
Geraint
Members-
Posts
2,983 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
9
Everything posted by Geraint
-
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.
-
General staff officer's fuchi? Also, tsuba help please
Geraint replied to Cuirassier's topic in Military Swords of Japan
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.
-
General staff officer's fuchi? Also, tsuba help please
Geraint replied to Cuirassier's topic in Military Swords of Japan
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!
-
Hi, might not help you too much with the age question but this might be of interest, http://www.users.on.net/~coxm/echizen%20kinai.htm All the best.
-
Dear Keith. I cannot speak for Jean but I think you may have misunderstood his intent. I don't think he is suggesting that your sword is gimei, merely pointing out that the sword itself is the thing to be studying. You have found a nice sword which is worth preserving and restoring properly, congratulations. If it lives up to it's promise then it is a really nice find. I think the message is enjoy and explore the sword, don't worry too much about the signature yet. It is perfectly understandable that you want to find out about this smith and your hunt for information is leading you down some interesting paths but what will really fire you up is what is in the blade. Something to look forward to. Enjoy the sword and have fun.
-
has anyone heard of this swordsmith?
Geraint replied to nihonto ken korekuta's topic in Military Swords of Japan
Hi Andy, In the meantime have a look at the sword in this thread, second image. http://www.nihontomessageboard.com/nmb/ ... =15&t=8923 -
Woah! Easy everyone. The original response regarding books was I think directed at the reply which suggested that this was a kyu gunto. We all agree that once you start to learn about nihonto then you would be well advised to spend some money on books but let's not pile in on that one just yet. Andrew, our expertise is often in limited areas of the subject, hence what you might see as conflicting advice. Some people are very interested in swords of the type you posted, others specialise in gendaito, others will have a particular period or school that they are devoted to. Everyone wants to help, just that some advice is better than others for any particular topic. This is a rare mount and should be preserved as such but fitting a blade to it will not do anyone any good as several people have pointed out. It is well worth collecting from the point of view of those interested in military swords, many collectors would not be interested as their focus would be the blade itself. Someone has removed the blade, possibly because it was damaged beyond repair, possibly because they thought they would get more for the blade alone, who knows? Stick with it and this is a fascinating hobby whatever avenue of collecting you decide to go down. All the best.
-
No Donny, look up Shitahara school. There is a structure to sword signatures, have a go at the mei now that you know what it says and see if you can work it out, it gets easier over time. Slowly I grant you. Have fun. By the by, it would be nice to see some picture of the blade........ It may be gunto mounted but........
-
20 minutes each? That's a bit hasty Curran. Back to the topic. We all know that tsuba ko used design books and I have a photograph in one of my books of wooden templates or design models used to explore designs before committing them to metal. The picture shows tsuba and solid fuchi kashira in white wood with inked designs. I don't know if these were used to show customers but it is certainly true that designs are repeated, sometimes copied by other schools and so on.
-
Perhaps we could allow ourselves the leeway to say that any thought of having it remounted by anyone should go straight out of the window as it is a relatively scarce item and should be preserved exactly as it is.............
-
Online Arthur Church tsuba collection at the Ashmolean
Geraint replied to growlingbear's topic in Tosogu
Brilliant link, thank you James.