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Aloof Pegasus

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Everything posted by Aloof Pegasus

  1. This exhibition is on in Carp Castle in Hiroshima. It's on the 3rd floor and there are about 15-20 helmets from different eras and in different styles. There are several with very striking kuwagata, one a pair of waves rearing above the helmet, another a large menacing shell. A third is covered with grey hair pulled up in a topknot! I stumbled upon it by accident after having visited the small sword collection which included a Rai Kunimitsu tanto and a Kanesada katana the floor below. Photography was not allowed. The castle website is http://www.rijo-castle.jp Japanese only. The exhibition is on until Feb 15. 9-5 weekdays, Sat Sun 9-6 Philip Loftus
  2. Stephen You had me worried there. Thought maybe there were fake papers out there on top of all the other landmines. In the proposed beginners section currently under discussion cud we include a tsuba kantei, is it repro or real and why? Or is that too difficult from just a photo? Since it wud probably be boring fr senior members perhaps we cud set a time limit for posts fm beginners then someone knowledgable can post the reasons why it cud be considered repro. Philip
  3. Stephen When you say all his tsuba are repros do you mean literally all, because some of them are listed as being papered? Philip
  4. He ships promptly and everything is exactly as described. I'm happy with both my purchases. Philip
  5. Thank you very much Gabriel. Very clear. Philip
  6. What's the ferric chloride treatment if you cud be so kind? Philip
  7. Hi Lee According to the paper the auctioneer left the seller the blades are; -Shinto ko katana -Shinto Bushu ko katana -Shinto Bizen Osafune ko wak -Shinto Mino ko wak -Shinto Echien ko wak Some assorted other swords in bad polish, a few mounted tanto, plus assorted saya, shirasaya, tsuka (with M/F/K) and one katana with all matching fittings incl kogai/kozuka. That's all the info the seller has. He may not sell through the auction house after the tsuba/menuki sale so if they are available I'll try post more details I hope to have some pixs next week or so which I'll post as they arrive. Sorry not to be able to give you more info til then. Philip
  8. Hi Lee I'll find out for you tonite. One katana with matching fittings I hope to get some pix of which I'll then post. Seems some are better than others, some Gunto some Shinshinto as I understand. A few listed individually- the others cash and wrap like the tsuba! Philip
  9. Hi Brian This is the tip of the iceberg, if you can believe it. The seller is going to be auctioning "boxes" full of swords, just like those boxes of fittings, with igavel in an upcoming auction-(The swords sold in the May 7 auction were from another consignee). It seems the seller's family lived in Japan in the '60's and his father was a collector of anything Japanese on a truely 19th c scale. (I rang him up and had a very informative & pleasant chat. He has a house full of Japanese antiques, it seems nihonto was just a sideline!). btb do you have any thoughts on the "probably Goto school, probably 17th c" kozuka of the five boys that sold for $540 incl buyer's comm? Philip
  10. Amazingly large collection of tsuba, menuki, fuchi & kashira on igavel just now auction.igavel.com Asian Ethnographic Art ends May 7 Philip
  11. The kind of gratuitous self promotion discussed in the article is not unique to Nihonto. A similar situation has existed with carpet study for a very long time. And very often the "names" were dreamt up by dealers to keep collectors happy- or as a kind of shorthand for the trade. They do not predate the mid 19th c when the first Europeans started to ship goods back to Europe and America. In recent years (with rugs) the trend has been to avoid attribution to a specific tribe/clan. Pieces are judged in terms of wool quality and dye saturation and control of the medium/or "charming mistakes". Are there similarities here. I'm not really qualified to judge.
