Jean

Nor any photo available...

Everything went smoothly when suddenly an unexpected guest appeared... Scallop carpaccio with truffles with white wine Burgundy.

Yes , these tsuba are quite common

Ryan, Same remark, please gather your pictures in one post...

Ryan, You must be aware that all these pictures can and must be gathered in one post...

+1 (lazy but sincere )

Guys, you made my day. This is what NMB was born for. To gather the greatest world specialists outside Japan able to discuss at length the difference between two screws or tassels on Mantetsu or Showato. I bow to your knowledge and am proud to be part of this unique Forum which has become what it is thanks to Brian and John and you all my friends. Who has ever seen a Forum where all members are friends despite from time to time minor trifle disputes.

In fact this tanto is such atypical for Kunimitsu that you can say you buy the mei rather than the blade.. A juyo Rai Kunitoshi tanto in Japan is worth 6/7 M¥, a Kunimitsu with nice koshirae is worth around 6M¥ BTW, Fred W. Has a nice juyo Rai Kunimitsu tanto for sale on his website

It is because you are young Chris Here is one from my collection (it has two mon)

Horimono can be splendid (Soshu smiths, Tadatsuna...) and enhance any blade. This blade is very tired and won’t upgrade to Juyo. BTW, this blade has been for sale on Aoi Art website for at least a year... you can draw your own conclusions...

When I discovered this tanto, nobody was aware that this Yamato smith had made other blades than tachi and only 3 were listed. Nowhere in documentation it was mentioned otherwise. It is not because it is not mentioned in any documentation that it has not been done...

I have used both Paul Martin and Bob Hughes, they are both fantastics.

You can choose also Robert Hughes at Keichodo. All these people are very reliable/trustworthy

« To make matters more interesting, I have found no reference ANYWHERE that Kunihiro made Yari's. As far as I could find, Kunihiro ONLY made swords. » Be very careful, one never knows. I have an example with a tanto of mine: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/19201-kantei-for-fun/

Most katana kake able to hold 3 or more swords were made during the 20th century or very late 19th century. I let you guess why

Japanese swords are not expensive

Google : espace 4 antiques

Bad idea at the time being Sylvain, he is recovering from a heart attack.

Keep faring well, Ford..

That’s a gift...

Ruroni Kenshin aka Jesus Christ (JC), Please signed all your posts with a first name and an initial as per the Board rules

Same for me, long live Ford

I just receive this e-mail: « Hello everybody, this is Bella, for those of you who don't know I am Ford's partner and I also help him with his films. I am posting for Ford because I need to let you all know that he was taken to hospital on Friday after having a heart attack. It had actually started the Sunday before with Ford being in some very severe pain, but he would not go to the doctor and carried on working for another week before he finally admitted defeat. He is ok and stable now, and absolutely in the best place so please don't panic. Tomorrow he will have an angiogram, where we will find out what needs to happen next. He may just need stents, he may need more invasive treatment but at least something will be done to help him now. For over a year he has been struggling so much with his breathing and pain in his body, we thought it was just his auto-immune disease getting worse and we were worried. It turns out that he has been having heart problems and the constant stress and worry of everything has clearly made it worse. He would not stop working, he was very worried about money and having to meet bills, and on top of that he was desperate to finish up the book project and finally get it published so as not to let anyone down, but he was having to find time to do that around the paid work. He was literally working himself to death and I for one am glad in a way that now he has to stop. It makes me angry that he is even in a position where he is scrabbling for money to pay bills when he has a talent so huge and brilliant. I wish we lived in another time where his kind of talent was celebrated more. People play the financial markets making money out of nothing and yet people who do make beautiful things in the world like poetry and art, or wonderful music end up killing themselves out of desperation. Anyway. The doctors have said that he will need to take at least six weeks off work and we will somehow have to find a way to manage. Being self employed is no fun sometimes but we have my Goldsmithing work and hopefully that will be enough. Whilst we are hugely appreciative of the vast amounts of kindness and support and understanding almost all of you have endlessly given here, I need to say something that Ford will be cross with me about. It is that a very few people here who backed this project have put untold amounts of stress on him, these last few months, even posting bad reviews about him on facebook and calling up the publishers to check he wasn't lying. Probably those people won't believe me, and might even want to check up on him now, so Peter Bond, Ford is in the acute Cardiac Ward of Torquay Hospital, and is in room 8 if you want to check. I hope now these next few weeks allow Ford to reflect on what he really wants - he wants to make his own art pieces that aren't commissions and then maybe have a show. I want desperately to help him do this. I don't know how we will do it because of the constant need to chase the rent, but we must do it. The other good thing about all this is that he will now have plenty of time to sort out all the last bits of the book that need doing. The Universe works in mysterious ways! I am sure many of you will want to write to him, you probably all have his email. I will also give you mine - its bella@isabelladay.co.uk I am happy to chat with anyone who wants to. Thanks for reading and I will keep you posted when I know more tomorrow. Bella«

Done for Nick

Done for BADACTOR, Jean