wublet

My gratitude to you Even. I had suspected as

Please tell me if that's ok?

https://postimg.org/image/fnd7qkl4r/

Opps my bad, apologies, I think my url was down, coming up shortly

fascinating

I'd be very as to grateful exactly what this is? The ko sukashi seems to well done but I'm unaware as to it's age or indeed anything else to its provenance, though it does have to some decent iron. Is it kosho? I'd be very grateful to any clues

There are plans afoot to republish it.

Thank you all for the information.

Well speaking as newbie here a year later, the longer I stick around the more fascinated I become. I've yet to buy a sword but was lucky enough to be gifted one and after copious amounts of reading (and re-reading) I am saving for a trip to Japan late next year and should I be able to find one with enough time to schedule it in I will be attepting to find an authourity to guide me for a day perhaps.

Many thanks for the suggestion, Marius. I think a copy is in order. There's a copy for £162 on amazon uk lol. And for the information too - I wish I had the funds handy to buy that Osafune Masamitsu - I think my sword collecting days would be over. Ah well, there's always the lottery.

Answer found, Some searching here has answered my question. For some reason I couldn't get the search function to work last last night. So, were it a personal preference on befalf of the soldier or smith? Meanwhile I will be saving for sword in better condition. Never-the-less the bug has truely been acquired. Thank you for your kind hints

Hello again friends I do hope you’ll forgive the possible spam and any imposition on your time, but I recently posted a mumei sue-Koto wakizashi that I had received as a gift and posted in one of the above forums. Nothing special by all accounts but after some consideration a few possible issues have come to light, to which end I thought I might post some more information and then ask some questions that have been intriguing me. Despite my best efforts at this stage in my studies the sheer mass of information is overwhelming. • Nagasa – 45cm • Overall – 59cm • Nakago - 13.7cm • Mekugi ana – the one evident and possibly one more 4cm further down the nakago. • Sori – approx 1.5-1.6cm • Kissaki – 3.6cm • Kasane – 5.5mm (ish) The sword doesn’t obviously seem suriage, why then what seems another mekugi ana? Certainly the blade hasn’t lost a lot of yakiba despite the odd ware. Also the shimogoji kiri/hira sujaki just looks suspect, if it is that. I realise I may be overlooking something entirely obvious to you chaps, but would be very grateful for any opinions. Many Thanks

As promised, including a nasty surprise. The ware on the hamon is worrying.

Thank you, I will endeavor to post a few more pictures of the coming days.

Hey all I received a gift the other day. An I'm guessing mid Edo waki - not without a few faults, but I like the shape and am over the moon. I'll add a few pictures to let you confirm or otherwise. Forgive the photography as it's slightly old tech I'm working with

Hey David, Nice heads-up. Thank you.

Ford, Ah, I thought after posting it may be something like that. Thank you. I'd still be interested to see this sort of work as done by other amateurs; is that the right word? Well it describes me anyway. Any takers? Seen your videos, Ford so I know what you can do

Thanks for the comments, guys. I was wondering about trying to re-patina those elements but it seemed very fiddly with my eyesight and I really didn't know how or if any solution used would affect the iron. Some research needed there methinks. I'd be very interested to hear why you think the copper and brass weren't original though; most intriguing.

I’m not entirely sure how contentious an issue this is, but I’d love to see some of the examples of work done by others, so I’ll start with my very first purchase. It was done with advice linked here with some old ivory, a plastic toothbrush, some tooth picks and a great deal of elbow grease. There’s a little more to be done so please don’t be too harsh The original pictures aren’t mine so take them with a pinch of salt.

What a delightful piece! I'm sure my wife would love it too And you're not a licensed therapist? Damn!

Thanks again for sharing. I've ordered some recommended books having already exhausted the net for (English) information, I think. Incidentally some of the inlay on the front side is gold, not that I'd know yet if it made the slightest difference to it's value. Thankfully I'm retired at 50 so have plenty of time to research. Kindest Regards btw What do you do with wives/partners who are getting a bit miffed?

Thank you very much for sharing I'll do a little more reading now I can zero in a bit.

Same here, I hoped I'd gained enough knowledge to discern an obvious fake and if it turned out to be so there wasn't very much ventured. There just seemed to be this sense of wabi-sabi? I've seen hundreds of tsuba over the past few years but only ever online or in books. This was the very first one I've seen in the flesh. Each time I get to London I never seem to get the time to visit the V&A to see their collection. The pictures though are literally stunning, but short of winning the lottery I doubt I'd ever have the means to own anything so grand, or indeed many of the pieces I've seen here. So if this becomes a hobby (my wife would say obsession ) it will be limited to pieces that most likely have little fiscal value, but that I find aesthetically pleasing. David, I enjoyed your website, thank you. I don't there was a single piece I didn't find beautiful. I've visited all the links there many times, though still feel like I know next to nothing. There are many questions I have re the piece. Firstly I'd love to know a little of where it came from and who might of made it and when. I have no idea even how much study this might take but it is my hope that someone here might be able to shed some light or perhaps point me in the right direction. In the meantime I trawl the net looking for clues and visual/aesthetic similarities while trying to achieve a basic knowledge of the subject. Secondly, I'm somewhat worried about the red rust patches evident on both sides. I have read the few guides on it's removal linked here, but would like to know if it's worth the risk, especially near the inlay. Lastly the inlaid and raised work, to the naked eye seems, copper brass and maybe just worn steel, but at higher magnification some seem more like precious metals. <- I realize this is most probably wishful thinking I'd be interested to hear the community's thoughts. Thanks in advance

Wow, thank you for such kind comments. It really did have me fascinated too. I'd be very grateful for anything anyone else has to add.

Hey all Bought this piece because it intrigued me (it looks like there was something more there,) well that and it cost the price of a round of drinks. For any idea as to what, where, when and whom it came from I would be very grateful. Or indeed any pointers as to to where I can continue my research. As mentioned elsewhere the detail in inlay and carving really only becomes apparent, at least to my eyesight using a jeweler's monocle. Forgive the iffy photography as the old DSLR was ditched after one too many Himalayan trips - 2kg is a lot at 7000m! Dim's are: 70mm top to bottom and 68mm across with a thickness of 2.2m throughout, saved the raised areas. Any information very gratefully received.