suggest Kaga for a place to start research, have a look at this one, http://www.nihontoantiques.com/archive/g7.htm Hard to tell but the sori appears to be quite marked is this so? All the best

Patience Brian, patience! However it does allow us to revisit the tsuba in the light of the Kyo kinko attribution of this one. http://www.aoijapan.com/tsuba-mumeikyo-kinko-5 The sword is a nice package and would be interesting to see the whole thing restored. All the best.

Hi Luca. So what you have is an iron tsuba with a dragon, false mei and has been mounted on a gunto koshirae, hence the cut out at the seppa dai. Is the dragon of such quality that it seems almost alive? Teruhide is one of the greats, this one is not his work. But you knew that, didn't you? All the best.

Hi Randy. For your 'clan mon' have a look at this, http://www.nihonto.com/abtartyasutsugu.html and for the kiku mon this, http://www.nihonto.com/abtartshinkai.html though found with the mei of other shinto smiths also. Looks like fascinating volume. All the best.

Hi Luca. Sorry for the delay. Whatever I say is bound to be a personal judgement and I am sure that otehrs will have different ideas. Just for the sake of comparison as it is already sold, this one came up on Andy's site recently. http://www.nihonto.us/NARA%20KINKO%20DM041.htm I suggest that the tsuba you originally posted is weaker in design and execution than the examples. Do I see some cracks in the plate to the left of the face? It is hard to judge because of the wear to the tsuba but for me the composition is a little wooden, static. I know that the image of contemplation does not exactly call for movement but if we compare to the example from Andy's site you might see what I mean. Second compare the quality of the carving, look at the sukashi where there is least damage. There is nothing wrong with the tsuba, but it is not of the same quality as the others in my opinion. If nothing else this might provoke some debate. Enjoy.

Hi Luca. Have a look at these, http://www.worcesterart.org/exhibitions/samurai/ scroll down a bit and you will see the tsuba, click on it for an enlargement. And http://www.shibuiswords.com/tsuba.htm#nara Both provide quite good closeups. The tsuba you show has some issues with wear it seems but have a look at the quality of the work, even in enlarged views. What do you think? All the best.

Hi Joel. You may find the information on this link useful. http://members.chello.nl/tfujimot/ All the best.

Hi Dirk. German Volvo? Those will indeed be hard to find. Swedish Volvo on the other hand.... bmoore1322 likes this Like This Dirk German Volvo is a rare offshoot branch who learnt their trade under the original Volvo makers and then emigrated to a castle town to supply the demands of their Graff. All the best.