Spartancrest

Yas - just for a laugh - https://www.jauce.com/auction/o449060436 I think price has too many zero's, needs to be 12 yen.

Bob that is a great idea actually, I should have included some ruled pages for added notes, I will keep it in mind for any other books.

Fujiwara-kyo was located in Yamato province (present-day Kashihara in Nara Prefecture) it was burnt to the ground in 711 - I don't think that is it. Fujiwara (藤原町, Fujiwara-chō) was a town located in Inabe District, Mie Prefecture, Japan. On December 1, 2003, Fujiwara, along with the towns of Inabe (former), Hokusei and Daian (all from Inabe District), was merged to create the city of Inabe. There is also mention of the Fujiwara clan - could that be a reference to look into?

Yas I do like the Mokume, I am sure many would pay that - Not in my price range though. - 586 is it silver and gold? I don't recall seeing clouds with nanako before, do you think it is Japanese buyers or Westerners?

Bruno that is a fantastic dream, I do hope it can happen sometime not too far away. I think Google image was supposed to do something like that, but it fails terribly, how many people have tried 'dropping' an image of a tsuba and getting picture feedback of belt buckles, badges or buttons! A picture data base was the aim of the Met books and the design book for that matter - it is a technical problem to index images in a useful way - goodness we humans have enough trouble comparing images by eye as it is ! Peter, thank you, my book sales keep me in the poverty I have grown accustom to. [ It is a hobby that keeps me home, and not down the pub - which is convenient because I don't drink anyway - win win!]

Thank you Brian, you are correct, even just compiling what I have, takes time [lots] adding full information even if accurate would take years - why do you think the Museums don't do it very well, because they can't afford the time. Seriously I do wish others [who have the time] would put pen to paper and do their own books, think of all that information in members heads that just disappears when people pass on. What a waste. Believe me it really isn't that hard - just start! [ I know it is now 'finger to keyboard' but it doesn't have the same ring to it. ] I did check and in order to get better print quality I am constrained by the number of pages that Blurb and others will print in one volume, so that I would need three volumes for the Met book, with all the extra costs handed on to the buyer that that entails. Could I say to those who have already bough a copy of the design book - thank you, but why? - you must have more money than sense when a cheaper version will be available! Maybe it's just my pensioner mentality, but every cent counts.

Mike they are some good acquisitions! I am very interested in the second tsuba as I have a daisho of similar design. They are usually described as amida-yasuri but I think that is a generalization as the 'rays' are not continuous and are more the pattern of expanded metal mesh. I have seen them described as Amida-ishime-ji. Yours if I may say so is atypical in that it doesn't have an outlined seppa-dai, sukashi or hitsu, though I have seen others like yours. I have 40 examples including three of my own - I am aware that this design has been posted before [way back in 2006 I think?] and described as Tosho made, but from what examples I have, Tosho is also an easy out - Tosho with inlay? Tosho mukade? Tosho with shakudo fukurin? Regardless, I do like your piece. [Sorry if I hijacked your post] Steve is correct what was wrong with 2020? [I am not a touchy-feely person anyway!]

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/p821071012 sold just short of $1,000 US.! I wonder how much this will go for? https://www.jauce.com/auction/c877166910

John B. and Darrel L. I am very aware of the short comings of the Met book - however if you are looking for more information from the Met site - good luck , there is not much there. As to the cost - that is totally out of my control, if you think I receive more than a few cents for each book I sell, you are mistaken! As for clarity of image, better quality printing was available but would you have paid three times the price? As for scholarly work, one thing I have taken away from this site is that scholars all have different opinions and often get it wrong - so it was a conscious decision to only use the Museums information as much as possible, thereby you may argue with the museum if you like [ once again , good luck ]. Unlike Markus I can't just drop in on the Met and ask for any additional titbit as I live on the opposite side of the planet. If you check you will find measurements and materials are listed - just zoom in on John B.'s posted picture. Please feel free to do your own version at any time, the images and information I used are all in the public domain [hence the title]. Ps. Make sure you don't include any images or information not in the public domain or their lawyers will come down on you like a ton of bricks! Added : Taken from the preface Vol 1. - "Though a number are described in detail, a large proportion have only basic information relating to their dimensions, their providence or the donors who gifted them to the Museum." - If in doubt - read!

Thank you Peter - my only regret is that the original book didn't give attributions to each image - even in Japanese, it would have made the search for finished pieces easier. Perhaps given enough time we can assemble a book of the final pieces produced, or those that inspired the designs, though as Ford has pointed out that may be a very thick book! My friend Stephen King [W.A.] pointed out, when I told him of another book I am working on, Utsushi comparisons - "the book would never end!" He is certainly correct as I am finding out! PS. I sent him five utsushi links and images, [very close] to a guard he won on eBay last night- took me 15min

Oops - also pages 34 and 61- embarrassing

There is a good possibility the matching tsuba to the fuchi in the above post is seen on page 36 of the new book. There are so many images even having spent weeks working on the images you can miss things! Happy New Year everyone!

