IanB

Randy, What a wonderful find and an amazing price too. Not sure about rifling - more to do with points of aim and positioning of sights I think. Nevertheless a valuable source of information. So many Japanese seem to have been totally incurious about how things were designed and made and anything written is a real bonus. Ian Bottomley

Rob, As a Curator Emeritus of the Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds, and former curator of the oriental collection, let me know when you are coming north and I will try an arrange to meet and show you around. The Museum has 87 swords of varying quality from Juyo downwards. There are also several very important armours and a good selection of other Japanese weapons. Ian Bottomley

Delightful little pistol from an era that deserves more study. Prior to the arrival of Perry the Choshu and Satsuma Hans were buying rifled percussion guns (from a Scotsman if memory serves) and training farmers and other peasants to use them. Following Perry's arrival the Japanese started making pill-lock pistols and long guns - I purchased a pill-lock cavalry carbine for the Royal Armouries collection fitted with an automatic pill dispenser made by Katai Kyosuke who also managed to make the fulminating pills. These same detonating pills were also used in what are known as 'squeeze pistols' or Karashi bo since the pills were likened to mustard seeds. These simply had a lever that crushed the pill when you squeezed it. A week or so ago I saw a gun fitted with a bolt action and I have seen an old matchlock teppo converted with s snider breech. All of this was happening within a few years of first seeing these developments - remarkable. Ian Bottomley.

Whilst never having worked with the European sword collection at the Royal Armouries, I passed the racks that held Spanish rapiers in store almost everyday and you can't help looking. Yes some are pierced with swirling mass of tendrils, but cut in quite thin metal and chiselled to look as if the tendrils pass over each other. If memory serves, one or two had holes in the cup where over-enthusiastic chiselling had weakened the metal and sections had broken away. The pattern on these rapiers differs from namban tsuba in being just tendrils whereas the design of the latter almost invariably consist of dragons or lotus blossoms with the tendrils simply filling in the spaces between. You get a similar design to that on the rapiers engraved on 19th C. shotguns - just a mass of scrolls to fill the space. I suggest you type in 'Tibetan saddles' into Google and look at the images - I think you will see similarities.. Ian Bottomley

Based as he was in Jersey, we did not see too much of John at the meetings of the Northern ToKen Society, but when he did attend his talks were an absolute treat enjoyed by all. Some years ago I had the great good fortune to visit his home and remember the enthusiasm with which he showed me treasure after treasure from his wonderful collection. His passing is a loss to us all. Having been to the funeral of another member of the Northern ToKen Society, Jack Dufton on Monday the 24th of January 2016, I cannot but reflect on the mortality we all face and express my sadness at the loss of two loyal members. My heart goes out to their families and friends. Ian Bottomley

Allow me to add my best wishes for the coming year to those above. Jean, my deepest sympathies - get well soon. again a Happy New Year to all Ian Bottomley

Grev, Here is my take on the subject: Stylistically, namban tsuba are exactly comparable with Chinese metalwork and in particular items from the regions towards the Himalayas - see Tibetan saddles, pen cases and allied items. A good number of Chinese swords have guards decorated with similar pierced, scrolling tendrils. An important consideration is that most Chinese swords do not have an habaki and are fitted into scabbards that consist of little more that two pieces of wood covered in leather of more or less rectangular section, hence, that part that in Japan would be called a seppa dai, visible when the sword is drawn, decorated and rectangular. There exist a considerable number of namban tsuba that have had hitsu ana cut through the original design and have these rectangular, decorated 'seppa dai'. I would suggest these are of Chinese origin, the obvious source being trophies taken in the Korean campaigns and adapted to fit the returning samurai's wakizashi. This flaunting of captured trophies created a fashion trend that was satisfied by Japanese tsuba makers, and probably by workers in the Chinese colony at Nagasaki. These later tsuba have a more normally shaped seppa dai, although still often decorated, and hitsu ana that are integral with the design. Gradually the original Chinese design were expanded to include anything novel and foreign, such as the VOC monogram and copies of small-sword hilts. If I am correct this would date the earliest namban tsuba to around 1600, those of the VOC and small-sword designs to around the mid 18th century. Ian Bottomley I

