Rich T

Hi Ludolf, I think the "Shingen" tsuba suffers from fakes almost more than any other tsuba, and in fact I think it was Torigoye who noted that there were all just trinkets and not worth anything. I have never seen a Shingen tsuba with great base iron, but that does not mean they don't exist of course. Can anyone show an example of a high quality Shingen tsuba ? Cheers Rich

Hey look mate, I am a fittings guy LOL, don't rain on my parade. that was the first time in months I have written more than 10 words LOL

Hello all, well last night I went to the premier of an Australian film I have been working on for the last 12 months, and after the film ended there was a Q&A from the producer, director and two main actors. One of the actors, Leon Birchill said "we are all on a journey, and we are all story tellers and teachers" .We need to choose our words carefully and only pass on that that is productive and constructive. This ideal probably applies here I believe. The very serious here are traditionalists in that we do things a certain way as they are, as far as we know, are the best way to do things and when we are spending anywhere between 2 - 5K on a polish, $700 or so on a fine shirasaya and as much if not more on a habaki we are doing so because the swords we are restoring and maintaining are one of the finest art forms in the world. As senior collectors and students, we can only pass on the best of our knowledge and advice. Whether people chose to follow that advice or not is a choice only they can make. I tend to find, more and more now that many new collectors focus on Ebay for purchases as apposed to buying quality stock from experiences sellers, as well as using forums to get their information instead of doing hard study from books, going to shows and putting in the hours to make their own conclusions, then share those with more experienced collectors to see if they are on the right track. The world is in many ways, becoming a fast paste disposable society and this is not I believe, the correct way to study art. The subject matter is too deep and complex to just go along scraping the surface. I am one who agrees with the traditional method of restoration and would never ever put an old habaki on a sword it is not made for. I guess if the sword was in poor polish and not worth a great deal then what does it matter. But the initial question was in reference to a new collector, his new sword and his interest in putting together a koshirae to suit. I would like to address that a little now. For me, and if this sword was a shoshin Sadamune I would have the sword polished, and a new habaki and shirasaya made, but before that, I would look for a very nice tsuba, and a set of Goto menuki, a nice fuchi and either a kozuka or kogai. All these would be Ko Goto, or Ko Kinko and from the Muromachi or Momoyama period. I would design a koshirae that suited the sword, it's age and the style that was in vogue at that time.I would then have a new tsuka made, look for some nice older same, have a new saya made and finished in a traditional style The koshirae would suit the sword, not my personal tastes. This is of course if the sword is genuine as a sword of the importance of Sadamune would deserve the very best of koshirae, and not a half cocked attempt at putting together bits and bobs that the owner happens to think looks cool. If this swords is gimei and a later copy of average quality, then the whole idea is mute, the sword can be enjoyed for a bit, studied and moved on for a better piece with more to study. If though it is a good sword and deserves a polish, and you want to add a koshirae, then that koshirae should add to the swords presence, not the owners. That may have been different back in the day when the samurai wore swords on a daily basis, but for me, in these modern times, the sword and koshirae should compliment each other, and not just be for the amusement of we, the temporary custodians. Just a few thoughts after a long day, sorry for the waffle. Rich

hahahahahaahha, thanks for reminding me of my favorite saying Ford, that picked me up Rich

No need to yell you old bastard lol

HI Ford and John, no I think that was just a dumb mistake on my behalf. Cooking too many pies at the same time probably. I can only imagine I meant to write nunome at the time. Who know what I meant ??? Richard

Hi Barry, I agree with Curran, as in I am not getting a Kamakura feel. I wonder, there appears to be no evidence of any uttori, but this looks very much like Hizen work, which is closely associated with the Namban tsuba except Hizen tsubako worked with little sukashi and used uttori to finish off the work. The mimi though is odd, it is not bold enough or something. It does, for want of a better explanation, give it a Shôami feel. I think it is an Edo period tsuba, and later more than earlier. Cheers Rich

Read this, it may help http://home.earthlink.net/~jggilbert/kamakura.htm Also, this too is most likely an early Kamakura tsuba that was then treated by a Ko Shoami artist to add the nunome. Cheers Richard

I would also suggest that someone other than Kanzan wrote the hakogaki on the outside of the box. just my opinion based on these images Cheers Rich

Hi all, I just updated my blog with a short story of my trip to Japan in August. If your going to Japan and the DTI for the first time, this might give you an idea of some of the things you might expect to see. Cheers Rich http://richardturner.wordpress.com/

Hi Craig, thanks for that. I will try and post some better images actually, the scans are not that good but they are rather interesting pieces with some nice kebori. I have heard about the seals and the kao also. I think there is some pretty good info in Haynes' auction catalogue (5 ???) on all the different Hakogaki. I have added a larger image so the signature can be seen better. I appreciate your thoughts. Cheers Rich