I was wondering why you had got no replies - he is a very cheerful frog, is there a very faint mei there in the first image?

There is a link here to some 'possible' creations taken from the book, https://www.thejapanesegallery.com/fuchi-kashira at least one, the kashira is a bit of a stretch. The other is a possible match to not one but two drawings in the book.

Yas you are right, I thought the old grainy picture was not very clear with some ink and smudge marks, but the sekigane are not there in the old picture. That means there are likely many more of these out there, like so many others. My goodness they are good copies though.

Yagu [Gag-you] 4 hrs out up to 96,000 yen. Oh the humanity!

Yas. They are getting better fakes every day - it is getting very difficult to tell from auction photos - you need to see in hand but that is not always possible. Michael. Yes they cover their tracks with those disclaimers, Bonhams though missed out badly on that Konkan [or is it Konkwan?], someone didn't do their research very well - they could have added some provenance on that guard as having once belonged to Marcus B. Huish a prominent early collector and writer on the subject. I was hoping someone would pick up on this when I included it in the post - sadly not. At least we have a rough time line when the piece was made - prior to 1912.

Thank you Ford and Brian, I received a proof copy of the book only yesterday in matte paper format and found it was printed very well and about fifty dollars cheaper than the 'Deluxe gloss' version [which I can't afford!] As the original was compiled on fine rice paper glued in some cases into the 'scrapbook' the matte is in my opinion closer to the original, but at least there are options. The matte will take a little time to get listed on the book sites [usually up to six weeks] but the gloss is available now from Blurb. Now I am happy to arrange any matte format book direct from the printer now, but if people could hold off for a while Blurb run special discounts from time to time like 40% off or free shipping so when this happens the book would be much cheaper - I don't like the middlemen making all the profit! My intention is to make information available to everyone as cheaply as possible, not make money. I am hoping there will be a special offer to mark the beginning of the new year and will keep you posted. As an example a softcover gloss would cost $63 US. plus postage, a hardcover $78 - the matte $13 and $23 plus postage. That is a big cost difference in my opinion for little gain. Stephen has got in early and his book is a few suburbs away from his lap as we speak, I do have some images of the finished pieces from the book but hope as Ford has pointed out other members of NMB can track down other finished or original examples and compare. 'Throwing Stephen under the bus' he has copied a few pages of the original book and sold framed reprints with some success!

I have just put out a 'new' book updating and refreshing an 1850s design book of metal carving patterns, mainly for sword fittings. Two versions will be available, the first is printed on gloss paper through Blurb - https://www.blurb.com/b/10516296-album-of-designs-for-metal-carving-ch-sen-gafu-de The second will soon be available through other book outlets like Amazon, Abebooks etc. on matte paper at a cheaper price. Text is limited to a few pages in the original Japanese with approx. 150 pages of multiple illustrations in colour. The book is called "Chōsen Gafu" Album of Designs for Metal Carvers by Ranzan Tsuneyuki. The original is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a scrap book collection of designs compiled over a number of years, the images have been cleaned up and enhanced with many of the smaller designs enlarged for better clarity, so it is not a facsimilie copy and is aimed at showing the designs to their best effect. I hope the book finds a good audience.

Brian, I will take your offer and post this picture of the tsuba from the opening post. If I might add another to ponder on, also from a Bonhams auction. https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/26087/lot/1147/ What thoughts on this piece?

Yes Yas I saw those, a modern take on Hokusai [ I like the 'Great Wave' the most]. They were out of my price bracket though. They don't pretend to be what they are not.

Great work Yas as usual. You can add these things to the growing list - there are a few now being listed with the original factory packaging - can't see that it makes them more saleable. https://www.jauce.com/auction/c874356864 Also https://www.jauce.com/auction/g474999929 - It is almost like "If you want a fake, we have it!"

Thank you so much Piers. Would that second sentence roughly mean "Cross tsuba, copy, in the style of Nobuie" ? I know Nobuie made a lot of tsuba but in so many styles?

Japanese made Christian tsuba paperweight https://www.jauce.com/auction/371174105 I think these were made to celebrate the opening of the 26 Martyrs museum in Nagasaki - could be wrong, could someone translate the script on the box? I have one that was presented by Mr. Kitamura, the director of the Osaka Namban Bunkakan Museum in 1975 to an American seminary student. They turn up infrequently, may have been a limited number produced.

For those interested in the Sophia Museums collection of 'KIRISHITAN' tsuba - https://digital-archives.sophia.ac.jp/laures-kirishitan-bunko/view/kirishitan_bunko/JL-TSUBA-1650-KB1 [it is a little difficult to find through Google, but I stumbled on it years ago] Like all Museums I have my doubts on the age of some of it's collection.