Further to what Uwe and Anthony have said, this is a collection that can only be described as mind-blowing. It is also a collection that has had only minimal exposure to enthusiasts and only rarely appears in guide books. Situated as it is on a hillside above Florence it is off the tourist beat and is quite a walk from the city. It is housed in a series of adjoining villas that Stibbert had connected by specially built halls to make one vast structure that he filled with art treasures. Initially he concentrated on European and Islamic arms and armour, acquiring a vast amount of material, much of which is of staggering quality. When Japan was opened to the West he turned his attention to that source and bought large quantities of armour, swords, lacquer and so on, on the art markets in Italy, France and the UK. What is amazing is the condition of almost all the items in the collection. Unlike the collection in Venice that had suffered from exposure to the high humidity and light of that city, the Stibbert collection has survived in virtually the same condition as when acquired. What is a tragedy to me is that on his death he bequeathed the entire collection to the UK government who declined the offer. As Anthony has said, much of the collection is on open display and hence as a normal visitor you are conducted around by a guide who ushers you from room to room giving you little time to study anything, a situation exacerbated by the sheer quantity of interesting items. Even so, if you are in Florence it is a must. Ian Bottomley

Ron, Peter has it. I have a tanto with a brocade covered scabbard almost identical to that illustrated. They have cut a channel in the wood, pasted the brocade over the scabbrad and tucked the cut ends into the groove. Exactly what has then been forced into the channel to secure the ends is impossible to tell since it is black lacquered. I also do not know exactly how they achieved the lacquering of the brocade. I tried it myself using a brocade with a gold pattern like my scabbard and gave it a thin coat of seshime urushi thinking the gold would shine through the dark brown lacquer - nope it looked like it was covered with tar when it hardened. I forgot to say that I recently had the privilege of handling a tanto with a leather covered say where they had used silver 'Dutchmen' to join the edges on the back. these were double triangular pieces of silver, joined apex to apex inlet into the leather along the seam. Looked fabulous. Ian Bottomley

This armour was originally in the Sir Frank Bowden collection. I cannot now remember what it went for but it was for a considerable amount. Ian Bottomley

Henk-Jan, Further to my last post I have now discovered why the Tokugawa initiated the Keicho Mission to Spain. It all revolves around the fact that the Spanish were shipping silver from South America to SE Asia where they were buying silk and other luxuries from Chinese merchants who would only deal in that metal.This trade involved very large ships that crossed the Pacific to Asia easily but could only return by travelling northwards to reach the currents travelling towards America. Whilst going north, they had to pass Japan and a few ships were wrecked on the Japanese coast. In 1609 a ship was washed ashore in Chiba carrying a former Governor of the Philippines, Rodrigo de Vivero. In talks with the Tokugawa it was suggested that Spanish ships could shelter in Japanese ports if the Spanish established a trading station near Edo. de Vivero though this possible and agreed to take Tanaka Shosuke, a bullion dealer to Mexico to explore the idea. The translator in these talks was a priest, Luis Sotelo, but de Vivero did not want him to go and chose another priest instead. Sotelo reverted to preaching in Edo and on hearing that Date Masamune's concubine was ill agreed to help and did in fact cure her. Date invited Sotelo to Sendai where he spent a year. Meanwhile the Tokugawa cleared Edo of all Christian priests and destroyed all the churches, but allowed the daimyo to continue to allow Christianity in their provinces if they wished. On Tanaka's return, the Tokugawa were told that the Spanish in Mexico had no authority to set up a trading station but sent Sebastián Vizcaíno to negotiate further. He turned out to be a disaster and set off to find the fabled Gold Islands. On his return he finally agreed to take a Japanese delegation to Spain but they needed a translator. Sotelo had in the meantime returned to Edo and begun preaching but was saved from execution by Date and had returned to Sendai. The Tokugawa were then in a quandary. They needed Sotelo but could not sanction approaching him directly having banished all the Christians from Edo. They equally could hardly be seen to sanction a visit to Spain to meet the Christian King. Instead they instructed their Admiral, Mukai Shogen, to meet with Date and order him to organise the mission. Hence the appearance was that it was Date who initiated the mission, but as I mentioned above, the Tokugawa ordered the building of the ship, gave the gifts of armour and provided the escort. Tokugawa Hidetada's letter to Masamune after the mission was simply cover to distance themselves from the event. Ian Bottomley