Hi all, I recently posted a new item on my blog http://richardturner.wordpress.com/2009 ... o-tsurugi-草薙の剣/ One thing I have not been able to do is get a reading on the art name Dr. Torigoye uses on the hakogaki. Has anyone seen this variation before and have an idea what it reads ?. Cheers Rich

Curious, I have found a couple of times my account settings have changed, and I do not receive PM's, emails, and links etc have been removed. Ghosts' in the machine ? Rich

Agreed, and it was very common in Ko Goto work. In regards to the depth, that is also common in Goto and Ko Kinko, though not so much as Mino, but it is the mass of design this piece lacks John. The whole face of the kozuka would be covered with detail almost, not just a small center section. This is one of the most common traits in Ko Mino work. Now Joshin was also fond of filling his work area with design, and you will also see it in Waki Goto and Kaga Goto work, but I have not seen Ko Mino with a minimalist design as I noted in the earlier thread. Cheers Rich

Hi all, nice Kozuka John. I agree with Ford's dating, probably Momoyama if not late Muromachi, but I think the design is far too barren for Mino work. This sort of centered, minimalist design was favoured by Gotô Sôjô and the revisited by some of the slightly later artists such as Tokujô and Eijô. I think this kozuka would fall into that area somewhere, Ko- / Gotô but I wonder if it might not just get a Ko Kinko attribution in this day and age :-) John, is the center of the flower finished in iroe ? This is a nice typical Tokujô kozuka. http://www.ginzaseikodo.com/tokujou.html a Sojô kogai form my collection. Just some thoughts. Cheers Rich

mmmm, that's rather unusual, Akoa could work. Rich

Hi guys, I was asked to check in with the NTHK on that just this week, so I have asked Gordon and he is going to see if he can get some sort of ETA. When I hear something I will let you know. Cheers Rich

Hey thanks Andreas, I visit the website but never looked up the address. Cheers Rich

Hi all, I will be in Japan next month and am going this time to Nagoya for a few days. I was wondering if anyone knew of any sword stores in the city worth visiting ? I will be going to Nagoya Castle and the Tokugawa museum, and thought it might be fun to see if there was any shopping to be done on town :-) Cheers Rich

Just for fun, it looks like Echizen Kinai work. Rich

Hahahahahahah, I am sorry Mark but this is funny. Firstly let me congratulate you on your upcoming wedding. But seriously, you may return to the UK divorced if you spend all your time looking for sword stores Rich

Hi Mark, my guess would be early to mid Edo period Myochin. The 4 inome doo look to have silver nunome I agree Cheers Rich

Hi Reinhard. I think this is one piece of steel, and not a fukurin. I agree these are most like chisel carvings. I am sure when he is ready (or gets off Facebook) Ford will pop in with some wisdom. cheers Rich

Hi all, well it seems this kantei has run it's course, so I will end it here and reveal the answer. This tsuba was attributed by the NBTHK to Futagoyama Norisuke 無銘 鉄板鍔 二子山則亮. This tsuba would date to the Bakamatsu period 幕末時代. Mokko gata 木瓜形, tetsu ji 鉄地 construction, this is very nice iron and is well forged with a dark and glossy patina. The mimi is Kan mimi kaku ko niku 環耳肉小角 (meaning a ringed square mimi with a small roundness). It is large and powerful and the iron is smooth and while giving the appearance of being a fukurin, is in fact masterfully carved from the iron plate. There are two hitsu ana (ryohitsu shitate 両櫃仕立) and both hitsu are filled with shakudo atagane 赤銅当金 that are finished with a very fine ishime 石目. In regards to the theme, the motif is Amida Yasuri no Zu 阿弥陀鑢図. The radiating lines presented are cut from the centre out and this design has a strong Buddhist connection. Amida is another name for Buddha and this design represents Buddha's aura radiating out to the world. These lines are extremely fine and are almost unditectable with the touch of the hand. The Norisuke masters were renound for making accurate copies of Yamakeichibei, Yagyu and other early Edo period works, but they also created their own design tsuba which were of a very high standard. The Kan mimi (ringed rim) was common with both Niwa Norisuke 丹羽則亮 (shodai) and Iwata Norisuke 岩田則亮 (nidai) though in the book Futagoyama Norisuke Ko 二子山則亮考 by the NBTHK Nagoya branch there seems to be a leaning of this particluar variation to the shodai. With the theme of Yasuri though, this was very popular with the 2nd, and started larger and rougher at first, and becoming more refined as time went on. I believe the the attribution to Norisuke is a good one and I would personally lean towards the Nidai for this tsuba. Thanks to everyone who had a go at this. Cheers Richard

Hi George, it's been a while since we caught up last. I hoper all is well. Cheers Richard Turner