Bungo

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0303014545 milt

here's another " atypical " Namban tsuba, note the open works + nunome. Looks more like a Hizen but the box that accompanied the tsuba says Namban. milt

when one is blind, one depends on feel........... didn't say it's scientific. But most would agree Ito/Choshu type iron " appears " " softer " than that of Tosho, Saotome, yes ? milt

" am doubtful of the various claims made about relative hardness and state of tempering etc. I don't believe it possible to discern these details by feel and touch " Just personal observation only, mind you. I believe the relative " hardness " of different schools are derived from visual observation, like a Armour.sword maker tsuba " appear " harder than , say, a Choshu/Bushu tsuba. Ito tsuba with those thin cut out " appear " soft as the technique will be very difficult to execute with " hard steel " ? When scrapping red rust from various " low end " tsuba from different period/school, I do feel a difference ( hardness ? ). milt

Leunant Picard ( as addressed to by Q ), If you use ivory chip or bone to scrap at the red active rust, most likely you won't hurt the tsuba ( but keep off the plugs of the koz/kogai holes ), use soap and toothbrush to wash off the dirts, then apply very lightly chogi oil to check progress, you'll be surprise how much better that " Yagyu style " tsuba will look. You can always wait for NTHK oversea shinsa , they are a bit " cheaper " than sending it back to NBTHK. ( cost 200+ if pass ) p.s. Do not ask me to explain Q Milt ( the space cadet )

Mark, no soup for you milt

I believe the 3 kanji read " Shoami ". p.s. it's not a re-pro, Edo period. Average quality ( my opinion ) Milt

Ed, Star Trek, the Next generation. Anyone like me regarding Torres the fair sex Klingon ? After seeing the mei, I also come to the conclusion it's not Yagyu but still a decent, good honest tsuba. How come all the new guys get to discover " good " stuffs ? p.s. as I suggested, Jean Luc, try your hands on the cheapie first, when feel a bit more comfortable, you can lightly clean the good one ( but don't over do it, you don't have to remove that last rust speck !! ) Milt

so sorry most of you didn't get to see the rock climber in action at Edo castle. The ever vigilant moderators ( don't you guys ever go to the bathroom or something ? )yanked it. Here is a small painting that's Edo period and belong to a corner. Seller identified the painter as Toyohiko ( fake ? copy ? doesn't really matter ). My request is for translation of the poem supposedly by Basho. This requires the specialist...................Nobody san, please ? milt

" - Shinsa means authentification i guess, have you any idea of the price of this kind of evaluation knowing that Rockfeller is not my cousin ? " told you already....... about 400 bucks to Japan NBTHK shinsa, give or take 100 . " What's the purpose of this forum ? I don't ask any money Mr Milt " you can't afford my service since you are not related to Rockie I wish I personally know Capt. Picard, more inclines towards Torres myself. Yes, it's a joke since you are jean Luc p.s. what a drag, have to explain a joke !! milt

geez, Capt. Picard, mumei becomes signed............ did you just inscript that name there ? I am not sure Yagyu tsuba are typically signed.............. I'll leave that to the " specialist ", anyway the design is Yagyu as documented in the book, but yours may be a copy of that design. As I say, need Shinsa, probably cost you 400+ milt

You can try your cleaning skill by using ivory chip on that Nara-ish tsuba, oil very lightly to check on condition and patina. I wouldn't touch the " Yagyu -design " tsuba unless you know what you are doing, Capt. Picard. Milt

shinto sword ? fits well with the shinto era tsuba...hopefully Yagyu. Come on, all you tsuba dudes out there, what do you think ? Design is Yagyu ( check out that European Sword colllection book with section on Yagyu tsuba ), I may miss out the details sometimes, but how about the " rim " ? May be Shoami copy ( doubt it ) ? I am putting my bet on it being Yagyu when shinsa-ed by NBTHK in Japan. milt