  12. Thanks fr posting that Martin. Do you think the variations are a dating aid? Themes that are repeated over a long period surely evolve. In the case of this particular tsuba the truncation might be deliberate owing to the function the design is being put to. Philip
  13. Hi Lanes Armoury has a wakizashi fr sale:code 12750 "A Good Wak... Pic 8 shows the sukashi tsuba which apparently incorporates the matsukawabishi design. The design seems undeveloped/unrealized compared to other fuller more geometric examples ie: Yakiba's nmbr 4 tsuba Owari. Can we say that this Lanes Armoury example is an early form- based solely on design criteria, other considerations aside- or a degenerate later version? Philip
  14. Shinai splinter (bamboo)- fukoru shinai can break too. Certainly kashima shin fukoru shinai are extremely hard to acquire so most practioners use Japanese white oak bokken. They can be 'broken in' with a regime of oiling and light strikes with a wooden mallet a bit like the way willow cricket bats were broken in. In Kashima shin the bokken is regularly struck (although often allowed to swing with the blow) and they do not break. I've had one from a famous maker in Miazaki for over ten years and it is without cracks- although as lumpy and knotty as the white pine tree it once was! Using American white oak for an aiki bokken ( assuming this is what you are practising) is perfectly ok as not much real wood-to-wood contact occurs. Philip
  15. Sounds nice. Maybe Pleasemx cud use a soft-wood bokken as a starting point? Philip
  16. Which style of bokken, Donovan? Last time I was in Egypt being without, I had to make a bokken from a cut down shumaa- the Egyptian jo. Only had a leatherman and getting any kind of shinogi was next to impossible. Shum is very hard wood. Luckily this was a kashima shin bokken so straight and heavy. (sorry this is Philip
  17. Item nmbr 300200253413 ( sorry unable to link) on ebay includes a habaki with keyfret pattern.
  18. Well, that's a relief. I was worried I made a mistake Actually: thanks Nobody San for all that info. Never realized the shinogi line carries over into the nakago. Anytime I'm ever tempted to buy a sword on ebay, I'm gonna reread Reinhard's post and remember how little I know! BTW the sword is relisted so...
  19. Gentlemen I wonder if I cud impose on this forum yet again with another beginner's question concerning the usual/desirable size of the motohaba in relation to the CE. The reason I ask is that I recently agreed to purchase a wak on ebay. Item nmbr 180212131455. (Sorry, I'm unsure how to supply a proper link).This is described as koto uchigatana by the seller with no shinogi, bo hi, maybe Muromachi. The CE is 21.75; MH is 23 mm, and the thickness is nearly 6mm. The seller has explained that the sword was made narrow and light for one handed use witness the thickness of the blade. Also narrowness can result from a lack of shinogi. The nakago is unsigned, and the grooves contain traces of red laquer in the nakago. This sword has a long curved tip and is said to show some affinities with nagamaki naoshi. Any thoughts gratefully received. Philip
  20. Kashima Shin uses a leather covered fukuru shinai. Even regular shinai can splinter.
  21. Congratulations on yr coup. :D Can you please post more pix of the blade. Philip
  22. Apologies it was Lanes Armoury not Liongate. They list the smith of that sword as early Meiji so perhaps not the same altho' I didn't find Muneaki Kubota's dates yet. Do you know of more than 3 smiths names Muneaki? Philip
  23. Lionsgate has got a katana signed Muneaki, the russet tang much the colour of this blade b4 I stupidly cleaned it. Looked like this too with tagane mannerisms obscured by the rust. Is this gimei too Jacques? Yr input much appreciated.
  24. Hi Jacques I got what you mean, I think, at least about the fullness of the strokes in the characters on that example nakago. I suppose the length of the inscription is nether here nor there. Let me do an oshigata and see how it looks in the negative. Philip
  25. Hello Jacques Have you seen Muneaki's signature elsewhere? The 'aki' character is badly distorted owing to blackened rust. I thought 'Mune' seemed full of self confidence not to say joie de vivre! A forger's exuberance? Is it impossible for a smith in the Bizen school to have finished the nakago in Haagari rather than Iriyamagata? Or Kira rather than Kira Sujikai? Or it indicates a lesser smith/student of Muneaki. Or it's just some sword and they've stuck a name on it? What about the date in relation to your doubts? In some references to Muneaki he is listed as working in Ansei rather than Bun Kyo. The Fujishiro lists him as the later period. Is he the kind of smith forgers like? The blade is 68cms. When you say tagane mannerisms are you talking about the nakago being funagata? Thanks any help Philip
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