Bungo

Franco, the point presented was............ you can't bloody trust the mei comparation, mei can be copied. milt

Brian, If I don't get that ' agent X "title, you are not really worth any salt.....enough said !! Ford, that may enchant you, but i seriously doubt you'll share( willingly ) the same bed. I salute you on being the first to post a full nude ( Guido got in the partially clad and doesnt count )and a full frontal Monti at that !! , but it remains to be seen how long it'll stay there. But, in the mean time........ ( drink that fast before they are taken away ) milt

ford, I respect your opinion............ However, (and i could AND very likely wrong ), it is my personal observation that Japanese fitting makers ( regardless how famous, master or otherwise ) are not very good in doing butterflies( just one example that spring to my mind ). they just look plain aweful...........may be that's the convention they share that butterflies should be done that way so........... what's workmanship/taste ? If one does not appreciate the way butterflies are done the Japanese metal workers' way, is it poor workmanship ? or is it a difference in taste ? While this is like comparing apples und oranges. In the case of Picasso, I love his " old master classical style " but i think his modern works are craps ( and i don't give a sh&^% how many million they are worth at Sotheby's ). Do I question his skill/workmanship as an artist ? The answer is NO, but i do question his taste ( later modern works ). milt

if you want your opinion to be taken seriously........... yes it is. milt

and do not trust the valid mei samples in the books...............they can be fake, they can be faked EASILY. milt

remzy, forget e-bay..buy ONLY from Ginza galleries in Tokyo. You get what you pay for. p.s. I heard having tea at the rock garden calms your ( customer ) nerves........... milt

worry not, if it's from e-bay, it's gonna be crap milt

so , Brian, what is " workmanship " ? seems like it's more like " taste " in this case. Some prefer skinny while others want them big ( more to love, they say )................ the ear-wig ( I think that's what that bug is ) is done nicely ( my opinion ), the mei is spot on with a valid sample from the Kinko meikan. http://lh3.ggpht.com/ncsuinsects/R_A96B ... earwig.jpg There are 4 Miboku listed, the first one is the real BIG name ( aka Shozui, Masayuki .... I think ) and this one is the other one, not " BIG, BIG " but above average. If we can't trust the reference books with valid mei sample, then what's the point of buying and reading the book ? milt

what's with all the pessimism ? aren't we seeing monsters under the bed all the time now ? I can't be 100% but the tsuba doesn't look like it has fire scales. Patina looks fine to me but then i was one of the underbidder so take my opinion with a lump of salt. milt

soooooooooooo you are THE ONE that outbidded me. I think it's a good one. Some of my real old tsuba ( and i got those from Skip Holbrook, not e-bay ) have that wet glossy patina but none are as big as yours. milt

John, May be my level of art appreciation is low but I think the workmanship is quite fine with this bug. In this particular case, I looked at the workmanship first before I rip out the good ole Kinko meikan. Milt

Pete, Coal ? compare Kinko meikan ( new ed. )page 416, middle ones. milt

milt

Carlo, these are Taiwan ( formosa )locals/natives body armors. Taiwasn was an " outpost primative island " where no self respecting mainland Chinese will settle . That is till the manchu took over China from the ming dynasty .......... some " resistors " re-settled in Taiwan and continued the struggle against the Qing ( Manchu ) dynasty. p.s. I would put those primative armour as what Anui armour is to Japanese Armour. milt

http://www.esnips.com/web/tsuba?docsPage=8#files may be this will help ? milt

with the condition, I think it's being Myochin school is the best you can get............. milt

I suspect the dimension is about the WHOLE scroll and not the picture itself. Since the Hiroshige is supposed to be 2 vertical PRINTs ( 2 oban laid vertically ), the picture of that particular " painting ' appears too big ............. may be the dude stood back resulting in the optical illusion of ' bigness ", I don't know. I happen to have the same Hiroshige prints.............these are not one of a kind as they are prints so it's not that unusual to see more than one in the market. The 2 white hawks are quite nice and this lot could be a " bargain " esp. if the Hiroshige is of the right size and not some re-print " blown up " to mount as a big size painting. p.s. this is the one i have, note the horizontal " separattion line " where the 2 prints come together . http://www.esnips.com/doc/9903425c-4377 ... iroshige69 milt

the second painting is by hiroshige which should be 2 oban size print arranged vertically. From the pic, it seems " too big " for oban size print ( judging from the partial hand shown )......... unless there's size/prospective distortion , it doesn't seem ' right ". what do you think ? milt

is that a challenge ? Myochin X mune................ still working on it p.s. Shan, a smaller pic actually helps in this case. When trying to " read ' fade kanji/Chinese characters, first impression that spring to mind is usually the correct one. Don't ask me why but that's the way it is for us that grow up and have to momorize those stuff. milt

http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/250-TH ... la-image-4 3 paintings, hawks not particularly well done ( some, at least ) but cheap enough.......... however something smells " not right ". Spot it ? milt

John, I see " no problem " with that being an art name...........like Baghdad Bob ( remember that guy ? ). With Taoist practitioners, most of the " priest's " title are like " X.X. Ji " Not saying this guy is a taoist, but The last 2 kanji ( family name ) is listed in the book.......ONE entry , there's no other guy with that family name listed. milt

with rampant deflation, i am not sure the second one can command 1k............ unusual though. milt

a listed late edo artist......... page 105 of that thick tosogu kinko book by Wakayama ( spelling ? ) the first 3 kanji looks like his art name/title ( san < 3 > , X , ji ), followed by 2 kanji that could be the last name ( Kyo, Ko, naru < BIG in Chinese > ; sen, kawa, gawa < meaning stream in Chinese > ). Can't find any sample mei to compare..............just as well, so no one can poo poo it p.s. I like the workmanship. milt

I see nothing " fishy " about the mei................meaning it's signed by edo-period Japanese artist. shoshin or not, that's another story milt

OTOH there's that all silver koshirae tachi that were sold arounf meiji times with good sword inside ( that's what i heard years ago ).........one ended in Indonesia owned by that dictator ( in the 50's and 60's )who had a Japanese wife ( Sukarno? spelling ? , not Suharto ) milt