rkg

I'm not sure if I should repost this in the tosogu section or what, but in case anybody is interested, here are a couple of VR image sets of this tsuba - sorry that the closeups in the magnifier are a little fuzzy - the tool I use to generate these just uses the embedded jpeg and I didn't take the time to redo them from the raw files with (better) color correction/sharpening/etc... http://rkgphotos.com/facebook_stuff/brass_nobuiye/nobbuiye_front/nobbuiye_front.html http://rkgphotos.com/facebook_stuff/brass_nobuiye/nobuiye_back/nobuiye_back.html Enjoy, rkg (Richard George)

From what I can see, I'd guess they're all mid-late edo. period. first image pair: Top - I guess you'd call it a katchushi, though I have no clue if a Myochin guy did it or a shoami guy did it, or.... bottom: what does the mei say? you can't see it in this image (though to be fair if I did, odds are slim I could puzzle it out anyway, but...) second image pair: top - I'd guess that would be binned as shoami work bottom left: signed Kaneiye, but who knows which one or if somebody else just signed it that way as an homage piece (utushi) bottom right: - that one is interesting - I kind of wonder if it was done by Takechika, but probably not On the late pieces with the various themes on the surface (along the bottom of both images) - I'm no real expert on the late stuff, but they all could have been made by many different groups so hopefully somebody who knows that stuff better will chime in Oops, computer is done crunching a focus stack, image gotta run Good Luck, rkg (Richard George)

Brian, you know, last night I was just thinking about your version of my image and how it would be interesting to get one of my outdated DSLRs that I don't use anymore IR converted just for this purpose.... rkg (Richard George)

Thanks to everybody who replied! Just for grins I put the translation as I understand it along with the original image below. I'll try and hunt up the kanji for the missing romanji and visa versa when I have more time Thanks to Steve M, Tom Helm, and Milton Ong for taking a swing at this. Things make a lot more sense if this is just a case of the wrong box. Steve, the box was incidental to the purchase (I would have paid more for just the piece than I did), but these old papers are always fascinating, and you always hope they're related (though they often aren't. I just got done shooting several items where the period wrapping paper used is just being recycled and writing on it had absolutely nothing to do with the item). Deception and ignorance are the names of the game on Yahoo!Japan though, right? You hope for the latter, but all to often get the former.... Christian, as always I appreciate your insightful comments - Yeah, I believe you are correct - this is just an old owner's description (and I bet the red number is actually the guy's code for a ledger entry for the piece or something). I'm not so sure about each character on the mei being by a different hand (the spacing on the chips seems to match - not sure why the iye is cut shallower), though I do have this humorous vision of forg -er, utushi maker #1 tapping away with forg -er, utushi maker #2 looking over his shoulder, cuffing him in the head after he finishes the "nobu" character screaming "no! you idiot! you do it this way!!!", grabbing the graver/hammer and finishing the mei :-) It looks like it was done at the same time the big adjusting chops were made prior to the mei being put on - though curiously that may not mean it was ato bori - I've seen a lot of utushi where they do this - I'm supposed to be shooting somebody's pieces (if he ever replies to my email about what he wants shown), so I'll look at it under the microscope after I get done with that to see if the mei is actually under the patina or what (it looks like it is hand, but...) Thanks again, rkg (Richard George)

Pete, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know... I've just always liked how close that sounds to hakogaki... :-) rkg (Richard George)

Hey guys, Not too long ago I got a piece with an ancient scrap of paper glued to the inner lid, and I'm trying to figure out if it actually has anything to do with the piece. Since I had to reassemble my kodogu shooting rig anyway, I took the liberty of shooting a few images... The seller said (via the xlator) that it reads: "1541 years the following two letters could not be read. After that, you can not read the following letter Myochin Shin house" 天文十年以下二文字が読めませんでした。あと、明珍信家以下の文字が読めません。 I have enough trouble trying to puzzle this stuff out when its written well - I can maybe see the Ten bun ju nen in the red on the right, but the rest of it... I can't read it at all - Haynes looked at it and he could make out a "myo chin" - but looking at this my brain doesn't even see that. The confusing thing is that it looks more like something the Umetada guys would make so I'm starting to wonder if this is just a case of a swapped box or what (though from the pad it looks like the piece has been in there for a loong time, which adds to the confusion) Oh, obligatory images of the piece itself - its actually pretty cool in hand... Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, rkg (Richard George)

here's one - be sure to set the youtube quality settings as high as possible (hd 1080) ss their default compression settings make things toooooo fuzzy - and even then the codec seems to blur the details a bit - you can pause it to see more yet. Best, rkg (Richard George)

I agree with Curran on it possibly not being pre-edo, but I agree with Christian on the material - there are a LOT of pieces out there that are some kind of "copper" that has been patinated black (the copper is in quotes because its not that highly refined - its not like you're gonna buy the highest grade suaka if you're price point won't let you use shakudo). Brian T. pointed out to me a while back how prevalent this is.... can you look at the piece in hand to see if the worn spots are trying to heal themselves? Best, rkg (Richard George)

