mareo1912

I had a nice chat with the archive manager and while he is very busy the next months, he offered me some pictures as well as handling the pieces in hand next spring. Will keep you updated. Also they will put up a "Muramasa" Tanto for a new exhibition, pic attached.

I called them and after getting pulled through some receptionist phones I got to the archive department. They told me to write a mail for further inquiries and so I did. Will post here if I get any more pictures or informations.

Definately a vouche from my site, have dealt with Kelly mutliple times, always worked out perfect!

One more going in here with smaller knowledge on kodogu, so just my simple opinion. The workmanship is nice, I did not focus on Goto and therefore cannot state that much from the piece itself, but design and carving are of nice quality. For the signature: We have here two Signatures of how many after all? In my opinion especially later Kinko artist liked to vary their signature from time to time, as for them directly selling to the customer, these didn't need the signature as authentication. Of course presuming the signature was not added later. The signature was somehow a trademark for the client and the signature became important for us as the direct line to the artist faded over time. Of course the evaluation and comparison of mei and workmanship is hard to balance and it is also about including/excluding unsure pieces from the papered rank. My vote for shoshin having a chance

Dear fellow members, as some of you might know I made Tosogu boxes in the past, as well as big cases to host multiple Boxes. Recently I stumpled over a thread and thought that it might be time to make a new one. A Case of excellent quality, beating most (beside high quality makie piece) you can find on ebay and yahoo easily in quality, functionality and aestethics. And while I'm making the plans right now I also started calculating costs for the material and made some thoughts on the bigger cases themselves. It will be a lot of work, but I hope it to be a good decoration for my home over many decades. For me the big cases fulfill two tasks: 1st: They protect the Kodogu inside them 2nd: They bring the connection between furnishing/design and our hobby, giving it one way of fitting neatly into a rooms interior. 3rd: They give a good transport opportunity So in my opinion the cases can play a big role, especially in homes that are normally spartanic or with pretty modern interior, were a plain, modern box would fit in. We give the small boxes a lot of attention, they come in different qualities, sometimes with high quality silk covers, calligraphy, etc. and are an accessoire to match the quality of the Piece laying inside. But I have rarely seen examples of good bigger boxes, why is that, is it the wish not to seperate a good piece and it's box? Beside rare sidesteps I try to follow the collection praxis to aim for high quality, low count and exactly what I want to have, even if this means waiting/saving/not getting it for a long time. I think when coming to pieces related to Kodogu and Nihonto, but being "only accessoires", a lot of collectors go the cheap way, it is only a piece to fulfill it's purpose. An example, you own several Akasaka Tsuba, also high quality shodai/nidai pieces as well as multible fine Higo pieces, I think such a collection deserves some highest quality case in which it can exist as a whole, rounded up collection. How do you think about this, does a high quality case add class to a collection and furnishment as well as it graces the pieces treasured inside it? Maybe thinking to much over a pile of wood plates haha

I only got that one here, but it fits 24 Tsuba max. You also have any Daisho sets that need to fit?

I think it is iron ground as there are some small and weak, but clearly red rust spots. Overall the piece shows some very detailed and massive inlay (1/3) of the Plate with gold, copper and shakudo. Thank you Steven, but I already found informations about the artist. As Curran said I don't have any books showing off reference signatures of this artist. Those I found online, with english and Japanese search, showed no further similarity and I would like to ask if somebody could provide some more references?

Dear fellow members, I am currently researching on a Tsuba I found and it seems to be signed (tanaka) Kiyotoshi. (Thanks to the member that already helped me with these kanji). I didn't find that much refereneces on this artist and those I found are completetly different. I would be thankful for any further examples provided and every opinion. Sadly I cannot post the full piece here as I don't know if that is ok with the seller. Kind regards, Marco

Gotta raise some funds now...

Hi Peter, ordered some a while ago from Namikawa: http://www.namikawa-ltd.com/product/911 They also have 10 sheet pieces of approx. DIN A4 size. Quality is fine, also the good sekkaboku ink if you need it. Just inquire for extra wishes, they usually respond within one day.

Edit: Paul is right. Anyway, I think the state should never be your nanny and take your freedom of choice. Will be interesting how far UK will go in the next years...

