IanB

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

Mick, I too remember when the Museum of Childhood displayed Japanese items. They were in fact moved there from the V&A to make room in the Oriental Gallery for a more prominent displays of Middle Eastern items to reflect the growing political influence of that part of the world. Basil Robinson was a Japanophile to his toenails and I remember visiting the V&A as a young lad only to find the gallery under re-display. My father explained to B.R. we had travelled down from Yorkshire to see the collection whereupon he pulled aside a screen and conducted us around personally - an absolute gentleman. As for the sale of objects. The disposal of pistols and the like from the Tower arose from the need to raise money to buy an important early English great helm. Remember the Tower had been the nation's arsenal and it still held stocks of munitions that had been either returned as obsolete or had been ordered and for various reasons had never been issued. It was decided by the Trustees that some of the obsolete stock, plus odds and ends of armour that had accumulated, should be sold to raise money to buy the helm. I remember at the time hundred of items like percussion Coast Guard pistols still in greased paper suddenly appearing on the market. Having been through the documentation of that period, every miserable gorget plate or smashed musket was carefully considered by a panel before being sold. The swords from Chiddingstone and the material from Warwick were different. Both these were private concerns, the latter owned by M. Tussauds. Chiddingstone had serious structural problems and needed money for repairing the roof - hence their decision to sell off items. Ian Bottomley.

Mick, Ben, In the UK the rules are that if a museum has an item it does not want, it must advertise the fact around the other museums in the country and should one be interested transfer it to them. This trucking and trading goes on all the time. Should an item have been donated, the donor, or relative if one can be found, has to be consulted on the matter. Then and only then can the item be sold at public auction. Disposal into the wider world is a long tedious process involving permission of the Trustees. When the Royal Armouries moved its collection to Leeds from the Tower of London the packing team were meticulous in dispatching anything and everything from the storage areas in the various mural towers where things had been stored for centuries. Absolutely everything was accessioned and shipped just in case it might be an object of significance. As a result the collection now includes bits of wood, some only a few inches long, that may or may not have been the shaft of a long disintegrated staff weapon. De-accessioning these 'treasures' would involved assembling a board of the trustees and presenting a written document as to why these items should be disposed of. Life's too short. Ian Bottomley

A very interesting topic. During my tenure at the Royal Armouries we were fortunate in having a collection of 57 swords, many in polish with papers including two juyo blades, donated to the museum by the family of a personal friend. These have been housed in a special set of drawers in our humidity and temperature controlled stores. Using this resource, together with swords already in the collection allowed me to maintain a display that I could change by rotation roughly twice a year. I am delighted to say that I was replaced by a person who is as enthusiastic about the collection as much as me, although management changes means that rotating the displays is now a nightmare. The fact that I am still extant has allowed an almost seamless hand-over. I must confess that the attitude in other museums is often far less satisfactory and likely to become even worse in these times of financial austerity. A major problem lies in the interests of the curatorial staff. Many come from a background based on local history or history of art and, because of the funding system, are required to base their museum's displays in that area. A local museum, in nearby textile town, used to have a wide ranging collection of ethnographic items including a Japanese armour that used to scare the pants off me as a kid. During the 1960's this collection was dispersed by the then curator in favour of textile related items. As a result that museum is now full of looms and spinning equipment that must thrill the locals to bits after spending their working lives in factories that weave and spin. Another local museum contains a fabulous collection of armour, weapons , lacquer and such, collected by two local, wealthy families who visited Japan around the 1870's. These items were donated to the museum about 1900, crated up and left untouched until about 1975. When the crates were opened the condition of the pieces was fabulous having been in the dark and stable for such a long time. Sadly few of these treasures are ever displayed, although in fairness they are kept in good conditions. Ian Bottomley

All, Matt Garbut during his lecture to the Japan Society of London in the 19th century includes an illustration from a book on military matters how a handachi could be converted into a tachi using some form of koshi ate and Piers is doing. I have also seen pairs of ashi fitted with hinges so that they could be clamped around a handachi scabbard and locked in place with the hinge pin. Similarly pairs of ashi turn up made of leather that have the same function. About a year or so ago a member of our local ToKen turned up with a rather small handachi, possibly for a boy, with a loop shaped kurigata fitted to a band around the saya on the mune edge. Very careful examination showed this split, the rear half sliding down the saya to convert it to a tachi. Ian Bottomley

I would also point out lot 205 is described as Japanese but in reality is Chinese. Ian Bottomley