It could be somebody drooled on it the last time you had it out :-) I normally store mine in traditional wood boxes, often with a chunk of pec-pad under(/above the piece If there's a pillow) if the box is of unknown origin/I think there might be a problem (kinko stuff)/for any client's pieces that are in the safe in one of my boxes. Fortunately I live in Koshirae heaven (humidity never varies all that much/quickly), and the safes sit on the concrete foundation floor so the temperature doesn't vary a whole lot/very quickly either. Best, rkg (Richard George)

Simon, You're right - Realistically, publication often has much more to do with what somebody has on hand/can get image of than quality/historical significance etc. One has to look no further than the prices commanded for Sasano collection pieces (many of which have been badly overcleaned) or Compton swords (some of which didn't seem to deserve their juyo papers) to get really cynical about the collection price "adder" - but on the other hand, a lot of people think its kind of cool to have the piece/book combo, and sometimes the descriptions are helpful in studying an item. The discussion we had was interesting though. Best, rkg (Richard George)

I guess that depends on whether you're the buyer or seller Hey guys, While looking at stuff at Haynes's place this morning, somebody had brought along some books he had bought from our own Grey Doffin, and... I realized that there was a piece in one of them that had just sold on yahoo! Japan.. Here's my posting with the link/images I shot of the book. https://www.facebook.com/pg/Kod%C3%B4gu-no-Sekai-%E5%B0%8F%E9%81%93%E5%85%B7%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C-266005023454853/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1449316395123704 Enjoy, rkg (Richard George)

Actually, thinking about it, I have another tsuba that probably is pre-edo that is signed: www.facebook.com/pg/Kod%C3%B4gu-no-Sekai-%E5%B0%8F%E9%81%93%E5%85%B7%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C-266005023454853/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1023433461045335 www.facebook.com/266005023454853/photos/a.266009073454448.82484.266005023454853/1127046177350729/?type=3&theater It is signed Nobuiye, so You'd think some late Edo/Meiji dealer type would have added it maybe as its pretty thin, but... if you look at it under the microscope (2nd link) it sure looks like its under the patina. Obviously it could have been repatinated, but if it was it must have been done a loooong time ago or its actually contemporary to the piece. So, is it by the Nobuiye who's supposedly was the first saotome artisan (as per the genealogy in Sesko's book derived from "Kokon-kaji hayami-de", - a myochin guy) or some hack cashing in on the Nobuiye craze? I don't know... The funny part is that Haynes owned this piece for a while and never saw the mei... Best, rkg (Richard George) EDIT: lest somebody else gets confused, the Nobuiye I'm talking about here (if the mei is good/if he existed), is a guy that was named Nobuiye that was supposedly the founder of what we call the saotome group these days - I don't believe he had ANYTHING to do with the "real" big guy nobuiye.

I've seen/shot a signed tsuba dated Tensho 3. Its pictured in that supplement I did for the KTK's 2005 catalog as well as Haynes's book titled Gai So Shi. I hope that helps. Best, rkg (Richard George)

You might try turning off the internal light and use an external one instead - That way you'll see the color... Best, rkg (Richard George)

Steve, As can be seen from Sesko's work, even the "experts" don't seem to agree on the early genealogy of the umetada group - and they were well known enough w/o resorting to all the er, embellishments to their family tree that the Myochin group is accused of. If you're getting at perhaps it being made by a different group, again who -really- knows - if there's no smoking gun (signature), it could well have been made by tsubako Bob in on that street where they all were in Kyoto who churned out a piece to order that would be put the ko-shoami bin one week, another to be tossed in the early Umetada bin the next week, and topped the month off with a piece that could be relegated to the kyo bin of history :-) (though again, this one's design/execution is really good, so....). On the size, who knows - I don't see dimensions in that piece in the scan above by Myoju, though there's actually a similar piece signed umetada on yahoo!Japan right now that's pretty close in size (though I believe made much later, the execution is nowhere near as good, yadda yadda): https://www.sendico.com/yahoo/lot_f220093967.html The mon is also confusing - that's the Takeda family mon, right? would that really be put on a piece made in the kyoto area at that time? Again, sometimes, maybe the old designations are best - old iron tsuba, very good :-) Best, rkg (Richard George)

Steve, Good question. Its tough because all you really have is 1) a design the umetada made a lot (with really good execution), and 2) surface/interior wall condition that shows a lot of age - and really, I'm not sure that's enough to get to a specific maker. If you accept that its Umetada work, then If you look in Sesko's book, there are several somewhat conflicting genealogies shown. Haynes noted that the shigeyoshi group/lineage/whatever was kind of known for this design. If you look through the geneaologies listed one claims there was a shigeyoshi listed before Myoju (who some say also signed shigeyoshi for a while/as an alternate?), a different genealogy shows a shigeyoshi as working in parallel with Myoju and several of them (with varying kanji) in later generations, etc. I guess it could have been made by the big guy as well, but its not signed so we'll never know. Best, rkg (Richard George)

