Antti

If I may enquire, how was the eye made. Looks brilliant.

Do you work in an antique store, or a museum or something? Just asking because Ko-kinko tsuba are notoriously hard to find in a workplace like a department store, travel agency or the zoo.

The price of that tsuba Curran linked was about 12 000 USD (1 200 000 yen), but it was the work of a famous Higo-artist called Hirata Hikozo, so do not quit your job just yet. :lol:

It does say that in the topic I gave you. "1200 wide x 1000 pixels high" (make sure the size is BELOW that), and file size less than 1 Mb. Bigger pictures will be converted to a link. When you write your post, you attach the pics in the Upload Attachment part on the lower part of the page.

...and the rule is, as in the amusing smilie, your first name + preferably an initial of your last name.

Hello, There is a topic on the forum in the "Forum Guidelines and How-To's"-section about pictures. viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7 Try to take as good photos as you can, it will make giving feedback a lot easier. Also saving the picture as .PNG for example can help with the file size-limit. Welcome to the forum.

From: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5577

I believe Credit Card is the only option. You wont need your Facebook though, it just makes it possible to use your FB-account to log in, but you dont have to. I didnt. They dont have an anonymous option either I think. The idea is, that your credit card wont be charged unless the project succeeds gaining it's funding target. So wire transfers would not really work I guess.

DING DING DING! 45 000£ !! With hours left to spare Honestly few days ago I would not have believed it would happen.

Second Wind! 40,558 / 45000. 10 hours to go.

I said in my first message that I would like to leave the quality-discussion to more experienced collectors. However, as nobody seems to be commenting, I'll give you my opinion, which is coming from one newbie to another, so hopefully someone who actually knows what he is talking about cares to share their opinions. Your tsuba are, I think, genuine, edo period tsuba, fairly low quality. The first two look low-end Soten work, although I have never really liked Soten-tsuba, so perhaps I should not comment on their quality, but that is the way I see them. The mokko tsuba is iron, with soft metal inlay, looks fairly generic, low quality, Edo-period work. The round, plain tsuba with udenuki ana might have been done in the style of Tosho. Just remember that what matters is that you enjoy your tsuba. The Fuchi/Kashira, to my eyes, looks better than your tsuba. If someone more experienced reading my drivel would like to blow me out of the water, that would be swell :lol:

"Pages 75-359 are not shown in the preview" I also acquired this book about a year ago. However, my interest is in tsuba, so if, for some reason the book is not reprinted, I might be willing to sell my copy to someone needy, but perhaps I'll re-read it first.

The "credit card only" really sucks, Paypal option would be so great. I have a credit card, but I never use it, as I hate the feeling of being in debt. I made an exception this time and pledged. A couple of weeks ago, I asked mr. Hallam what happens if the goal is not reached, and he commented: "If there's no funding nothing happens. Then it's up to me on my own to figure out a way to get the books done."

Ach, still a pretty long way away. Where is a billionaire patron when you need him :x

Ben, I am pretty sure there is some kind of a club or a community in Holland. Hopefully others can help. I mean I live in Finland and we have meeting next month. Here is a specialized vendor in Netherlands: http://www.tokensugita.com/ The guy responsible is Lody Duindam. Bought one of my few tsuba from him. To have good pictures of tsuba, do what I did. Go to the Links, Commercial and make a nice bookmark collection of these sites. Then once in a while, go through the tsuba, see what school they are from, and train your eye, one tsuba at a time. Here are just some of my favourite websites: http://www.nihonto.com/itemsale.html http://www.nihonto.us/ http://yakiba.com/welcome.htm http://tetsugendo.com/ http://world.choshuya.co.jp/sale/tousougu/index.htm http://www.aoijapan.com/ And there is a huge amount of others, in the Links section. I'll let you do the work. To see what members have, you should go through old topics of this forum, and there are hundreds. I've done it, it isnt fast but definetely helps. Most fakes are fairly easy to spot, some are a lot harder and can deceive even a more experienced collector. Fake tsuba are cast in a mould, not forged, so for example, the metal is porous, there can be (but not always) casting seams visible on the sukashi, the edges seem "bulged", the seppa dai area looks "dead". Manu eBay sellers have fakes that use excessive amounts of Gold and Silver paint. If you make the effort, you'll learn how to spot them. Easier way for you is to use trusted vendors who will not have these fakes in their inventory. Some tsuba come with papers from an organisation like the NBTHK or NTHK, where the tsuba has been evaluated by a group of experts, which also serve as authentication. Some info about papers: http://www.nihontocraft.com/japanese_sword_papers.html

