Bugyotsuji

Forgive the long silence. So much water has flowed under the bridges and through the fords since July. Just to record two recent finds at antiques fairs in Kyoto, each serendipitous in its own way. The first is a bronze portable candle holder. It could well be Meiji, thus strictly speaking outside the remit of this thread, but I saw it in the distance, that unmistakable shape! I have one at home, but I had until then never seen another! They do say these things are better in pairs, so quick as a wink, I snapped it up. Back at home I compared them; there are small differences, but they were surely made by the same hand, and essentially they look really good sitting on either side of my armour display! Two peas in a pod. Photos may follow... The second is a burning-match holder. Now these are as rare as hen's teeth. I've always wanted one, and for twenty-plus years I have looked but never seen an example outside a museum collection, except for one fake. Then last Saturday, there it was, on a table, and the whole world dropped away. The dealer was surprised that I even knew what it was, and he called some people over, as if to witness a miracle. One of these was an armour repairer who used to work for Daishiba San in Kyoto, and he asked me if I knew Uwe Sacklowski!!! A bolt from the blue. I was so glad I had made the effort to tag along with the offspring last weekend. On Saturday I have been asked to give a 60-minute speech in Japanese to a citizens' group at the city library. They wanted the outline by today, :eek: ...so after months of nervous worry, I have just sent off two pages of summary. I hate being pinned down like this. Anyway I am hoping they will allow me to ramble stupidly in broken Japanese about Nihonto, Koshirae, Tosogu, Katchu, Hinawaju, Netsuke, Bizen-yaki, etc., then to set a puzzle for them, and finally to express how kind the people of the Bizen region are. They have also asked me to bring along some objects for display, so I am preparing an Edo period map, some books, and random armour parts, guns, netsuke, tsuba, etc. Wish me luck, please, teaching my grandmother to suck eggs!

Wow, that’s an ugly one. But some of those brass parts look ok! Good find.

Dang, Colin! Excellent question! The quick answer is “a mixed bag which included two dollops of serendipity”. This is the Netsuke Central thread, however, so to stay strictly on topic, the weekend was ‘educational’. I saw perhaps 100+ top-class Netsuké, and thinking that it might be relatively cheaper, enquired casually about a beautifully lacquered, signed obi-hasami. The answer was ¥1,000,000… Well, cheap to some perhaps, but that was ten times my total budget for the day. Ulp! I did buy an obi-hasami of perhaps bone material (?) which cost relatively nothing, plus two ojime, and a very pretty old shell (with a tatty string remnant through it), which had once served as a ‘natural’ netsuke. There was indeed a fashion at one time (early to mid Edo) for natural netsuke, and I once had a pearlescent nautilus shell netsuke, plus a beautiful chunk of amber with silver fittings, so I was pleased to acquire another one. So, netsuke-wise, not a great haul, but better than a kick in the butt.

Five-year jump!

Parallel to the top of the jabara purse top right is a needle. This one is made of shinchu (brass), presumably because it will not strike a spark when cleaning out a blocked pan/vent. I'll keep an eye out for a cup, John, but you never know if you will come across one. You could ask the guys in Tokyo running that antiques fair search.(?)

Colin, several NMB members are in Japan or about to be, for the DTI. I imagine they will be trawling around for goodies! Often I strike out and come away empty-handed, but you well know the pleasure of heading out with high hopes of spotting something interesting. Max R once told me that you have to make the effort to get out, and meet people, and travel around. Tomorrow I'm headed to Kyoto to visit two antiques fairs this weekend... wish me luck!

Well, it's been 24 hours. Most of the above hang from the obi with a netsuke as a stopper. Almost everything dates from the Edo period. Eight of the 'kinchaku' purses are leather, and two are cloth. Five are Jabara (accordion style). There are six iron Hi-uchigane 火打ち金 strikers, 4 Japanese and 2 Continental. Five haizara ashtray netsuke, two of which are shinchu brass. Four tinder purses, and three tinder cylinders. (Some purses have an attached striker, and also contain tinder and flint.) There is one kiseru, and one rice tester. Did anyone spot the vent pricker?

Unusual to see a tag in such good condition!

Thanks! Jan would like to see that, I can guess.

