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Any estimates on price ranges for each piece Brian?

Where are you looking Stephen? I haven't seen fit to archive any, but I've come across plenty of poor carving. I think it's good to keep in mind that it's a continuum rather than a binary. With European art you didn't really see the delineation of composition and technical skill that we often see in Japanese pieces. It might be worth checking out some different renditions of the 'Pietà' to really illustrate the point; as one of the most important subjects in Christian art there are quite a few of them. You'll notice immediately that Michelangelo's works (both of them) stand out from the others in terms of both composition and execution.

I would presume that it would always have to be both. Either one can let the piece down. You could either have an excellent composition, let down by poor carving, or you could have exquisite technical skill but showing a lifeless, static subject and a forced or otherwise poor composition. These are not naturalistic portraits, they're contrived designs, so the composition is a key aspect of the artwork. Even with a landscape or a portrait, the choice of perspective is vitally important along with how the artist adapts the work to fit within the constraints imposed by the medium without the work feeling as though it's being constrained in any way by them. This can however be less of an issue in the Japanese tradition as it's accepted practice to render a pre-existing composition in your own hand and isn't derided as a 'copy' or 'reproduction' in the same way as it would be in the European artistic tradition. The quality of the carving itself is equally vital. For the sake of study pieces, if a decision had to be made I would favor technique over composition as it gives more insight into the technical aspects and proper form of the work.

It comes down to the metallurgy. In a Nihonto, the hardened steel has greater strength, while iron and sorter steel are more malleable and offer greater toughness. A. Yield strength is a measure of the maximum stress that a material can support before being plastically deformed (bent). B. Tensile strength is a measure of the maximum stress that a material can support before starting to fracture (crack). C. Fracture toughness is a measure of the energy required to fracture a material that contains a crack (snap). If this isn't clear, let me know. All of this can be calculated quantitatively and shown in graphs, it's not qualitative. With traditional steel, you can produce a through hardened blade with superior strength and toughness, though you would have to reduce the harness to achieve this and therefore would have reduced edge holding (consider European style swords). You can improve in all areas (strength, toughness, hardness and edge holding) by using modern steel, but that's a case of superior metallurgy rather then adapting to the material at hand. It's all about the compromises you make.

No harm going direct to source.

I know you do, please accept my apologies for the lack of clarity. I prefer the resulting shape and proportions, possibly coloured quite heavily by the works of Nakamura Taizaburō. While there are later blades in this form which are ubu, the specific blades I'm most drawn to tend to be shortened Kamakura.

I'm meaning in terms of the blade having been quite significantly shortened. This blade for instance.

I don't have a favourite era as such, but most of my favourite blades are o-suriage from the late Kamakura period.

I'm wondering the same thing.

Thank you Jeremiah. I find that the difference in relief is small, but the way the clouds are rendered gives a significant feeling of distance between the birds and the clouds. Those are wonderful. Thank you Michael.

Thank you Ray. That's a lovely mount, is it in your collection?

I feel that on the buying side it's a Catch-22 where either: (a) the seller is selling because they no longer appreciate the piece. (b) the seller is in desperate need of funds. (a) casts some doubt as to why the owner has opted to pass the item along. (b) feels predatory (especially if the item is underpriced) and casts a shadow over the item. I realise that it's no different when pieces are being sold through a dealer, but there is a difference in feel on account of the proxy. I think that a large part of the value added by dealer write ups is in fostering an appreciation of the piece and educating the buyer on what makes it desirable. For a successful sale, you either need to educate the buyer on the specifics of the item (don't expect them to do their own research other than verification) or you need to catch the attention of someone who is already in the market for that item and has buying intent.

That's a wonderful piece, very subtle. Could easily miss the dragon on a first glance. Thanks Tony.

I was studying the ground of a tsuba today and felt that without context, a certain region could be construed as cirrus clouds or the technique could be used to subtly represent them. I'd be interested to see any of the more unusual ways that you've seen clouds represented. Thank you. Mark

I wish I wasn't still in school back in 2013...

Thank you very much Ford. You answered all the questions I had and a few that hadn't occurred to me yet.

Hi Chris, I don't know about the origin of the style, but the craftsmanship speaks for itself. I'm hoping that Ford will see this part of the discussion and explain what we're seeing.

I respectfully disagree. I've not looked over the two links in great detail, but certainly the piece sold at Bonhams is of the finest quality. I understand that it's not to everyone's taste, but I think your criticism is misplaced. Hagiya Katsuhira is one of the finest craftsmen of the Mito school, and I see no reason to doubt the attribution. I've attached a close up of the dragon on the saya and of a dragon tsuba from Darcy's site. If there are imitations approaching this level of craftsman, I would appreciate any advice on where I can buy some.

It was sold in auction at Bonhams a few years ago. https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21404/lot/1141/?category=list Hagiya Katsuhira lived from 1804-1886, which would place his work as late Edo/ early Meiji.

Thank you Jean.

So one mouth to fit the habaki and another to fit the fuchi?

I think it's best that I put the link here so that the other pieces in the collection are easily accessible without anyone having to search. https://art.thewalters.org/browse/creator/hagiya-katsuhira/

Yes, exactly. Both fuchi are by Katsuhira and both are in the Walter's Art Museum. Ford, Have you made fuchi/ koiguchi of this type? Is it something you'd be open to in the future?

Thank you all very much. That clarifies things. I've never seen this type of mount in hand. To get complete clarity, are these mounted without seppa or is there extra 'reach' on the koiguchi to hide the seppa when the blade is sheathed? They meet like on this example at the fuchi/ koiguchi, with no visible seppa? *This is once again the work of Hagiya Katsuhira.

Hello, I notice that on some aikuchi tanto mounts, the fuchi is created such that there is a ledge between the edge of the fuchi and the face. I can't describe it well, so I've attached images. Any information or details on proper terminology (to facilitate further research) would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Mark