Ben, There are plenty of topics of people asking for recommendations of tsuba books, so you should use the Search-function on the top of the page to find them. I'll help you to get started: http://www.ncjsc.org/ncjsc_publications.htm "Tsuba, An Aesthetic Study" , very inexpensive, still very informative. A must have. http://shop.nihonart.de/product_info.ph ... tsuba.html http://shop.nihonart.de/product_info.ph ... ese-s.html Two nice books, with great photos. Also "Early Japanese Sword Guards - Sukashi tsuba" by Sasano is an excellent source, out of print though, and therefore expensive if you can find one. You are in luck though, Grey has a great book shop with has a lot of rare, out of print editions. And great tsuba too http://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/

Ben, It isnt that much about the "edo or before that". There are brilliant tsuba made even today. For example: This will rock your world if you havent seen it already. But I've said what I wanted to say. Everyone has their own style, and motivation and I respect that. And I wish you all the best, whatever you decide to do.

Ben, There is a reason why eBay pieces are "affordable". The average quality of the items there is poor and there are a lot of people selling fakes. There are good items there as well, once in a while, but before you know how to recognize quality, you should really stay out. Instead, save your money, buy books, and perhaps a buy a good, solid tsuba once in a while, from a vendor that has a good reputation. There are quite a lot of vendors, with english websites, that specialize in Nihonto and Tosogu. The items are not always affordable, but they are authentic, solid pieces. Buy one good tsuba once in a while, instead of mass collecting stuff from eBay that turns out to be fakes, bad, or mediocore. Look through their inventories, study the pieces and train your eye. This is the better option. In my opinion, one solid, good piece is worth a lot more than a thousand bad ones. And remember, even if you cannot afford a piece, it is still a great opportunity to learn. I collect with a very, very tight budget myself. Look at this as a good thing. You found this forum, which will help you a lot, and the Heianjo tsuba in your first post is solid, so you have something to build on. I am a relative newcomer myself. I am not that good at recognizing quality yet, I am still in the beginning of the path that hopefully leads to competence one day. You are a cook, so I suggest you cook yourself something nice, sit down, and really think is collecting tsuba the thing you really want to do. And if you are sure, welcome to the path.

Ben, Let me be the first to say it. If you are serious about your new interest, take a time out, buy some books, study the subject, look through the inventories of good vendors, train your eye, and forget eBay, where these items came from I believe. You found this forum, and it could serve as your homebase for your hobby. The links-section contains a plethora of links to information pages and specialized vendors. Take it slow my friend.

Hi Ben, Your last tsuba looks cast, with huge casting seams, if I see what I think I'm seeing. The third tsuba also looks a bit "modified". The Heianjo looks fine, and to me at least, clearly the most solid one you have. I am a relative newcomer myself, so the more experienced guys can help you more. You can find a lot of info in the LINKS-section of this page. Welcome to the forum.

I dont know who told you they were fakes, but they look perfectly genuine to me. I am no expert though. I'll leave the quality discussion to the more experienced guys. Nice photos by the way. The first two tsuba look like a Soten school work: http://www.shibuiswords.com/sotenschool.html http://www.shibuiswords.com/sotentsubapaper.htm Some nice examples: http://www.nihonto.com/2.25.14.html http://www.nihonto.com/4.5.13.html http://www.nihonto.us/SOTEN%20KINKO%20TSUBA.htm Seeing the pieces you have acquired, regarding aesthetics, you will probably enjoy these 3.

I showed the picture to a friend of mine who is into stargazing. He immideately said that is the Lacerta-constellation (Lizard). http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... on_map.svg That, but with the two large stars below "2" and "5" to complete it.

Ah, so the "tail" IS actually a tail.

http://japanesemythology.wordpress.com/ ... -in-Japan/ Now IF that is the Little Dipper, the star with the "tail" is the North Star, which was worshipped as a deity called Myoken, who carried a sword, and the tip of the sword resembles that tail quite a bit.

Regarding Tsuba #7, there is a very similar one for sale on Tsuba-no-bi.com, attributing it to Late Akasaka. http://tsuba-no-bi.com/tsuba/detail/T00087/52/ I enjoyed the first Tsuba, and I assume it portraits a constellation? Big Dipper or Little Dipper perhaps, which would make the rightmost star the North Star, which seems to have a special significance in the design?