Hey guys, would just like to get this piece here up for more opinions: https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/d285857301 Of course the pictures are bad, but I think there is quite a lot of detail in that Eagle? Though the plums are somewhat strange in my eyes... How would you rate that work in relation to average? Kind regards, Marco

Thanks guys! Thanks for the link Ken, will have a take on that item!

Thanks for the kind words and also for the advice! with all honesty I'm really low budget with the photographs, so I don't expect to get the stars from the sky With the stacking I had already made the photos for that, but was too busy yesterday, so tried it this morning (Attached). I find the light problematic, will need a more homogenous source, only problem is that I'm really max.1cm away from the object and that's hard to lighten up. Marco

Hey fellow members, got my new macro lens today and wanted to share some of the shots. Yet a lot to optimize but I was stunned by the detail that comes up. Sizes for comparizon: Dragons nose is 1.2mm on full length The center triangle on the shibuichi Tsuba is 1.9mm, the crack invisible with bare eyes. The blade picture is from a suguha hamon, you see the tempered area, about 7mm wide The peonys center bulb is 3.3mm in diameter (btw a stunning piece!) Any folks here that know more about photography and want to share some advice to get better pics? Best regards, Marco

Dear NMB Members, found this wasted blade for sale, don't want to buy it, just would like some help with the translation for training. Came this so far 長門守藤,what do you think? Nagato no kami fuji...? Kind regards, Marco

To Patrice, I will PM you for further details To Steven, absolutely right, you do not know the treatments the wood has gone through: oiling, etc. can have influence on the objects stored, reduce the amount of water the wood can bind and can increase the danger to catch dirt on box and items. To Luca, The point that Steven meant (at least I think so, please correct me if I'm wrong) is the stability of the whole insert. It can scratch/damage the object if not done properly and if loose/overused. I make my boxes from good quality, only dried wood and the insert completely without metalparts such as nails to avoid damage in any case. PM to you. Regards, Marco

Hey you guys, hope this is the right spot for it. I will be ordering new Paulownia and cedar soon for my tosogu boxes/cabinets. You can see the work here http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/24547-my-finished-tosogu-closet/?do=findComment&comment=248512 The wood is very nice quality, very smooth and a bit more massive, yet light and that's why I like them over casual boxes. If you're interested in the wood or boxes, measurements can be done individually, please tell me so I just order a bit more for samples to send. I'm far from being a master in wood work, but I think it's good enough and a good way to get individual sizes. Also it is really a joy to work with this kind of wood and I am happy to get better at it with every piece I make. Kind regards, Marco

Hey, Well in comparison the general nakago work, as well as the signature is pretty questionable i think... Need to overthink the whole package though.

Hey guys, so this time for real a blade that I like. There's also a very nice koshirae with it but I know a lot more about tosogu than on nihonto themselves. My thought is of course for the signature, also the to me strange seeming file marks on the nakago. Sadly the blade has the green paper virus. Any help and opinion is highly welcome, Marco

More pics for you. Going pretty well ment that the auction is getting pretty high for this blade...

This "piece" was offered to me in a Facebook group, found it on yahoo afterwards. Got it offered at 2400 Dollars... Even worse that it's at ~750 Dollars on you yahoo right now with a decent amount of bids. Getting you more pics soon Seller stated "polished by high ranking polisher"... (Obviosly ^^)

Hey guys, this blade going pretty well, your thoughts? Regards, Marco

Thank you for all the positive feedback! Jean, with just the thumbs it is easy to pull out any box, even with very short trimmed fingernails such as mine. Richard, not a bad idea, but I know the places in the closet very well and I do not want to damage the boxes as they were hard to make and fit just in their place. Maybe for the best pieces that I will surely keep I write something on the frontside with ink.

Hey guys, just finished a project for my tosogu collection. Set includes 12 Boxes (Small Boxes 120x150x50mm, Big ones 250x150x50mm) and the case, everything from paulownia wood. Fitting at the moment eight Tsuba (one Daisho set) two Kozuka and 2 Mitokoromono, so still some place free I also made custom inlays and pillows for every piece which worked astoninglishy fast when being in a good workflow (all together ca. 10 hours with 1-2h for trials). Would be happy about feedback and ideas for improvement, either in material or setup. Kind regards, Marco