Dojikiri

Although I purchased this tanto a while ago I have only just got it (don't ask) and now that I have all becomes clear, I had not seen it either so I was surprised to find that the blade had been swapped, but fairly well done and probably in Japan, If the koshirae was made for the blade it could not have been before 1700 as the tang was well rusted so looking at the koshirae in isolation now am sure it is a Momoyama work as everything fits for that period. It can be viewed on Bonhams site which has brilliant images of it (the only thing Bonhams does well) www.bonhams.com/auctions/25425/lot/394 the mon is still a mystery though.

Sorry about lack of image, see below.

Hi all, I've recently acquired this tanto and am trying to date the koshirae, the saya is aogai with 3 silver bands spiralling up it. This was unfashionable in the 19th century and I was wondering how late it could date. The tanto has gold nanako fittings with large grain Daimyo-jima nanako and shakudo mon (I posted an image of the mon on the list about a month ago hoping for it to be identified). I'm sorry about the size of the image but I don't have the tanto to hand to send a better one. I would be grateful for any help. Alan

Hi Guys, I recently purchased a tanto with all the mounts decorated with this mon which I cant' identify, it is not in Strohl and I can't find my Hawley's Mon. I don't normally bother with mon but the koshirae is of very high quality and it could be possible to narrow it down to a single family, any help would be appreciated Alan

The Tagane look like those of the Tosa Miochin

I believe that the Oeder collection is now in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg having been looted by the Russians after WW2.

Hi Guys, With regard to a seppa-dai with an irregular surface, it is best not to be too dogmatic. A few years ago I purchased a tsuba with a seppa-dai like that, it had large snail motif, and was clearly never intended for mounting, it had subsequently had hitsuana (Ugh!) cut and then been mounted. It had clearly been made for an exhibition but had obviously caught the eye of a samurai who acquired it. It is high quality work signed 'Gassan', I think it is probably the genuine work of Matsuo Gassan. Alan

Now a 50% discount off listed prices on GBP500 spent on books. japaneseswordbooks.com Alan Bale

Hi All, As I have recently been buying some expensive swords I am having a Book Sale with 35% off all books new & used. www.japaneseswordbooks.com Dojikiri

Curran, Re my doubts about the tsuba, over the years I have seen several convincing copies of early tsuba and I had my doubts about the mon at 4 o'clock on this one, it appeared to be a mitsutomoe with the tomoe heads in the large 19th century style, now I have seen the tsuba face on I can see I was wrong and they are not tomoe,

How old is this tsuba? I think it is a lot later than it looks. Alan

Hi, Yes is the AoiArt tachi, luckily, by chance I found it in their online archive before the sale, it is listed there at 4.2m yen, Pete's page has it at 3.2m and 'HOLD' so Aoi dropped a million yen! The koshirae is certainly late and may be Meiji. Also very luckily Del Mar only discovered the Kageyori was a juto on the morning of the sale, too late to tell anybody. I haven't posted any images as I can't better AoiArt's. In the same sale I bought a Gassan Sadakatsu, also originally from Aoi, see below: https://www.aoijapan.net/katana-osaka-junin-gassan-sadakatsu-kin-hori-dosaku/ Alan

Hi All, I recently bought a silver mounted itomaki tachi (Bizen Kageyori), the silver mounts are all blaclened and resemble shakudo, I would have thought that shakudo would have given a better and more durable colour as well a being cheaper, any thoughts?

Years ago I owned a sword with a one piece shakudo nanako habaki, the nanako in a sunken panel with a gold yotsume mon in the centre, fabulous!

It is traditionally said to be a Horai school design.

I saw one like this some years ago, also with inlay, it was signed by an Aizu artist. Alan

Greg et al, It is just a feeling really, a lack of definition of the surface, I didn't like what appears to extra metal on hoof 2 in image #1, though this could be rust, likewise a triangular raised patch on the lower left seppa-dai on image #3 (firescale?) (Paranoia?). Of course I am probably completely wrong and the tsuba is OK, that's the trouble with not handling a piece and just looking at an image. think I am also Influenced by the tsuba like this that I have seen over the decades (the single horse/ox/fish/snake in the round), over half of which were castings for the tourist trade. I hope this clears up any doubts that I may have raised. Alan

Hi, To me it looks like a casting even if it has copper sekigane, the surface does not look right. Alan

Brian, Now I have looked at it again I think you are right, I must be going blind. Alan

Hi Brian, I have attached images to show more details, as you can see the nanako goes very wobbly, I think the nanako artist was frightened to go too close to the damage which is to the base of the gold not affecting the design, the missing metal is about 15mm by 1-2mm, I think it could be repaired OK. Alan

I have seen several over the years, It appears Sanemasa always signed on a tablet (tanzaku), I have never liked his work though. I have never checked up on the artist but a connection to the Yanagawa school seems unlikely to say the least. Alan

Hi Everybody, I have long been puzzled about the output of the third Goto master Joshin (1512-1562), it seems that an awful lot of fittings are attributed to him, far more than one would have expected. Joshin died in battle at the age of 51, he was a working samurai in the service of the Ashikaga Shogunate. Compared to his son the fourth master Goto Kojo (1529-1620) who lived to the age of 91, we see about 4 or 5 Joshin items to 1 by Kojo yet the latter’s working life was around say, 50 years compared to Joshin’s 30 years and he presumably worked in his spare time when not soldiering. One answer would be that Joshin had many students whose work is ascribed to their master but I have as yet seen no evidence for this, for instance no attributions of work in Joshin’s big motif style to other artists, the work of Kojo is quite different to the high relief work of Joshin which seems to have gone out of fashion with his death. I have attached images of two kozuka which seem to be in his style, the gold shishi/peonies has been remounted and has incomplete nanako, probably because there is slight damage to the base of the gold there, I think this type were only worn by those of very high rank. Any thoughts would be welcome. Incidentally, I have a Joshin kogai which was tested by the British Museum during their shakudo research a few years ago, this has a gold content of 8%! Alan 　

Hi Ford, I think it is shibuichi, when I acquired it the very thin patina was perfect but now it is showing some wear on the reverse. If you look at the larger image I can see what I think is some sort of deposit around the scales and elsewhere. Do you think it may have been re-patinated in the west? Alan

This is my Eiju, I bought it some years ago but I have never checked the mei, it is very thick and heavy for its size. Alan

It looks like one of the 'Factory' tsuba that were produced in large numbers by this artist's workshop, I doubt he had any hand in making it.