remzy

Anthony, patience doesnt mean spamming his mail box until he answer! its about waiting for a reply to your single email! he might ignore you if you send 10 mails to him.. =)

Light box is the way to go, carefuly rest the nihonto on a plexiglass and light the mune with the lightbox that is a lightsource reflected on a white surface, this avoid light spot on the steel. perhaps someone else could better explain this.

NBTHK origamy isnt a price tag, its irrelevant to the actual value in this case.

It is totaly a flaws hidder to me if you look at the highlighted kanji, the cuts are sharp and well made for the most part, not the top of the line but do you really think that a top carver would waste his time on a kizu plaged mumei wakisashi? , the carver did all he could with the damage that was present and was smart enough to put more than one kanji and give it a meaning (presumably) so that it look less weird than a random kanji out of place in the middle of the blade. The sell isnt fraudulous as it is stated the carving is new, no reasons to get mad over this if you ask me.

I am currently reading a book on early sukashi tsuba that Ford refered to me and... altho i am not done with it yet, i can safely tell you, even tho you a most likely already know, that this isnt Owari for the lack of hammered finish. I too would go for Akasaka for lack of knowing better, yet!

Thanks alot for the pointer Mr Curran, i just ordered some books to educate myself

Greetings everyone, i just got this tsuba from ebay that i am pretty certain it is from edo period judging from the color of the iron that is redish-darkbrown, it is unsigned and i wonder why since the craftmanship looks pretty good! I think that it represent a bamboo basket weaving along with some gentle sakura flowers, it feel really elegant and sober with the limited amount of gold. It doesnt look like it has seen much use altho the sakura petals lost most of its gold apply, the iron doesnt look all that old either, but it is in fairly good condition. I love it and i am not looking to sell it, only to gather more information on the possible provenance, the school and origin, i just got it so i am not fishing for info to resell. I think i am seeing some very tiny granular tokketsu on the rim, but it might only be regulari iron pitting. Regards

Greetings, Maybe some of you know of the website called "A Chronology of Japanese History" created and maintained by David Turkington. Some time ago i decided to make a PDF version of his website so that i could print it and easily access it for easier reference, i contacted him once i had finished it and asked if he would be interested in publishing the document online, he just contacted me saying that he uploaded it on his website. http://www.shikokuhenrotrail.com/japanhistory.html I thought i would inform the persons that might potentialy be interested. This isn't really about Nihonto, but it isn't off topic either, I'll let you judge of the pertinency. Regards, Remy B

I am with James, a koto blade would "easily" (to some extents, for the shinsa experts) be detected by the hada color and grain, i have red several time that koto steel as a blue ting, and unless i am turning crazy as i get older (no comments), i think that i am noticing this aswell! The hamon and sugata are another good way to get hints, but the shortened blade were made by smiths whom were skilled too so, sometime the new nakago is so well executed that you could As mentioned, the nakago is a good way to put a date on a sword cration date but you cannot rely on this alone since so many blade has been shortened, often only to comply with the legislations that has been passed over the years concerning the maximum lenght of swords one could carry.

NBTHK origami exist to attest the quality of the craftmanship, validating the mei at the same time, when there is one that is.

Ive seen it aswell and i was surprised by the near perfect condition, but what makes you think it is a fake?

Piers, always remember to hold your ramrod with only two fingers and not with a fist, so that you do not lose your whole hand if the charge accidentaly goes off! hehe i am just kidding, i know you will not charge any guns, but this is actualy how they were told to charge their muskets, back then, well over here anyways! Remy

Piers, for your nihonto moisture problems you could get some medium/big sized silicia gel bags, these readily absorb moisture in enclosed spaces (safe, drawer, closet etc.) and can be reused when saturated with water by heating them gently, i personnaly never managed to saturate one without imersing it in water Very nice pouch too!

Seriously now, that thing looks like its several milimetres deep!!! dont tell me you are seeing this on a regular basis on nihontos, Andreas... if so then i suggest you change your hanging out spot!

That is the biggest flaw i have ever seen.

Hello, you might want to stop putting your nihonto on metal object such as coins and metal racks, try using tissues or pillows if you need to raise it to an angle as these will not cause potential scratch on the finish.

To catch attention of impressionable potential buyers.

That was excatly what i was going to say. No macro shot of the horimano? suspicious...

So, with all that, is "tachi-habaki" an actual term or a mix of two? Like "hotdog" is a term composed of two different terms.

No i dont think this exist as a term. you can have habakis that were used on tachis, but they simply were called habaki.

You will find the answer to your first question there Mr Barrett : http://www.ksky.ne.jp./~sumie99/ubuha.html

I would have to agree with Brian there, looks like a "kamikaze" tanto. Far from what i would want to purchase but i hear some person collection these exclusively.

It certainly does not add to the beauty of the blade but i personnaly do not think this is much of a problem as Jean mentioned, on shinogiji/mune it can be quite often.. altho yours is quite plentiful. If you mention it when selling it, it should avoid potential buyers from thinking this is a serious flaw.

I bet these hamon types were requested or made by excentric smiths on rare occasion as you do not see them often, certainly far from the norm as far as i can see. I like the look but its a bit, odd, i dont know how to put it.. its just unusual looking to me.

chu suguha with choji midare part, omaru boshi with short kaeri. might be off the record, thats what i see.