IanB

Thomas, We see hundreds of these locks in the UK. They were invariably fitted to guns with twist barrels that wore badly, or as I said the stock split in the wrist so they were scrapped. People kept the locks because many were superbly made. I have a pair somewhere with the interiors beautifully finished and polished. I just can't bring myself to chuck them because they were so well done. Good luck with re-using yours. You might consider a large bore pistol - quite a few were made using back action locks by people like Boss or Lang. Ian

Thomas, I see no reason why you think your lock is Russian. It is a standard right hand, back action lock from a percussion shotgun. Birmingham (the real one not Alabama ) turned them out in thousands. I've never liked them, particularly on a double gun, because so much wood needed to be cut out of the wrist they almost invariably cracked at that point. Despite this they were very popular in their day. Ian Bottomley

All, Here in the UK we must be the only country in which a Japanese sword is defined in law (actually it refers to a 'samurai sword' but that is nit-picking). True, it is a definition arrived at by an Member of Parliament who didn't know a Japanese sword from a bucket, but it was accepted and is enshrined in our legislation. According to that worthy, a 'samurai sword' is a sword that is 'single edged, curved, over 30" long with a handle'. So dear members, all your talk of sabres, cutlasses, cavalry swords and so forth has no meaning whatsoever here in the UK - all of these weapons are 'samurai swords' because the law says they are. Ian Bottomley

All, What an interesting thread. Two factors spring to mind that have not been mentioned yet I feel have a bearing on the fascination shown by so many towards the Japanese sword. Neither has anything to do with 'art' per se, but does I think influence our views. The first is the simple fact that so many swords are signed by their maker. The study of Japanese swords and their appreciation is, in my opinion, enhanced by the fact that we can figuratively speaking, 'put a face' to a blade. It is only in the field of Japanese blades that scholars have been able to compile relatively complete biographies and inter-relationships between smiths that stretch back almost 1000 years. This in my view adds a dimension which is not really possible for most other fields of arms study, excepting perhaps for items from late 18th and 19th century. Viking or medieval swords are fascinating and can in many cases be regarded as artistic, but at best we might have a name and nothing more. Knowing Ulthbert or someone made a blade is interesting but 'who he'? The second factor is perhaps even more tenuous and that is the abundance of Japanese swords, even those from the distant past when compared to swords of other cultures. Having worked in a major European museum I have often smiled to myself when my colleagues waxed lyrical over a rough lump of iron that is the pommel of a medieval sword. In reality, many were little more than simple blacksmith's work, but because of their rarity were elevated to an artistic status way above the level they really justified. Such items as swords from the English civil war generally have chiselled guards that are crude to the point of banality, in Japanese terms, yet are considered 'artistic' by enthusiasts of such things. Indeed much is in the eye of the beholder. Ian Bottomley

Piers, Kunitomo was a major centre for gun production well before the Edo period, as indeed was Sakai. From what I can discover, the Sakai makers were considered superior, some Kunitomo guns being referred to as udon ju because the barrels flexed on being shot. Many of these guns would be unsigned, being part of munition orders. Various Han around the country also had their own gun makers as well as centres for powder production. If I have interpreted things correctly, it was the gun makers from around the country who were rounded up so that the Tokugawa could control gun production - concentrated at Kunitomo and at Sakai. I too suspect that many guns are Edo period productions, in fact I have a Sakai one that is rather over decorated, but many were I suspect refurbished Momoyama guns. There must have been vast numbers of good servicable but very plain guns around in the Edo period. Ian Bottomley

Pat, Piers, The reply from Dr. Copeland / Tanaka San needs a touch of clarification. Kunitomo may have been used as a name in the days when commoners were not allowed one, but in the context of the inscription it is a place. It was later re-named Nagahama and is at the north eastern end of lake Biwa. It is true that the Tokugawa took control over the gunmakers in 1607, insisting that guns and powder could only be made in Nagahama and that the Teppo Bugyo, in Edo, issue licenses before any order was filled (see Perrin, 'Giving up the Gun' p.47 / 58 &62). In effect this meant that all gunmakers had to move to Kunitomo to continue their work (except for those in Sakai apparently since the Tokugawa already controlled Osaka and its environs). By 1609 some gunmakers were leaving since the Tokugawa were not ordering guns. They were rounded up again, moved back to Kunitomo / Nagahama and Ieyasu ordered they be given a small annual fee whether they made guns or not. Eventually many gave up gun making and turned to other trades - exactly what the Tokugawa wanted. Ian Bottomley

Jean, I am so grateful for your offer but at the moment I do not know how things are going to work out. I have been promised copies of the catalogue but again I thank you. Ian

