Peter Bleed

Searching thru the online collections of the Smithsonian Bureau of American Ethnology I was pleased to discover a BUNCH of early auction catalogs and other sources on Japanese swords and armor. Who knew! The sources are - well - dated, but they are also interesting and accessible. https://library.si.edu/digital-library/author/smithsonian-institution-bureau-american-ethnology Peter

Thank you Piers and Steve! Peter

A freind asked me to translate this lock which secured a pharmacist's cabinet in rural Nebraska. Something about 100 falls, and men and plain women, but what is that last character?

You guys are such suckers! Please do your research, develop your eye, look at eBay. How can you be sure that this isn't a Chinese copy? Peter, P.S. Now I am afraid that this is too subtle for the NMB community. This is - like - a joke.... P

I can't add anything beyond what Mike and Uwe have provided, but like others I have inspected quite a few gunto wood saya liners. I've never seen one with this much verbage, and- more importantly - this guy looks VERY new. Are we sure it is "vintage"? Peter

Seki ju Ujifusa mebbe?

Terran, You have generated some very good conversation. Thank you. IMHO your sword looks very interest and I would bet that it is legit. But as others have said it really and truly deserves shinsa. It is also in nice shape. You and your grandfather deserve commendation. Peter Let me ask where in Nebraska you live. Before moving a couple of years back, we could have been neighbors

Robert you ask very good questions. Thank you. I think that the passing of the baby boom era, an epoch awash in stuff, will see reduced collecting, if only becasue people have amassed a great deal of stuff. We have kept it, organized it, and evaluated it to the point that I think it will be hard to keep. Furthermore, in the "digital age" the importance of material stuff will be reduced. The values and social conditions that let somebody assemble a "collection" are also likely to change or even disappear. Keeping all that stuff is also expensive and a lot of work, so I think families, individuals, and institutions will find ways of dumping their their collections. Did you see that the American Museum (!) is laying people off? Peter

Interesting date! Looks to me like it is dated 2600 year of the imperial founding, ie 1940. Neat. Peter

Once again, NMB has done its duty! Thank you Ken and Uwe. Indeed, I had no particular interest in the fittings that Dr. (!, I had no idea) Jisl presented, but I am interested in collecting and how stuff has gotten distributed around the world. How/when, indeed, did a bunch of Japanese sword fittings end up in regional museums of Central Europe? The answer is, of course, in essentially the same way that they ended up in regional museums in the US. In either case, I think the process of collecting is worth recording. I will also take this opportunity to say that I believe that "collections" - both private and institutional - are about to undergo a phase of "collapse." And, if/when that happens, the objects in the collections will be at great risk. Peter

Like (I presume ) many others of my generation, I own a copy of Swords of the Samurai: The Splendours of Japanese Sword Furniture by Lumir Jisl, as published in 1967 by Artia, Prague. It is a worthy little volume with a bunch of nice images of - well - "nice" fittings. These books were actively sold in the forerunners Amazon in the 1960s and 70s for just a couple of bucks. It is NOT the most embarrassing books in my library, but it just begs the questions, "Who was Mr. Jusl and where in the world (or Central Europe) are all those fittings he presented 50 years ago?" Peter

Takahashi Hokke Saburo NOBUFUSA. P

So, Aiden, are you still listening? Think of it this way,... if you had a pile of tantos, about 60% of them would be koto, most of those dating from the 16th century... Another 25% would be shin-shinto and they might be rather nicely mounted. Many of the rest would be trinkets and souvenirs. If there is a kantei point behind my suggestion that this is a Mino blade, it would be the cross hatched yasurimei on the nakago. Peter

Aiden, You have successfully bought a nice old blade, made good observations about it, and asked for opinions. The next step is - obviously - to get us arguing! Ken says Shinto, but I would say Koto Mino. Peter

I'm very glad that this has been cleared up, now. When I next come across references to fish guts in Korean legal documents, I will know just who to call. Peter

Indeed, this was fabulous. Markus' work was just fabulous. The presentation was compelling. And the event sure looked like it worked well. What a group! How do we do more of these? Peter

Oldest? You guys are pikers A couple of years back we discussed these Jomon-era arrowheads that got found and mounted as menuki. Peter

Hey, there was a War on! Peter

This has been a very useful thread. I knew the term. I had seen the hada, and understood it as a historical trait. But this presentation opened and clarified it for me. Thanks! Peter

One of my law-like principles is "Never argue with Ray" and I agree that this nakago has a fresh appearance so I thought it might be a Showa era blade. I didn't find a stamp, tho. And I just couldn't make this anything better than a " Mori". The cross-hatched yasuri-mei looked fresh, but also correct for a vintage Mino-to. It was a hip-shot, colleagues! I bet we all want a closer look at the tsuba... Peter

Looks like a classic Mino koto. Were this sword in Japan it would probably be collectible and easily preserved. Shape looks intact. There is a set of mounts and an iron guard. Peter

Sato Kanemori...

Okay, Gilles, let's see if this is worth looking at.Today I got out a "daito" (exactly 2 shaku!) by Shinkei TANIMITSU dated February Keio 4 in what has to be the original koshirae. This isn't the sword you said you were looking for - but what a sword it is! Peter

Okay, Gilles, let's see if this is worth looking at. Today I got out a "daito" (exactly 2 shaku!) by Shinkei TANIMITSU dated February Keio 4 in what has to be the original koshirae. This isn't the sword you said you were looking for - but what a sword it is!

I am wondering if it might be possible - and interesting - to organize sword related chats on something like Zoom. I would love to show some stuff - like Namban tsuba, maybe. I would also happily join in discussions of other topics. Would this work? And if it might, what would we have to do to make happen. Peter