Hoanh, I once asked Yoshindo Yoshihara this and he said that he liked to make them but people are reluctant to buy them as are liable to crack. Apparently they can be OK for a long time and then suddenly 'Ping' and you have an hagire. I assume it is because there isn't the thickness a shinogi blade has to absorb the stresses. Ian Bottomley

Brian, I think almost everyone on this board would agree with what you have written. I for one have nothing but admiration for all the effort you have put into it - long may you continue to do so. Greg, Your second sentence sums up exactly the attitude this board must continue to adopt. We all have to start somewhere and yes, sometimes the questions may seem banal and the answer could be found with the minimum of effort, but the questioner may well not know how trivial their question is or how easily it can be found. The whole field of Japanese arms and armour is an encoded cypher concealed in a maze of sometimes inconsistent terminology. I admit I still have to turn to glossaries from time to time to to figure out what someone has written. To most beginners such reference material isn't available so let us continue to offer a guiding hand and enable them to make a start to help themselves.. Ian Bottomley

Ian, Stibbert is in my opinion a far better collection in many ways than Venice and even more interesting. Stibbert actually ended up with adjacent villas on the hillside overlooking Florence and had large halls built to connect them into one long rambling building. He had inherited two large fortunes from his father and uncle and bought vast quantities of European and Islamic arms and armour, just about filling the villas. I think it fair to say that he was a bit late on the European armour scene to have acquired the very best, although there are immense quantities of it amongst which are some real treasures. The vast array of swords and guns is staggering - linear yards of swept-hilt rapiers and wheel locks. When Japan was opened he started buying Japanese items almost all of which are still in superb condition. There are approaching a hundred armours and about as many helmets with fantastic crests but also some superb swords and accessories - It is the only place I have seen a tachi stand for 5 tachi! In the end he had acquired so much he had to live in a house down in the city. On his death Stibbert left the entire collection to the.British government but in their infinite wisdom they didn't bother taking up the offer. The one drawback is that because so much is on open display it is a guided tour and the Japanese section is often closed. I, together with group of other katchu freaks were fortunate to get the run of the place last year and to handle many of the items, What an experience and what a great privilege! Ian Bottomley

All, It is quite a while since I I last visited, but this is my recollection of the place. This fantastic collection was accumulated by Henry II of Borbone between 1887 and 1889 and after WWI it was acquired for the Italian state as reparation. Some of it was sold off before the state started to take interest. Your first hurdle is finding the place. Although it is on the Grand Canal, I went there through a maze of alleyways and tiny streets, some of which have painted signs showing the way but which lead you down blind alleys. When you get there be prepared to weep. Every morning the shutters are thrown open and brilliant sunshine and the moist air of the Grand Canal work their wonders on the items. Ian Bottomley

John, I absolutely agree about prices. I catalogued three of these lavish Meiji tanto for a dealer the price he paid being enough to have bought a house 20 years ago. Ian B

John, I recently catalogued some swords for one of the UK's major museums in which was a daisho that reminded me of your koshirae. That had superb shakudo nanako fittings that were a bit of a mixture but all of the highest quality. Onto all of the basic fittings had been added rather numb chrysanthemum flowers stamped out of gold sheet and very simplistic tendrils in gold wire. The fact they were added onto already made fittings was shown by the fact that the odd flower overlapped the gilt borders because they was too big. There was also a totally unrelated tanto with what were obviously an Edo period saya and kojiiri but with a hilt fitted with shakudo nanako fuchi / gashira with the same flowers and tendrils as the daisho. To me this suggests a nanako producers stock had been given a make-over to appeal to the tourists and used to make up a daisho and to complete a partial tanto. Also in the pile was a katana with a very nicely chiselled Mino Goto tsuba with the usual fauna and flora but in plain shakudo. Again, a partially finished piece awaiting gilding that was pressed into service. Ian Bottomley