Lindis, Nice job. I'm glad it all worked out well. Interesting that the tumbler didn't have a pivot through the bridle. The only other gun I have seen like that is a massive Dutch holster pistol c. 1680 - 1700 I have. Here the maker just put a plain bridle flat against the tumbler to stop it tipping under the pressure of the mainspring. Must be horrendous friction between the two but the lock works so - Hey why worry. Ian

Thierry, My profuse apologies. It was you who posted the catalogue not Jean. Ian

Jean, Thank you for the first glimpse of the catalogue. I hope the exhibition goes well. I was involved in writing a section on horse equipment for the catalogue - an interesting exercise since nobody seems to have written much on the subject in English. Whether I will be able to make the trip to Paris I do not know at this stage. Ian Bottomley

All, We are confusing two types of wheel here. The original tsuba depicts not a waterwheel, but a wheel from a bullock cart, possibly having been driven into a river to swell the wood and tighten the joints (shades of Constable's 'Haywain'). A Japanese waterwheel to provide motive power has jar or bucket shapes on the ends of the spokes as depicted in the example shown by Henry. A complete waterwheel was the kamon of the Doi family. Why the cart wheel is depicted as being distorted has me puzzled. Perhaps it is shown this way to represent its reflection in the flowing water, but you would have expected it to be inverted if that were the case. Since it was also used as a kamon, perhaps there is a more subtle meaning. Whatever the reason, it seems to be consistently shown in this way as on the example posted by Derek. Ian Bottomley

Lindus, A European gunmaker would form the pin as part of the bar and drill the lockplate to take it. (in actual fact, a European would make the pin a part of the spring itself, obviating the need for the bar). You might try drilling out the bar and inserting a new pin but it may have been hardened. It wouldn't need to be screwed in if the hole you drill is reasonably deep, a tapered pin bashed in and filed to fit the lockplate hole would do the job. Less desirable would be to make a new bar out of a bit of mild steel. Is the stub of the old pin in a blind hole in the lockplate? If it is you will probably have to drill it out. If the hole goes straight through, just tap it out with a punch. Ian

Roy, As Piers remarks, there is or rather was a gunmaker at the Royal Armouries. He is retired now but still works from home and would regard this as a simple task. I shall be seeing him next week and can put you in touch if need be. However. having done a fair bit of gun restoration work myself, let me offer a couple of suggestions: I am assuming the hammer and the tumbler are rotating freely. I note there appears to be no second pivot on the tumbler passing through the bridle (the plate screwed to the lockplate in front of the tumbler) unless it is there and is running in a blind hole in the inner face of the bridle. The tail of the bridle also supports the pivot for the sear, the long bit that locks the hammer and tumbler in the cocked position and isn't moving properly. There could be four reasons why the sear isn't working: 1. the sear spring is broken or is soft and isn't pressing down hard enough to move the sear. This is unlikely from what I can see. 2. The sear pivot screw has been overtightened causing the bridle to pinch the sear against the lockplate. 3. There is rust or dirt on the sear pivot screw or between the sear and bridle that is preventing free rotation. 4. The sear is being prevented from moving freely when assembled in the gun because its tail is not engaging with the trigger correctly. If the problem occurs with the lock out of the gun we can eliminate 4. (When assembling, make sure the trigger is pushed forward so the sear tail sits on the step of the trigger and isn't trapped against it. Matchlock triggers are hung in the stock so that they push the sear backwards. With this lock the sear tail has to be pushed upwards so they have made a trigger with a step in it.) My guess is it is problem 2 or 3. Try slackening the sear pivot screw slightly and see if the latter moves any easier. If it doesn't, you will need to take the screw out and the sear off to give it all a good clean with fine wire wool (which won't scratch the metalwork) and reassemble with a touch of oil. Ian Bottomley