Guido, I am not dissing either one......... and not because both are considered " master " and I want to sound/act like some animal anatomy . Honestly, the Kaneie examples illustrated in the article are not all that impressive, I like may be 4 of them out of ten or so.......... they are " simple/absract " in a way but there's no " wow, doggone it, you betcha they are good " ( my apology to a certain alaskan )punch, but then they are just pics and not in hands. I just take exception when the placement is clearly out of balance and the author kept explaining it around and around ( again like the Alaskan ). Don't forget I have a Kaneie ( arhhhh, Saga school, not the first/second ) and I think the pictorial treatment is just right......... milt

that simple looking one is............. A freaking " Yagyu " design. Quite valuable if you get it pass shinsa. I leave that to other " specialist " on this board to decide if it's " shoshin ". I wouldn't sell it if I were you ( unless to me, hahahhaha ). Keep it as a foundation of your budding collection for a while. p.s. , the pictorial one is quite bad , I could be totally wrong, of course milt

it's real, mei says " Shoami ". Worth anything ? One share of Apple computer( today's closing, Oct 6 08 ) on a good day, or 4 shares of E-Bay give ot take 10 bucks on average days........ milt

the first 2 pics show a run of the mill " nara-ish " tsuba in poor condition....... the last one is quite interesting, you should keep that one as you build up your collection. milt

Hahahhaaaa, Ma Yuan , now that's an original while Kaneie is a copy. Any thoughts on that ? milt

Correct me if I am wrong, Kaneie tsuba is more " pictorial " appreciation and less " structural " ( by that I mean treatment of iron ) while Nobuie is more " structural " appreciation ? Taste( or the lack of ) is a funny thing....... the genuine Kaneie examples I see in that article translated by Afu really do not impress me that much. Some really lack " balance " but the author " explained " that " deficiency " away sort Palin-ish like ( sorry, moderators, that's the impression I got from reading the article and the best way to express that )...........hence my statement of Hank Paulson's " trust me ". If given the choice, i'd rather have a Nobuie..at least I can try to see ( or imagine actually seeing )something on that wonderful iron surface. milt

on........arrhhhh, the scary place....... E-Bay http://cgi.ebay.com/Illustrated-Japanes ... dZViewItem good deal, I think. milt

but then, items with lots of " oriental " writings seem to sell well on auction sites like e-bay etc........ strange world we live in. milt

" Saya-gaki is supposed to be a meaningful opinion from someone qualified to give one. Anything else is something I'd rather not have. Maybe I'm wrong about this. Anyone else care to chime in? " Heard it through the grapevines years ago that John Yumoto Sensei was " chastised " by Dr. Homma ( I think, or one of those Big Shots from NBTHK ) for writing a saya gaki on a very good Wakazashi...... rumored to be one of the best sword now in Canada . I think Der Ombudsman of Jss/Us can shed light on this......... yoooooo, Barry ( Not Obama ), where are you ? Milt

Pete, Do you have Afu's Quarterly ? In the introduction of the article by Takeuchi Fumio ( July 1975, NBTHK ), it seems like there are MANY theories regarding who the hack was/were Kaneie.......basicaly he called it an enigma. So after 33 years post publication of that article, the consenus is there were 2 Kaneie , the rest were School works or copies or fakes ? You come across any articles/research as why this consensus come about ? Or.............they just says " trust me " ala Hank paulson ? Go to work, you Baker street irregulars !! milt

it's not really a " question " but rather a " statement " ....... now how about someone dig up some valid mei examples ? Remember the dry looking Nobuie example ? Not saying lightning will strike thrice but as our Secret Agent Man ( not you, Jean ) said " never says never, again ". p.s. Pete, Did you have the same experience as i had in Catholic Boarding School ( 2 years under the " ruler " ) ? Milt

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl= ... ie%3DUTF-8 The boys ( the loser group addressed her with full name )called her " The Penguin ".......... milt