Bugyotsuji

Slightly off-topic, but a friend has a signed Sadamune which they sent off to the NBTHK for shinsa. It was sent back 'horyu' because allegedly the panel had never seen a legitimate Mei to compare it with, and thus felt unable to authenticate it. Subsequently this friend had the Sadamune Mei erased, and then sent it off again for shinsa. This time it came back attributed to, yes, 'Sadamune'. By now they had found an old meikan entry with a photo of the same blade, with Mei, but as they had by then registered the sword as unsigned, they ended up in some kind of a Catch 22 bind. (Any factual errors in the story above will be from my failing hearing and lack of ability to follow high-speed explanantions in Japanese! ) PS I know very little about Soshu and look forward to reading the articles linked by the OP (Brett) above. Thank you.

The backgrounds are all very similar, in horizon and vegetation, almost standardized. A missing scroll makes sense. Is the figure on the left carrying a peach, for Momo Sennin? For the missing panel, another Sennin is likely.

By the way, the idea of using a peg to hold in a cord like that is neat, but I haven’t seen any evidence that the holes in the pinch flaps were used for that purpose. It’s an idea, and a small pin could serve to stop the cord blowing away at ignition, but cords burn constantly and need to be moved forward with every shot. A locking pin for carrying then, to prevent misplacement or loss of one’s match cord? Many serpentines do not even have holes there. There is also a theory that they were to allow air to permeate the cord, helping to keep it alight. Or were they simply decorative? Anyway just something to think about, as the answer is not yet clear. We’ve had this discussion before. The answer must be out there somewhere.

Possibly 法光 Hōmitsu (Norimitsu)

Here’s a long, actually very long shot, pun included. Neck on line. In 韮山 Nirayama there are the remains of Japan’s first reverberatory furnace where they once made cannon. ‘Barrel made at Nira’ could be got from these two kanji 韮張, assuming of course that the reading is not mistaken, which it could well be. (35% confidence rating) Anyway, just to get the ball rolling, but expecting to get shot down (pun included) at any moment. As they say: “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

Gerry, what kind of appraisal will this expert do?

The first one looks Chinese, and the second, NBTK, I’ve not heard of. (Awaiting others’ opinions or directions.)

The top writing when present was often the mark of the person later decorating a barrel, but when in fine silver etc., inlay, it was sometimes an exhortation. It looks readable but my brain is not yet coming into focus 韮張 plus 花王 doesn’t seem at all right… maybe you could post that in the translation section for fresh eyes! The woodwork of your gun could well be newer, meaning the gun was possibly rebuilt at some time. The absence of a front sight is puzzling, but these pistols were never designed for accuracy, meaning the placement of sights was mostly a token gesture. If the base marks of a front sight have been erased, it is a very good job.

A new addition for you? This looks like an example of a Namban Ryū (Southern Barbarian Style) pistol, a gunnery school in Japan deliberately designed to look foreign, to show exaggerated outlandish features. The front sight looks to have been knocked off…(?) As to the markings underneath the barrel, they do look fairly random as you say, and these among other signs suggest that someone has been tweaking or adding to the gun since its export from Japan. Despite some alterations, basically an honest gun I sense from your photos.

Well, as long as he does not talk directly over the blade! Oh wait… he did. Don't they have a Yosozaemon no Jo Sukesada on semi-permanent display up in the Japanese Gallery?

So if the Mei is legit, an early Tenbun/Tembun date could certainly fit with Fusamune.

Oh Moriyama San, stupid me!!! Thank you!

Stuff I still need to work on, but Tembun 7, November… is visible. 天文七年十一月 Either side of 10 (十) is the old date of Tsuchinoe Inu, 戊戌 土口日 (?… not sure what kind of day this refers to)

What inscription?

Missed my favourite programme… Just kidding!!! Monday TV is useless.