Alex, Less than I'd like actually. the theme is a chrysanthemum and (I think) mons at the top and bottom. The design is one apparently associated with the Umetada - here's a blerb the PO had in the box with the tsuba, though its doubtful its by the same guy :-) The execution of the design is pretty sophisticated - its not quite symmetric, which appears to be deliberate to make for more visual motion - and I think what the maker did around where the kozuka/kogai hitsu would go is pretty cool as well, though who knows if it was just artistic or deliberate to allow you to use kozuka/kogai w/o having to hack on the design (or both). I have no clue about the 4 holes, other than to note that they don't appear to be ato-bori. The piece appears to be lacquered, with most of it still there. The piece hasn't been screwed with, and from the crud in the hitsu, etc, I believe its old - like Momoyama period. I'm still trying to figure out what the iroe is, at first glance because of the fine line width you'd think it was some kind of amalgum based fire guilding, but the surface of the iroe is really shiny - like a foil was used or something. Now, back to work... Best, rkg (Richard George)

I'm still studying the piece (in among the 30 other things I've got to get done), but I thought I'd share the images since I actually took time to shoot one of my own before a catalog deadline... Best, rkg (Richard George)

You need a different agent... Best, rkg (Richard George)

I love this guy's explanation of the fine art market - the relevant part here is his lampooning of some of the dirty dealings that go on in auction houses/auctions.... https://www.facebook.com/CollegeHumor/videos/10154993551507807/?hc_ref=ARScdw_RgnWm386iK7uDdFmNM6_0OwqbsS_cpBrlbifWPYZPUXpgd-YHVN8Iu4QHk5o&pnref=story Enjoy, rkg (Richard George)

The shill bidding has always been there, but I have noticed that it seems like a LOT more auctions are getting cancelled after they close now. In addition, it seems like there isn't anywhere near as much "interesting" stuff on yahoo!Japan these days, so I'd posit that another possible contributor is that the bidder pool has a smaller population of items worth buying to choose from so prices are goin' up... I've also noticed that there seems to be a large increase in the use of keywords that would cause the software that the bidding sites use to block access to gaijins - I wonder if your observation about the dealers catching on is part of the reason why this is occurring. Its only a minor annoyance dealing with it through the agent I use, but I know its a major pain for users of some of the larger services as they randomly won't unblock things and to make matters worse once they make the decision for one person apparently nobody else using the service will get to bid either... Best, rkg (Richard George)

One on yahoo!Japan right now - surface isn't the greatest, but... https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/254783290 Best, rkg (Richard George)

John, Often anything that remotely resembles a chrysanthemum gets assigned to the Saotome bin - while it was one of their favorite themes, there are other points... That metal surface on your piece is wrong for saotome work - your piece looks like the material you typically see in heianjo-ish inlaid pieces - I think of it as "doughy"/It seems to corrode quite easily. Saotome: http://www.rkgphotos.com/facebook_stuff/kiku_surface_bori_saotome_front/kiku_surface_bori_saotome_front.html https://www.facebook.com/pg/Kod%C3%B4gu-no-Sekai-%E5%B0%8F%E9%81%93%E5%85%B7%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C-266005023454853/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1065621873493160 https://www.facebook.com/pg/Kod%C3%B4gu-no-Sekai-%E5%B0%8F%E9%81%93%E5%85%B7%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C-266005023454853/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1023433461045335 http://home.teleport.com/~rkg/photos/tsuba/saotome_front.jpg and then here's one with some corrosion, though some people argue these weren't done by the same group: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Kod%C3%B4gu-no-Sekai-%E5%B0%8F%E9%81%93%E5%85%B7%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C-266005023454853/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1061310870590927 Heianjo/onin/etc: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Kod%C3%B4gu-no-Sekai-%E5%B0%8F%E9%81%93%E5%85%B7%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C-266005023454853/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1022965847758763 http://www.rkgphotos.com/facebook_stuff/kiku_heianjo/kiku_heianjo_front/kiku_heianjo_front.html https://www.facebook.com/pg/Kod%C3%B4gu-no-Sekai-%E5%B0%8F%E9%81%93%E5%85%B7%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C-266005023454853/photos/?tab=album&album_id=801865696535447 https://www.facebook.com/266005023454853/photos/a.839075476147802.1073741842.266005023454853/839075609481122/?type=3&theater lots of corroded ones online :-) Good Luck, rkg (Richard George)

Hi, Is there a current schedule of events for the SF sword show available anywhere? The one on the sf token kai page is like from 2015, and... Thanks, rkg (Richard George)

Luca, There are some extant early kozuka that are not "standard sized"/they can be pretty large. You can see oversized kozuka hitsu on early kyo sukashi pieces, etc. as well... On those early "kozuka hitsu" shapes, I don't really know why they sometimes have the little divot you associate with a kogai on the kozuka side, though I've always wondered if maybe they were "flipped" and used when kogai on your uchigatana was all the rage, or maybe they were being mounted with the kogai in for a while, or... Yeah, the kogai hitsu looks newer - almost shoami- like... Interesting that Aoi attributed it later - the last thing I'd ever say about them is that their descriptions are er, conservative... Best, rkg (Richard George)