Nickupero

Much appreciate Joe, has a nice ring to it, the Nick Norm Sorry Ed, was a request from the buyer to pull the pictures. They were both very nice pieces. Both the Dragon and Shishi Tsuba are on Hold

This is incredibly sad news, I've dealt with Thierry several times in the past and he was a true Gentleman, his aura will be missed here. My deepest condolences to his family and friends, and members who had a relationship with him. RIP. Thank you Jean for bring this to light, all the best.

Thanks a bunch Greg, Joe, and Stephen! That Dragon one is something especially how fine and animated the chiseling was done. We got 2 off the list that are gone.

A couple more to go...

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Hi Guys, have several tsuba and fittings I'd like to move so here they are at some very reasonable prices. All very nice pieces, please add shipping and any related fees, also donation will be given once I've moved enough of them. First come first served basis, please email me with dimensions if interested. All Tsuba come with wood box including the Kozuka and Fuchi/Kashira sets. Enjoy! GunBai-Uchiwa and whip Tsuba: $550 Spider Tsuba: SOLD Dragon & tiger Kozuka: $185 Oni Fuchi-Kashira: $200 Fujisan Shrine rainfall Tsuba (with gold Kanji): SOLD Signed Mouse & Barrel with fancy Kogai/Kozuka fillings Tsuba: $375 Shishi and Butterfly & Gold Kanji Tsuba: $585 Double faced Daruma Tsuba: $400 Signed copper Dragon Tsuba: $650 Signed Bat Iron Tsuba: $475

Oops... have to say it was quite clear in your description. lol, apologies!

Yeees, Pierre would be an excellent! He's not to far away.

Yes Ray... I remember this piece, if my memory serves me correct I think the seller got a lot of heat not necessarily because of the piece itself but more his temperament and how he addressed peoples comments which may have overshadowed the sale of this piece. People more knowledgeable than him tried to educate him on his piece but he didn't want to hear it. I've seen a couple Mumei Wakizashi in the past, I own a papered one (NBTHK Hozon) with 1 body Wakige test cut by Yamano Nagahisa. You can see a quick picture of the Nakago for comparison, sorry for the bad lighting.

Thank you Chris, much appreciated! Montreal is only a 7.5 hr direct flight to Munich, not so bad, hehe. Moderators if I could ask you to remove this thread in the next couple of days, will allow members to get one last look if they please. The new owner is someone private so it will not appear in my archives section of my website. Thanks again to all those who participated with comments.

WHAT HAVE I STARTED!!! Seems like my excitement to show this piece has made a little mess. Skakes, Stakes, Snakes, could be all of the above from what I know. The biggest thing we got up here are grass snakes... seen some earth-worms that were bigger. First off apologies to the fellow Canadians for poorly representing you, was worth it though wasn't it? A big thank you guys for the kind comments, Barry if I ever see something similar I'll let you know, I did find the twists and turns intense and must have been a task to work with iron. Not sure if it was picked up in the pictures but even has finely chiseled scales. Denis your comments prompted me to read more into snakes in Japanese Mythology, very interesting. Gilles you got it, blade is made from Arikoto, his complete mei is found above the machi, can be seen in the attached picture. After researching it this same poem is found on an example of Arikoto is Markus Sesko's book "E-Swordsmiths". I hope he doesn't mind if I post the page here as an image. The poem translates "The true warrior leaves his sword in its scabbard and sharpens first of all his mind”.

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I found this interesting and what I think is a rare set, at least I've never seen such a piece or something of similar. As the title states snakes is the going theme, and they are very animated. There is a lot going on here, even to the point that the seppa have snakes, overkill or a nice touch... My favorite fitting is the Kurikata, the way the tail wraps around and dangles in the air, it even seems to have a small sinister looking smile. Something also I'd like to point your attention to is the urushi, has actual snake skin worked into it, like a snake candy-cane. The tsuka has also snake skin instead of shark skin. The Koshirae is enough to like the set but the blade is interesting, you'll notice plenty of Horimono that actually looks snake-ish... Nakago is mumei, any thoughts to the smith??? You don't need to look far to find the answer? Easy kantei

You might be able to find more background info or something of similar nature in "50 Shades of Grey"... don't judge, wife made me watch it with her! Joking aside its a nice find

A big thanks Joe, Peter, Denis, and Fred! Also nice to see you here on the board Fred, welcome

Thanks guys, yes Al really tough piece to part with... its not officially for sale though... yet Jean c'est une pièce superbe, mais pas au point de rehypothéquer votre maison, hehe Ask and you shall receive John and Greg, here is a full 100+ pic slideshow of the blade and fittings https://flic.kr/s/aHskLqro6K

should be the last of them

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Wow, I'll begin with saying this was a tough one to do... the koshirae glistens in hand but has that aged feel that gets lost with the lighting, unfortunately I feel the pictures just don't do it right. After about 500 pictures or so here is my most recent acquisition, a very fine Edo Koshirae (papered) with solid gold menuki and lacquer work that really paints a picture. So many levels of textures and materials used within the lacquer, some mother of pearl can be seen in a few flowers, very subtle. Normally I am a fan of certain features of a set but I cannot pick one thing I like more over the other. The Fuchi is so finely detailed, so precise to the degree that wood grain pattern is chiseled onto the doors. Something a little different is the Tsuba, interesting texture and design. Helps that the koshirae was protected in the carry case, not sure if they are original together but it did do the job Anyways posting it out here because its a piece that should be introduced in the near future which should go fast and usually the owners don't want me displaying it in my archives. Hopefully you can enjoy it as much I am right now For those interested the blade is a good match... Ryo-wazamono ranked Kunishige with one of the nicest hamon I've seen in a long time, nice touch is the Ken and Yari Horimono.

George are we looking at Shoki and Jurojin on the Kojiri? Oh and the both Kojiri and kurikata are signed by Mito's Takase Eiju.

Thanks Brian, I don't want to be the cause of your divorce, maybe some price hike's will solve the problem... how about smudging some dirt on my camera lenses Your support is always welcomed and especially appreciated!

Thank you Greg, Justin, and Grant, even rolls nicely off the tongue in that order! George a big thank you for your valuable input, so well explained! Seeing as nobody has chimed in yet care to take us all the way??

Thanks Stephen, thanks Greg, opinions that are always appreciate from eyes such as yourselves.

Thanks Gordon , hopefully you got to see the rest