Jim, That was the site I saw before. This I think clinches it. Ian Bottomley

Lindus, This item or one very similar has been floating about for quite some time. It, or again, another very like it was on a German site a while ago if memory serves. Kawari kabuto, that is those that are not conventional, are not particularly rare either from the Momoyama or Edo periods. My first reaction is to dismiss this out of hand but a close look at the interior of the chin piece does look like old rotting nerigawa. The 'hide' covering also looks to have age, and if it was originally monkey skin with the fur left on, one would expect it to be bald by now. I suspect the sewing is mainly new and I doubt the shikoro now on the helmet originally belonged. However, there are three aspects that give me some concern: 1 There is no provision for anchoring the front of the lining. Normally the lining of a helmet is sewn to the koshimaki around the sides and the back and is either glued to the koshimaki in front, or with zunari kabuto or kawari kabuto, sewn to a strip of metal that runs from side to side across the brow. This helmet has nothing there at all - meaning the front quarter or so of the lining would be left hanging in space. This might simply mean that an original strip, fastened to the bowl at either end, is now missing. Being a helmet made of nerigawa, such a strip would be sewn in place before lacquering and the stitches may well have rotted away. The remains of the 'lining' now present looks like it was knocked up from some old rags. A real one for such a helmet would be sewn with circular stiches to give it shape. 2. There are normally three (or sometimes four or more) loops for the helmet cord, one at the back and two at the temples. These loops also serve to hold the shikoro in place, passing through the koshimaki and through two holes in the upper plate of the latter. In this case, the two forward loops are so far forward as to miss the present shikoro. However there are two loops present, that look to be old cord, but they have never emerged through the present hide covering. So, did the original shikoro extend further forward and was it held by soft metal rivets alone. I don't know but it is possible. 3. Finally there are the scratches a damage to the lacquer. The colour showing through is a bit on the pale side, but not impossible. It depends on the way the bowl was lacquered. Without holding the helmet and looking at it in detail I would say the jury is out. Ian Bottomley

All when it comes to flexing during a cut, I suggest you watch this link. When this film was made it left most people staring in disbelief. Ian Bottomley

Normally these wari kogai have a small tab fitted to one half that engages in a mortice in the other to keep the two halves in alignment. This one is interesting in my view because the maker has used the decoration to perform at least part of that function. It would not of course keep the two parts in place longitudinally. Michael, Is there such a small tab lurking under the decoration which we cannot see? Ford, I'm not sure there ever was a cap. Had there been, the top part would have had to be narrowed so that when the cap was in place it would still enter the slot in the scabbard. I suspect it has just broken off and the end has been tidied up. In fact a lot of wari kogai do not have the ear-cleaner bit, being rounded at the top. This would suggest that cleaning out ears was a secondary function (if indeed it ever really was used for that purpose) and it was the hair pin function (same caveat) that this split form was primarily made for. Ian Bottomley

Far be it from me to disagree with Brian, but eating with wari kogai - perish the thought. Many are iron and would adversely alter the taste of food, apart from the obvious problem of having them stuck in a pocket of the saya that would harbour all manner of nasty bugs. The whole purpose of this enigmatic item is personal hygiene. The bit on top for cleaning the ears, and the long tapered section for arranging the hair, particularly after removing the helmet. The split variety seems to have come into use when pomaded hairdos became popular. Ian Bottomley

Gentlemen, Just to take this thread back a fraction. About 6 years ago a lady wrote to me at the Royal Armouries enclosing a photograph of what she thought was a sword blade dug up in her garden. Her conclusion that it might be a sword was based on the fact that she lived at Edge Hill, the site of the first major battle in the Civil war (the real one not the one that took place later ) fought in October 1642. From the photograph it was clear it had indeed been a sword. What remained was about a foot long piece of vestigal rust. What clinched the fact it was a sword was the copper habaki still wrapped around it, which judging by the size showed it had been a wakizashi. It may of course have been buried at any time after 1870 or so, but judging by the amount of corrosion it equally could have been a relic of the battle. If it had been used at the battle, there was only really one source - Capt. John Saris who was given a wakizashi by Tokugawa Hidetada when he negotiated the trading treaty between England and Japan. He died in Fulham in 1643 and his will list no Japanese items at all despite the fact he was also given an armour (by Matsura Hoin) and various other weapons. If this sounds rather far fetched, note that Alexander Popham(1605 – 1669), a commander of the Parliamentary forces is depicted in a portrait wearing his armour and a kastane sword from Sri Lanka. Ian Bottomley

Nice one Justin. Just keep an eye on any russet bits - oak and iron react rather badly together but since you have painted the wood there should be no problem. Ian

Clive, A very interesting armour indeed. I wonder what induced the temple to sell the armour off. I was interested to note that the gunbai on the mune is decorated with a spray of three bamboo leaves in each corner and has an ichi character superimposed. In addition, the so-called 'plum florets' within the hexagonal frame are not plum but the flowery diamond as used by the Takeda. This seems odd since Nobumasa was so badly treated by the Takeda. I have a suspicion that this armour is not quite what it seems. Ian Bottomley