Peter, Yes it is. It surfaced in the UK during the 1930's and then appeared in the ToKen exhibition in Oxford in the 1960's before coming up for sale in auction. It is now a prize in the Royal Armouries. We also have the armours given to King James I (and VI) and one given to King Philip II of Spain. Quite a significant slice of the diplomatic action between Japan and Europe. Ian Bottomley

The author of article published has raised a few points of interest. Gouldleer was a quite important import by the VOC and seems to have been popular with the armour makers of Kaga. I have a mid Edo period Kaga dou having the front covered with a sheet of it painted with acanthus. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam display a wall covered in identical leather and have the original mould in which it was made. Numerous Kaga helmets have their peaks and fukigayeshi covered with this variety of leather and another which they gilded and sometimes painted with dragons in red lacquer.. The complete armour mentioned was in fact a diplomatic gift from the VOC to Tokugawa Hidetada and was originally covered in gilded silver. In the 19th century it was burned in a fire and sold off, finally becoming part of the Royal Armouries' collection where it is now on display. The only other European armour that seems to have been imported were cuirass and open helmets. The latest I have noted being one in Hirado museum made from elements of two Dutch pikeman's armours of about 1630. This would accord with them being part of a gift from the Dutch to the Matsura daimyo when they were forcibly moved to Dejima in 1641. Another part of this gift would be the tanto made from a German cavalry sword blade made in Solingen and again in the Royal Armouries' collection. Ian Bottomley

Judging by the appearance of the inside, and the way that the plates are shaped, I think it is possible that it is a real zunari kabuto but not a very good one. What is not right is the 'lacquer'. This poor old helmet looks as if has been done over with car-filler (the white material) and painted black. Originally the lacquerer would have used kokuso to corrected the slightly misaligned top and it probably looked quite reasonable when finished. I am a bit suspicious of the tsunamoto that held the front crest, it is a bit small but it might be real. Ian Bottomley

Ken, O-sode are a bit of a devil to get hanging right as they tend to want to assume all manner of angles unless the stand is exactly the right size. As Uwe has said, the sode are on the wrong sides. The rings, part way down the sides, should be at the rear. There should also be three rings on the top-plate having; a leather tie in the centre and a double cord at each end. You should start by tying the leather tie to the rear loop on the shoulder strap of the dou. The front double cord ties to the front loop on the shoulder strap. There is a proper way of tying this which is difficult to describe but here is the general idea: double up both cords and push the loop formed through the loop on the shoulder strap. Then form another loop in the tasselled end and push that through the first loop. This should now be locked together and hold the front of the sode up about horizontal. The rear double cord of the sode now ties to the side loops of the bow on the back of the armour, stopping the rear of the sode cocking upwards. Finally the long cords from the rear edge of the sode should be passed through the side loops of the bow and tie to each other around the 'neck of the bow. If you type in '0-sode' to Google and look at the images you should find images showing the arrangement. (I have just done that and there are quite a few armours with them tied wrongly so be careful). Ian Bottomley

Mark, I see Bunan third year 文　安　三　年 which would be 1444 + 3 -1 or 1446 as the date and the signature as Bishu Osafune ?mitsu Ian Bottomley

MIck, Whilst I agree fully with an attempt to ban all post 1947 ivory trade worldwide, so far all the existing legislation has come to nothing. What I cannot see is how extending this to pre 1947 will make a scrap of difference. Poaching elephants and the smuggling of their tusks to China and elsewhere will carry on without a pause. If such legislation is passed an awful lot of military gents will have to make do with Indian made mamaluke swords with plastic grips, concert halls will have to buy pianos with plastic keyboards and those with large collections of netsuke, okimono or even kakemono with ivory ended rollers will have families who are either stuck with them in perpetuity or will have to give them away. This is all reminiscent of the intent to ban swords - until they saw the prices some fetched in major sale rooms which made them blanch. They still haven't paid out fully for the banning of handguns so I suspect this will slip quietly onto a back burner. Ian Bottomley

Matt, Richard, These inscriptions are very stereotyped. If you see just the two characters, as on this blade, 10,000:1 it is the maker's name. Very, very rarely it may be the name of the blade or something. Similarly with the date- first two characters are the nengo or year period, next some numerals and then 年 nen meaning year. Don't forget you need to take 1 away from the numerals before adding it to the nengo date. In this case 1926 + (20 -1) = 1945. What then follows is generally meaningless because the Japanese used a lunar calendar and unless you have the right tables their months and days do not correlate with our calendar. Ian Bottomley