Regarding the way the Mei is cut, I see several problems. 住 for example would surely never be written like that.

Dale, I live in Japan where creation of a gun barrel would be heavily frowned upon. In that respect I would suggest that the USA is the best place to do it, but I have little connection with your gunsmith community there. Thanks for the vote of confidence though! I would be very interested to see the results!!!

The tsuba looks like: 正阿弥家重 Shōami Ieshige

Polishing a Japanese sword is easy, if you have about 10 years of training first, but even then it doesn’t look easy!

“Translation: 鐔 - Tsuba 七宝紋所之図 – Shippo, mondokoro no zu (figure of family crests)“ Jake, this part of the translation must be from a different part of the box, not shown in your photograph above. On top of the lid?

Just to rephrase Grey above. To have anyone do a single aspect of work on this will cost you more than you paid for it. At that point you are already not likely to recoup your investment, and there are still other things to fix. Caveat. If money means nothing, and you desire to right history’s wrongs at any cost, well then, you could restore it for your own personal satisfaction. Otherwise, any work you do on it should be your own (free!) but with the real danger that you will damage it further if you do not know exactly what you are doing. Light application of the above oil, and gentle wiping off of oil (hopefully with some red rust) with a clean cotton cloth will cause least damage.

The Kamon looks like Oda Mokko. https://www.google.com/search?q=織田木瓜&client=safari&sca_esv=4acce884baa46368&hl=en-gb&udm=2&biw=390&bih=663&ei=fYz5aKX5CpHm2roPhrqTmQo&oq=織田木瓜&gs_lp=EhJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWciDOe5lOeUsOacqOeTnDIGEAAYBxgeMgYQABgHGB4yBhAAGAcYHjIGEAAYBxgeMgYQABgHGB5I-VpQ0hJY3lVwAXgAkAECmAF7oAG5B6oBAzguM7gBA8gBAPgBAZgCCqACkAbCAggQABiABBiiBMICCBAAGKIEGIkFwgIFEAAYgATCAggQABgEGAcYHpgDAIgGAZIHAzkuMaAHgxKyBwM4LjG4B40GwgcHMC4zLjYuMcgHJQ&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img

Hmmm…. Fire, a possibility I hadn’t considered. The proportions do look right.

And… several objects here which may prove puzzling. Most of these are connected somehow to my matchlock, armour and blackpowder displays, but not all. Can you see for example a rice quality tester, a fire starting kit, a pricker, a tinder container, a priming flask, some bear bells, etc.? Most of these were not expensive, or I swapped them for something, i.e. nothing to break the bank.

This little lacquered carrying cup may be made from the same material as the ashtray haizara netsuke above. The concentric rings and little pinpricks look similar. Could be hazé 櫨の木, wax tree.(?) Upright cup

Hmm… I wonder what that is, if it is not bamboo…(?) My own collection, culled mostly from antiques markets in Japan, generally tends toward the functional and everyday rather than top-end Netsuké and Sagemono, so I have several smokers’ sets of that same ilk, although they are handmade, so no two are really alike. Good honest artefacts. Just occasionally I do spot a real treasure though!

The pitting on the kerakubi neck flange raised a warning flag for me. Blade and kerakubi should both be mirror smooth, at least in places. A pre-polishing Yari? Someone has messed around with the mekugi hole and dremel markings…(?) unless that is 山 and an attempt to erase it? I’ve seen modern Chinese ‘rusted’ arrowheads, so I’m reserving final judgement for the time being.

Hmmm… I tend to agree with your final thoughts above.

大元少将 Major General Omoto, these kanji, I wonder?

Well, we know what it is but I haven't been able to find an exact match just yet. (It is possible that it was created after the Edo period was over, missing out on being listed.) It is three 'dark' crossed 'uchiwa' or 'gunbai' fans, so in Japanese it has to be something like 三つ団扇　三つ違い陰軍配 Mitsu uchiwa or mitsu chigai kage gunbai, etc. Also look for 唐団扇, ‘China fan’ motif. E.g. and

Yes Dale, roughly 9.5 x 9.5 x 0.5 cm. The Metropolitan example has a smooth rim, more like a wheel. Here are a couple more: