IanB

Curtis, Irrespective of whether your tanto has provision for a kogatana or not, the hole in the tsuba goes next to the body when the tanto is being worn, edge upwards of course. Ian Bottomley

Gentlemen, Here is a little reminder of why I believe you should be so careful of on-line auctions. A few days ago, whilst browsing a well-known Japanese auction site I came upon the sad sight of a very nice armour being sold off, sans helmet. A few pages later on the same site was what is undoubtedly the helmet for the armour with a considerable number of bids on it that had reached around $1200. Since the auction is still on going I must desist from being too specific and quote actualities. The seller on that site states quite clearly that there will be no early termination of the auction. Now I happen to regard it as sacrilegious to split up a perfectly good armour, but there you go, that is the mercenary world we live in. Today whilst browsing eBay, there was the self same helmet, posted a couple of days after the original auction had started, and using the same photos as the original, with a best offer price of around twice the price it had reached in the original auction. This was posted by a Japanese 'collective'. Then to compond the mystery, on the very same page of eBay is the same helmet yet again, with again the same photos, that had been posted two days earlier than the other by yet another so-called 'collective'. This time the 'buy it now' price was over 2 1/2 time the price it had reached in the original auction. Now it is perfectly possible that all of this is legitimate and that the owner has put the helmet up for sale in various locations, but I suspect there is a lovely scam going on here. My guess is the original seller posts a desirable helmet that is spotted by 'collective' who decide they can make a few thousand Yen. They post it on eBay at a price it is unlikely to reach in the original auction and where it is unlikely to be seen by the original seller. Someone else then spots it and decides to undercut the previous scammer. Now I know at least one of these collectives is a scammer as a pal of mine has recently had dealings with them, buying something that could not be delivered because it was 'lost' in the warehouse. The trick seems to work by them assuming they can buy the item at the original auction for a price that is less than their 'buy it now' price. If they do, they pocket the difference. If it goes for more the 'buy it now' figure the purchaser is spun a tale such as - 'Oh so sorry, our agent has fouled up, or it is lost, or it was trampled on by a herd of stampeding buffalo etc' and they refund the money to the mug who bid and they wait for the next item that might sell in Japan for less than they think it will sell abroad. Oh what an evil world. Ian Bottomley

Piers, Some suzuri bako have a similar small knife in the set for cutting paper. The fact yours has a suspension ring suggests it was meant to be carried around. Ian Bottomley

Curtis, Brian, Renaissance Micro-Crystalline wax is a synthetic used extensively in the museum world. At the Royal Armouries we use it for all European armour and weapons since it is good at sealing the surface of iron / steel but is not sticky and hence dust tends not to accumulate on its surface. All the armours on open display are coated with it as well as items in stores. It comes off completely with any non-polar solvent such as white-spirit or xylene and hence is reversible. Ian Bottomley

Gentlemen, Apparently you have never read 'Every Boy's Own Book of Dragon Sexing'. Gentlemen dragons have a tail ending in a ken sword blade, lady dragons have a tail that is rounded at the end, or sometimes with spiky scales ( I suspect we all know some ladies of that would fit that description). I have always been of the impression that all animal menuki should always faced the blade, hence one in each set looks back over its shoulder. The pair of coiled up males shown by Eric might well be from two sets - such menuki were common enough for tanto. Finally, note the dragon kozuka shown by Eric with a mallet in the dragon's paw. What is going on there? A dragon DIY enthusiast or is she chasing the male with intent to do damage? Ian Bottomley

Jasper, Whilst your zunari kabuto is rare, I'm afraid it isn't very valuable in today's commercial world. If you have it professionally restored it will cost a lot and you have at the end a restored zunari kabuto, albeit a leather one. Leather armour, although expensive when made, is not I'm afraid regarded as valuable in commercial terms because of its tendency to shed lacquer. To me these armours are interesting examples of what was made and worn. Quite coincidentally I am hoping to acquire a leather helmet myself this weekend - if it is still unsold and I can do a deal. Your helmet has had the rawhide covered with hemp cloth before the upper lacquer coats have been put on. That might be a saving grace since it has put another layer between the rawhide and the moisture in the atmosphere. Having seen the latest batch of images it doesn't look too bad - after all it has lasted a couple of hundred years or so already. A simple little treatment that isn't going to harm anything is to buy a bottle of clear nail-varnish and just coat the bare areas with it, using a fine brush so you don't get it on the lacquer surface. That should help seal the dodgy bits. Then get a black felt-tipped marker pen with a fine point and tint in on top of the nail-varnish. The damage will be far less noticeable and what you have done will be reversible if someone decides to use urushi in the future. I use the felt-tipped pen dodge for scratches in black lacquer and it doesn't half improve the appearance. Ian B

I was told that a well-known smith, who likes making them, has problems selling them because they are prone to cracking - even a considerable time after being made. Ian Bottomley

Jasper, Don't get the idea that armour of nerigawa was a cheap alternative. It was in fact expensive since the bowl would have to be made in a wooden mould. It was done by beating the wet hide into the mould with a hammer and then letting it dry in situ. In all probability it would involve two or more layers to obtain the thickness needed. Then the hide had to be lacquered with many undercoats to get the surface to the right degree of smoothness and shape before black lacquering. Quite a job. Armours of nerigawa were favoured by old men since the weight was a fraction of iron ones. Ian

Jasper, A splendid iyozane maru do in what appears to be excellent condition. Do though be careful though when handling it, the internal laces holding the sane onto the kawashiki will be brittled and will break if flexed too much. Avoid opening it out too far - that is what will do the damage. As for your helmet, if it is nerigawa it is the first ever zunari kabuto made of this material I have ever heard of, never mind having seen. An exceedingly rare item to be cherished. As Justin says, be very careful of humidity. Rob Soanes will do a good job of the lacquer. Ian Bottomley

Clive, I have always been doubtful of the 'signature was removed' theory for the very simple reason that to do so would entail the removal of quite a bit of metal from the face of the tang. When first chased (and signatures were chased not engraved), the indentations are quite deep and cutting off metal to remove all traces of a previous signature would leave the tang asymmetric when viewed from the mune. You could argue that the other side could also be filed or scraped down to even things up, but that would leave a very thin tang indeed. There is also the fact that many, many blades are either known to be gimei or are gimei but haven't been doubted. If such a signature was added by the maker then there is no problem, but how many of these have had the false signature added at a later date? If that were the case it would have to be added to a mumei blade. In other words, how often in reality did smiths in the past actually sign their work? Perhaps not as often as we now think. Ian Bottomley

Eric, Three Muneyoshi are recorded from mid Edo to Bakumatsu. Could it be used like an hadome but at the bottom of the shaft? Ian

Peter, Here are a couple more thoughts to add to those already expressed. Nagashino is rightly considered a pivotal battle, but what seems to be the most essential factor is the Rengogawa, hardly a river but a steep sided stream running across the battlefield. This is clearly depicted on the screens of the event. The combined Oda / Tokugawa force, who knew full well that Katsuyori relied heavily on his cavalry, positioned their barracades about 50 yards or so from it. The result was that the Takeda cavalry were unable to build up sufficient speed for a charge, being brought to a virtual standstill whilst they urged their horses down the gully at the ideal range for the gunners to do their job. Those Takeda troops that did make it to the opposition were held at bay by infantry with long yari pushed through the barriers whilst others, who emerged through gaps, attacked their flanks. The analysis of the equipment found on Henry VIII's ship the Mary Rose that sank in 1545 has allowed us to gain some insight into military thinking at that time. Hundreds of longbows were recovered, stored in boxes, as well as a number of musket stocks, the barrel and locks having totally decayed. By chance the Royal Armouries collection retained from that period a snapping matchlock with exactly the same shape of stock. State papers show that a batch of these guns had been ordered by Henry from a supplier in Italy. A replica of these guns was tested against steel plates, as were a longbow of a similar draw weight to those found on the ship and a very powerful crossbow. We found that the bow and crossbow were both unable to pierce 2mm mild steel plate at a modest range but that the musket could easily pierce 4 - 6mm. Essentially the penetrative effect of the bullet was an order of magnitude greater than the arrow or crossbow bolt. From this it has been concluded that the soldiers aboard the ship were divided into archers, whose task was to take out the unarmoured crew of opposing ships, and gunners whose targets were the enemy troops wearing armour. I have never seen any mention of the number of archers at Nagashino but presumably they were there in some number. Their target I suggest would be the Takeda horses, forcing their riders to continue to the opposition on foot if they survived the fall of their mount. Interestingly, and by the by, the Royal Armouries Museum owns one of Takeda Katsuyori's armours - given by Tokugawa Hidetada to King James I (and VI). This was presumably obtained when Ieyasu captured the Takeda province of Kai in 1582. Ian Bottomley

Peter, I have done a little work on the subject of matchlocks over the years that might help. Firstly, I have to disagree somewhat with Piers in that Japanese guns during the Sengoku were to some extent of standardised bore. Yes, there were guns of different bores used by different armies and for different uses, but the basic issued musket in any particular unit was standardised, generally of 5 or 6 momme (14.9 or 158 mm) - economic in the use of lead and powder and simple to supply. Would the danyaku-bako be used for loose powder? A very dangerous practice on a battlefield with lit match and guns being shot everywhere - surely the drawers in these boxes were to hold a supply of pre loaded cartridges to top up those held by each gunner in his cartridge box. Apart from anything else, the drawers in these danyaku bako would be the worst kind of receptacle to hold loose powder. There are plenty of surviving large powder containers with a spout for that purpose. I would warn against relying on the practices used in some modern displays. A few years ago I was involved with the bi-biannual festival at a well-known shrine where a group paraded dressed as archers with utsubo. They were convinced these should be worn diagonally across the back, upside down and wouldn't hear of anything else. Seems they were more familiar with Robin Hood films than their own culture. Only 5 minutes away were historic paintings done in the Meiji period showing the same parade at that time where the quivers were being worn in the correct manner on the right hip (It was from this painting that I learned what the little loop of cord on back of the utsubo at the top was for - I always thought it was to hang the quiver on a peg when not in use, but no, it was for a cord tied to it that passed over the left shoulder and fastened to the obi to hold the thing at the correct angle.) It is true that guns did not take off until the 1540's after the Portuguese introduced guns made at the arsenal at Goa in India, but there had been an earlier occurance, in 1510 when a Chinese gun turned up in Osaka. This ended up with, Hojo Ujitsuna, who had copies made. There is even some evidence that Murakami Yoshikiyo, took tentative steps to use these guns in the battle of Udehara in 1548 but they never caught on. Sadly, there is no image, survival or even description of what this gun was like in either China or Japan so we don't know why it was a failure. We do know what the Goan guns were like because two survive in the Tokugawa Art Museum in Nagoya (or they are South East Asian copies - one having an internal spiral lock spring, the other the usual external spring). One of these has had the Tokugawa aoi kamon added to the pan cover but the style and decoration is Indian. Ian Bottomley

Piers, After reading that translation, my k*ntama were already aching in anticipation!! The Royal Armouries has an original copy of the book illustrated by Kuniyoshi that originally belonged to Basil Robinson who wrote the definitive book in English on that artist. These mini-cannon are interesting but there is still the problem of where have all the old muskets gone. Were they really melted down for scrap? Somehow I think not. Here is another possibility - in the early Meiji period thousands of okkashi-to were sold off to (a) South East Asian country (ies). I believe a large batch were discovered in Thailand or somewhere similar about 10 - 15 years ago. Could a lot of the old munition guns have gone abroad somewhere? I don't know but it is a possibility. I have also seen an old hinawaju barrel re-used for centrefire cartridges by fitting a Snider breech and re-stocking. I wonder how many of those were produced. Ian

Eric, A lot of guns aren't signed and I doubt that many of those made for mass orders would be. Also, unlike swordsmiths who have been recorded to death, although we know a lot of gunmaker's signatures, and Piers can correct me on this, I am not sure we know the dates when many of these guys worked. The same situation applies to a lot of armour makers - so much armour is unsigned and so much was recycled in a new guise. This did not always mean the whole piece - they would break up old do and re-use the individual plates, even cutting them up to save having to forge new plates. Ian

Piers, You pose an interesting question. You are correct that many guns would be lost or destroyed as a result of battles but most would be collected up afterwards since they were valuable weapons and would certainly not be dumped or melted down. Don't forget the Tokugawa were paranoid about being challenged for many decades after Seki ga Hara. No doubt many guns ended up on racks in castles - I remember seeing racks for hundreds of guns at Hikone, but the Ii were Fudai Daimyo and it is natural they would be allowed to keep plenty. Although I have no proof, my guess would be that the Tokugawa would collect up as many guns as possible and stash them away in case of trouble, to arm the Tokugawa armies. Saris in his diary for 1613 mentions a vast Tokugawa force (many thousands) posted near Osaka and relieved each year by others whose task was to sweep into Osaka, Shikoku or Kyushu if trouble arose. No doubt such a force would be kept in-being during Hidetada's reign and possibly even Iemitsu - both of whom were terrified of a Portuguese / Japanese Christian alliance mounting a coup. There is also the fact that a lot of guns were decorated at a later date, and possibly restocked and generally re-furbished for use in parades and so on. Would we recognise these as being esentially old guns? Ian Bottomley

Uwe, I don't think the mail is attached to the men itself. It is very heavy mail and I think it just hangs from the nose piece. My guess is that mail is very near rigid and just hangs over the mouth opening. You do wonder why it was made. Obviously a very special commission . Ian Bottomley

All, In general I have not found black lacquer to be a problem provided it is sound. Red is a nightmare as I said before and gold lacquer I leave well alone. The gold layer is so thin it is so easily damaged. Tony's comment about nicotine is interesting because you do get a brown gunk off as you clean dirty lacquer, but in some cases I think it is the degradation product of lacquer itself. You would have to chain-smoke for decades to get off the quantity that sometimes occurs. I have heard of vegetable oil being used, and once tried wiping black lacquer with a tissue having a smear of olive oil on it. Initially the result looked good, but it soon went patchy. There is also the dilemma of whether to wax the lacquer after cleaning black lacquer. In the past I have done it and it doesn't seem to have done any harm. As I said, I do it if I have cut off the upper layer of red lacquer, but no longer use it on black, just buff it with a soft cloth. I store my bow (I only have one now) horizontally on two pegs - what else can you do with the wretched things - they are so unwieldy. And yes Tony, I should be going to the next Birmingham. Ian

Ron, As John says, lacquer will stand water, acids, alkalis and solvents --- but only if it is intact. It only takes a crack and water will get in underneath. To be safe, use alcohol on cotton wool. If you have patches of persistent dirt and you can see the lacquer under them is sound, wet a cotton bud with saliva and rub it around. The enzymes in spit work wonders. I have not yet found a satisfactory cleaning agent for red lacquer. Our conservation team tried all manner of way to clean up an Ii family helmet done in red lacquer. I have had the same problem with the inside of face masks. The problem seems to be that the lacquer is so heavily loaded with pigment that the dirt is absorbed by the particles rather than being on the surface. The only way I have managed to clean it, and it is drastic, is to use metal polish to cut off the top layer and then seal it with wax polish. You can get away with it once if you are careful but I really don't recommend it. Ian

Piers, Far be it from me to do that to you. However, wrapping a well known kamon with the leaves or flowers of another kamon is not uncommon - See Eiyu Tasano Kamon where there are plenty of examples. However, Nobody seems to have wanted to wrap the Shimazu with anything. I have been through almost all my books on kamon and yours isn't there so you can keep breathing. Ian

Hawkins, Yes this is real cloisonne and is a Meiji export piece. You can see the cloisonnes at the mouth of the scabbard where the koiguchi is missing. Many years ago there was an enormous one sold at Christies (?) in London about 10 foot long. I remember seeing it hung on the wall during the viewing. Brought a fortune as I remember. Be very careful with the mount - when damaged cloisonne work loses a great deal of its value. The missing koiguchi should be easy to replace since I note the fittings are plain. Despite being export ware, these items seem to fetch a great deal of money in auctions - so well done you. Ian Bottomley

Piers, I take your point about the silver plate being underneath as being visible when loading. However, it is also visible in that position when guns are stored in a vertical position. Many regimental markings on European guns are either on the trigger guard or underside of the stock because when placed in a rack, they sit best with the top side facing the rack. It was also normal to thread a chain through the trigger guards as security - hence the underside of so many munition weapons look as if they were used crack walnuts with. Ian B

All, I worked with Dave Starley for years and we did some interesting work on armour plates, yari and other topics. If you can get there, I would recommend you do so. Sadly I will be elsewhere on a long-standing commitment. Ian Botttomley

Piers, Dutch metal is a cheap alternative to gold. It is a brass (84%Cu, 16%Zn) that can be beaten into leaves similar to gold leaf but a bit thicker. It does tarnish eventually, but keeps bright a very long time. Ian

Eric, Thank you for the link. Now at last I can feel confident in fitting these items onto a pole and sticking them on the backs of some armours. Still haven't found No3, but it is there somewhere. I have another sashimono doo-dah in the form of a pole with a small trefoil finial that once sprouted a spray of bamboo and paper feathers. I have made one new feather (they were all missing) and I am begining to get the urge to complete the rest. Like my poor tiger's tail, the feathers will need a lot of gilding - might use Dutch metal what with the price of gold today. Ian