Viper6924

Yeah, thats what I told Anthony on the way home Jan

Well, me and my fellow blackpowder-friend Anthony spent an interesting afternoon with the three teppolitos and it´s very amusing owner. This man has a fantastic collection of old weapons. Amongst many the three teppolitos. To make a very looong story short; Mr Anthony went home with one bajou-zutsu and one tan-zutsu. My attempt to lay my hands on the tan-zutsu with the dragoncarving was not met with success. We got stuck in a deep trench of "bog-iron" It´s never fun to kill someones illusions. The seller still claims this teppo is made out of pure 100% iron (FE). The iron is made from some kind of bog-iron or from a sacred mountain... This is the only teppo made from this holy matr. Probably made around 1450-1500. I tried my best to educate him with some Japanese history (Tanegashime 1543) and some other useful info I have picked up along the way. But no way José!!! I am a very polite man, so I concluded this debate by giving him an estimate from around 1500 dollars to 130000 dollars :lol: He will now contact a expert on metals so they can carry out an extensive investigation (I´m sure the metallurgist will have a laugh). If this bog-iron tan-zutsu turns out to be of "normal" iron, I guess I will soon be it´s new and proud owner. However, if it turns out to be a teppo made out of sacred "bog-iron" only to be touched by the emperor of Japan, well at least I have had the holy graail of teppos in my hand :D On the tan-zutsu Anthony bought, was two kanjis in front of a mon. Any help translating it, would be great. I put my money on "made from bog-iron"... Jan

Hi Guy! No, it was a gentleman to our right. I acctually thought he was russian to :lol: Jan

Really happy for You, Guy! Thank God You put in that last bid :D You were def spot on with the quality of the maker. The rivets are superb. Again /Jan

Sweden 1 Russia 0 I went to see it on the weekend before the auction. You get a whole lot of heavy metal for the money when You get one of those. Must have been pure hell dragging it along for a day. But I must admit to the "say hello to my little friend" feeling when You hold it Nice link, Piers! Jan

I rather like teppo no 2 with the dragonmotif. Looking past the "cleaning" of the barrel it looks good. Wonder if a signature is hiding under the barrel? I could see myslef dropping 2000 dollars for it. I´m pretty sure he´s got the whole deal with the metalurgist totally wrong. The bottom one of the two other teppos, which I could study "in hand" needs a lot of TLC. If I bought it for a very very very low price, I would send it to Japan and let someone fix all the ugly brass. It had a mon on top. Also a two kanji signature. I hope the seller can fix a picture of it. Stunned to see a third teppolito in the pictures. I wonder if this guy is growing them in his backyard :D I also wonder why people feel the urge to polish tell hell out of Japanese teppos You see other guns from the same period with their original patina. Perhaps it´s some kind of punishment for the war... /Jan

Justin, You wouldn´t have a few more pictures of the teppo for us blackpowder-junkies All the best! Jan

Japanese oak at it´s best. Is there a Japanese term to this carving around the butt? Any reason for it besides the fact it looks good? /Jan

Thanks for the confirmation of the date and maker, kunitaro. And again Malcom, great link. This will be a christmaspresent to my mother (I`m such a good son). She likes masks and this will be her first Noh. Nice to be able to tell her the story behind it. I like the woodgrains and overall look of it. /Jan

Thanks a lot, Sebastien! Great help. Life would be so much easier if kanji-reading would be on my list of skills Thanks again! Jan

Hi! Need some translation for some text inside of a Noh-mask. I guess perhaps a poem. All help is highly appreciated, as always! Jan

I really like the color of the wood. Very bright. Don´t know if I ever seen the carvings on the riflebutt before. NICE!!! Jan

Well here´s my box for hauling gunpowder, bullets, bulletmolds, tantos, menpos, tsubas, money, smokes, small heads.... :lol: I think it´s looks very much like Piers box no 1. Of course it´s impossible to be 100% sure what it´s orignal use was. But most ammunition boxes I have seen in books, on the webb or in private collections looks very much like these two examples. Until an old samurai comes knocking on my door telling me something else, it will be part of my blackpowder collection. Nice collection of ammo-boxes, Piers Jan

Great info, Malcom! I can always count on You when it comes to prints. Thanks again! Jan

Thanks Piers! A quick search and I got the name of this series; Mirror of famous generals of our country. /Jan

Well, here´s a print I just picked up. Takeda Shingen pondering the pros and cons of the teppo...I guess Or perhaps he have a vision about his clans upcoming destruction. Don´t know the artist or from what series, but I´m sure help is near. I must say that I have a sweetspot for prints involving teppos. Not so often on the market. Sorry for the bad picture. Had to blow it up a bit. Jan

Well, here´s one of the few pictures I managed to take from the exhibition. This is what meets You in the lobby. I like the grin on the horse :D I guess the golden color on it´s eyes means it´s a demonhorse... /Jan

I can only agree with Anthony. This was a truely great exhibition. Well worth a visit. The armors and kabutos was top notch. The security...not so much If I can take pictures of paintings done by Rembrandt in Amsterdam, it should be ok to snap a few at a samuraiexhibition. The only problem now is that I must start planning for a visit to the Stibbert in Italy. But on the other hand, that´s not much of a problem :D /Jan

Thanks Malcom and Ian for Your help. It´s def a mitsu kanawa. You can order some nice t-shirts with this mon I did a quick search on the Wada. Seems to have been an old family dating back to the Kamakura. Getting a bit further in samuraihistory I found an Oda retainer by the name of Wada Koremasa 1536-71. Wada had control over Takatsuki castle. But, I haven´t been able to find any crest similar to the one on the jingasa. Perhaps this is a bit over my head Jan

Dear Gents! I seem to spend half my free time looking up different mon/crests. This one is placed on a ashigaru jingasa made from nerigawa. Pretty sure I´ve seen this one before, but for the life of me I can´t find it in any of my books or online Clear and simple...HELP!!!! Thanks! Jan

Well, I can safely say that I had my daily dose of tanegashima stimulation. Great pictures. Looks like a very nice collection. I have a bit further to go with my own collection I especially like the fat stocky teppo with the ramrod thick like a drumstick. Thanks again for taking the time with the pictures! Jan

and I´m sure there will be pictures later from this teppo-section? Please... :D Jan

Thank You very much Morita-san. Well, Ninsei being one of "the three great masters" (I Googled) I think I will tell my friend that this is a "gimei" I´m more into Japanese hitory, so the attribution to Ii Naosuke is more intresting. But I guess the chance of that being true is slim to none. I think I recall an earlier thread on this board reagarding a teppo attributed to Ii Naosuke. Apparantly his things fell out of appreciation after the purge. The text looks old, EDO Perhaps the box is genuin and the content is, well a gimei? If true I can ask him to buy it and I will nick the box... Thanks again! Jan

Hi! A friend who is into ceramics asked me to help him with a translation of text for a bowl. I guess EDO-period :lol: Thanks! Jan

I was watching a fierce auctionwar between buyers who really wanted some samuraiflags. The war is now over So I just wanted to ask how this flag was used? It´s rather small if You compare it to the pack of smokes. Supposed to be from the boshin-wars. They had two up for sale. /Jan