Tobias, The kijimomo shape was designed for those court tachi with same covered hilts decorated with a row of 'rice bales' along the bottom edge. Cutting away the tang at this point avoided the pins holding the rice bales on. Ian Bottomley

Rob, As has been said, these helmets appear to have originated in Kii around the late Muromachi era. It is said that a branch of the Haruta moved there and were inspired by an ancient helmet washed out of a banking near the sea. The more usual Saiga bachi of vertical plates topped by a large circular plate does show some similarities to the tsuki mabesashi kabuto of the first millennium excavated from tumuli so there may be some truth in that theory. What inspired okitenugui kabuto is another matter. At a time when making large pieces of iron plate was difficult, it seems odd that a style of helmet would appear that uses such plates. Like the zunari kabuto of the period, they must have been prestige and costly helmets. Ian Bottomley

It fills you with confidence when Okitenugui is translated as 'Large towel-style' whereas it really translates as 'Blown back towel'. Ian B

Peter, The utsubo illustrated raises a few questions, principally in the fact that there is no visible way of wearing it. These quivers were worn on the right hip, somewhat to the rear, with the door facing outwards. To keep it in position, so that the archer could reach in and grasp an arrow with the right hand, the leather band around the 'waist' of the quiver had an oval leather pad laced to it, on the right had side, to which a leather strap, formed with a loop at the end, hung down. On top of the leather band was an ornate metal ring and below that a cord loop to which the door hung by means of the usual cords and toggle arrangement. In wear, a heavy cord from the loop on the strap went around the waist of the wearer and tied to the ring. To keep the upper end of the quiver positioned behind the left shoulder there was a loop of cord fitted through two eyelets on the back of the quiver near the top. I had thought this was to hang the quiver up when not in use until I saw a painting at Nikko Toshogu that showed a cord tied to this loop that passed over the shoulder and tied to the left hand ring on the breast of the armour. This quiver has no cord from which to hang the door, no pad and strap and no large ring for the waist cord - and clearly never had them.. It may have been made as an ornate object to carry in a rack with bows in a procession - or more likely was an elaborately lacquered piece, designed to appeal to the European tourist trade in the Meiji period. Ian Bottomley

Piers, Just out of interest, Koop & Inada, in 'Japanese names and how to read them' describe this procedure as nigori 濁, which means 'impurity' or 'turbidity' apparently. Compared to the mutilations that occur in English, the Japanese changes are really a very minor. Think of names like Towcester (pr. TOWSTER), or the infamous Featherstonehaugh (pr. Fanshaw). Ian Bottomley

Next time I go into work I will take my camera. However, unlike the images shown, the aoi leaves are not growing as a plant but are just three separate leaves with no other foliage. To my mind that is a reference to the Tokugawa. Ian Bottomley

The Royal Armouries collection includes an aiguchi fitted with an unsigned kozuka of better than average quality decorated in silver and gold on a shakudo nanako ground. The decoration consists of swirling water, represented by silver lines, three tiny leaves in gold being swept along by the current and a winged insect in gold. At first glance it looks like a conventional piece until you realise the leaves are those of aoi. Clearly this is an anti-shogunate piece implying the break up and dispersal of the Tokugawa. I interpreted the insect as representing a short life. It was a brave person who wore this aiguchi. Ian Bottomley

I may be being too simple here, but could it be because the Saotome were principally the makers of armour or katchushi? In other words what is being described is not style of tsuba we normally associate with the term 'katchushi tsuba' but the fact that its maker also made armour. Ian Bottomley