Bugyotsuji

There are lots of other differences, but the final 日 seems constantly written with a hook down the right, making it look like a small 月.

Dangggg…!!! PS If Curran pulls out, I’m next in the Q.

OK, just to get the ball rolling, these give me flashes of Hikone mono, Soten-style.

Ah, yes, thank you Okan. That is interesting!

Really interesting tsuba. This is described on the box as Kagamishi, (without the ‘Ko’). Someone recently pulled me up on the difference.

A friend has a Tsuyama armour signed 宗保Muneyasu.

Hi Mike, it is hard to know what to advise you. It seems from your reply that you are attracted to this gun and half inclined to buy it, but the price is putting you off. What specifically appeals to you? Be honest! The dealer must have reasons for that price, including the value of the zōgan inlay along the top of the barrel and the talismanic Buddhist 六手 characters. If it is a 士筒 Shizutsu (larger samurai gun) this will also add value, as too the possible the Ogino School of gunnery aspect. Was the butt rather long and shaped a little like an elephant’s trunk? To offset that, the gun needs a new foresight, and how much would that cost you? In the Schrödinger‘s Cat category is the state of a) the pan, b) the Bisen breech screw, c) the inside of the barrel and d) the shape of the butt. These would be more important to me as a gunner than any fancy inlay, but from those shots I cannot judge. You on the other hand, may be happy with the appearance of this particular gun and not so much with the others he had for sale…(?)(We can see an Osaka gun in the background of one of those shots.) Speaking as a neutral observer, I like what I can see so far, but the price would not suit my wallet. But I am not abreast with antique gun prices in the continental USA.

Here are some Chinese toggles, two adjusted to show the holes. A Side view B Top view

Mike, are you there?

Been collecting data about this gun. Will report shortly! *Pity we can’t see everything, (shape of butt, etc., front sight missing ) but an interesting example. Could be the Ogino-Ryū school of gunnery; the butt shape would tell us. (Later) Small Honda fiefdom in Ōmi called the Zeze Han. Made in 蔓延元年, which is 1860, during the Bakumatsu, towards the end of the Edo period. The smith seems to be 鈴木鉄造 典貞? Suzuki Tetsuzo Norisada(?) Not sure about the very last kanji… 0.69 caliber in Japanese terms puts it at 1.75 cm, close to a 10 Monme Samurai gun or Shizutsu, a bore larger than the standard ashigaru battlefield gun of 1.5 or 1.6 cm.

Pretty sure this is a later work from a Chinese workshop. The signature 玉田Tamada or Gyokuden, is supposed to look Japanese, but actually looks like strongly like a typical Chinese effort at ‘casual Japanese’ from just such a workshop. PS Being ivory today is sadly a minus, not a plus.

These mokumé tsuba were quite fancied.

Here’s a tsuba for reference.

I like the design a lot, but it looks quite fragile!

Ah, that’s eased my mind a little! Thanks. Looking forward to hearing what you find out about it once it’s in your hands. (It’s not so easy judging from photos.)

If it’s for sale I would prefer not to have commented on it.

Seriously good point! Dodgy stuff!

伊賀守金道作 Iga no Kami Kinmichi Saku

Is this yours, Pown, or are you wondering whether to buy it? The Kozuka blade is not good at all. I have to admit that Koshiraé, like human clothes fashions, are interesting in their own right, but not so easy to date without a lot of experience, which I sometimes wish I had. (Hoping someone else may like to comment here…?)

Efugo, bait or captured game containers, for Takajo falconry.

Oh wow that link is amazing, Sam. Many thanks. One of Tokugawa Ieyasu’s favourite pastimes. A world about which I knew little. (Now after many years and at a stroke I know what the original purpose of four objects found at antiques markets really are!) Also I have a set of falconry menuki but these look quite different again.(See below) PS The caption to your photo just above looks mistaken. That’s a riding crop and two ‘shiodé’ fasteners for a Kura saddle.

Just a feeling but I kind of agree, e.g. from John’s link above:

As Dale did above, placing them the right way around, point of the central triangle upwards, tri-lobe side hole to the right, but on a plain dark background under neutral lighting or lighting which allows a sense of the actual metal to show.

Not sure if it was all a ‘set’ at first, but my immediate thought is most horse-themed parts are from mid-Edo to the Bakumatsu. (?) The Tsuka wrapping looks new.

Fantastic result, congratulations!