All, If I may add to Clive's comments. I do not think I have seen anything quite as sensationalist and yes, fatuous. Quite who decides on the format of these programmes and hires the 'experts' is beyond me. All the decision seems to have taken by someone who knows absolutely nothing about the subject but think they know what the 'public' want. As Clive said, all swords were katana, and most of the 'armour' seems to have consisted of rectangles of painted cardboard glued onto white cloth jackets worn with a conical cardboard jingasa. One scene involved a guy wearing a a sugake laced armour with a momonari kabuto - in the Kamakura period? He and a so-called farmer began their duel by flying through the air in the manner of a Chinese kung-fu film. All that was missing were ninja sneaking about in black pyjamas. The only redeeming feature was Stephen Turnbull doing the 'talking head' who had clearly been film separately and his comments spliced in. He at least told the tale accurately. Like many of these programmes, many of the 'facts' are based on the flimsiest of suppositions. In this one the classic was - this person had a deformed leg -- many men in Japan who had a deformity became Buddhist monks -- this was a Buddhist monk! The skulls of the man and women that displayed numerous cuts became a wealthy farmer and his wife who defended their rather palatial home by a protracted sword fight with the above momonari-ed samurai. On what evidence? How did they know the cuts were received in a fight? They could just as easily have been unarmed interior decorators (using same poetic license about interior decorators as the programme's producers did about everything else) simply hacked down by the attackers. In the end I could take no more and switched it off - to stop myself chucking my shoe at the TV screen. Ian Bottomley

Like all the others I started collecting anything and everything that could be described as a Japanese sword. My first was a very small and very bad wakizashi bought at the age of about 14 from a shop in London. It was a period when there was still a lingering animosity towards Japan and nobody else in my area wanted Japanese swords of which there were plenty. Daito, always executioner's swords, and 'look you can still see the blood' (rust), were about £1 to £1.10.0 and shoto, 'harakiri knives' were 10/- or slightly more. By the time I married I sold a dealer the bottom end of my collection, 30 swords and a naginata for £30 and made a profit. Most were rubbish but I bet there was at least one good blade amongst them. I didn't know because there was just no information available to me at the time. One birthday my wife bought me a wakizashi and I remember sitting with Robinson's 'Arts of the Japanese Sword', which was on permanent loan from the local library, and reading the signature' Tadayoshi'. It turned out to be third generation. I was lucky in that my wife, bless her, indulged my passion when I sometimes sometimes spent money on a sword rather than badly needed clothes or other household needs. By this time the ToKen Society was founded and with another member we started the Northern group which met, and still does, in Manchester. A classic evening occurred when we found the pub in which we met had changed hands and the new owner refused to allow us access to the upstairs room. The bar had been 'modernised' with dim atmospheric lighting and the only place with adequate illumination was the gents toilets. As a result, the other customers were a bit taken aback to find a cluster of blokes stood waving swords when they needed to obtain relief. Despite having dozens of swords, I lusted after an armour in its box. This finally arrived when my father, on holiday in Ireland, came across one and sent me a telegram with details. The owner was one of those who wanted to sell but didn't know for how much. It took nearly 6 months before we established a price of £50 plus another £10 for a second box of oddments. This was a fortune to me at the time, but I did raise the money and the two boxes were mine. What I got was a superb armour in mint condition made by a Ki Yasukiyo for an elder of the Chohan plus another fine helmet and other pieces. It was then armour all the way. Swords went for more and more armour and all the myriad of bits and bobs that went with it. I still get as much of a thrill at discovering a little piece of trivia like a scabbard cover as I do about a complete armour. What I loved was that armour is just armour and never pretends to be anything other than it is. I still regard a piece of ashigaru armour just as valid as a fine armour for a wealthy samurai. Yes there are fakes, but big names are just not important - at least to me. More recently I have acquired a few swords, none are outstanding but some are competent, untouched and as worn - a factor I feel almost as important as the quality of the blade. I have come a long way from the heady days when a joiner's son from Yorkshire bought a wakizashi. I am now proud, and fortunate, to own treasures from the opposite side of the world that were the cherished possessions of feudal Japan's upper class. These objects have kept me sane during my long and sometimes stressful life - you cannot ask for better than that. Ian Bottomley

Eric, An interesting factor about the Chinese style saddles. I came across a related point a few months ago. Within Japanese style saddles there are two types: military saddles and courtier saddles. The former have a cantle that when drawn within a circle divided horizontally into quarters, the arch for the horses spine extending up to the 3/4 line. A courtier's saddle have the arch 2/3rds up the circle giving a saddle giving a higher pommel so to speak. Similarly, the pads for a courtier's saddle are a different shape. If you look at the photo of the presentation harness I published earlier you will see the shape of these pads. I suppose these differences are to stop the coutiers from falling off Ian

Eric, From what I can see of the shape, this is a Chinese saddle tree that has been re-used in Japan. The stirrup and its leathers are Chinese, having the buckle on the leather, not on the stirrup. The kirimon on the outer edge of the aori and other straps indicate they are definitely Japanese. An interesting find. Ian Bottomley