Curran

There are some very well curated tsuba in there. There is one I very much want, and 4 or 5 that I might lowball. If the Tariffs weren't in the way, I might have a much better chance of getting what I am after.

They've been around a very long time. Widely respected, though their site hasn't changed much in nearly 25 years. They post less items each year, so I worry about their age. While I don't think I have every bought from them, I have seen some purchases from them. Usually it is pretty good stuff. I am still trying to buy a tsuba from someone who purchased it from Tokugawa Art. I wish I had seen it and bought it when they had it listed. One of my neighbors beat me to it. Every now and then, they surface some gems.

Cheers back at you. I was surprised to see an older thread pop up. It is nice to have the continuation now. Best wishes.

The cost of NBTHK papers just went up recently. Not that it matters much in this small financial debate about the restoration of a Yagyu. I have seen them cleaned up before, worked on a bit, and then off to NBTHK for papers.

Thank you for posting that. I geeked out on reading it. I had not known Fred W. had such an article tucked away on his site.

Great explanation. Thank you.

It looks legit to me. I have no idea what you paid for it. The auction was a bit of a stretch to equate it with the Bonhams one. Nearly 30 years in, I still make a mistake from time to time. I made one last year when I got a tsuba a bit too cheap. Not a travesty, but the condition was not as expected. Curran

The large format Goto book is all Japanese. I think it was a limited # run. However, there is Markus Sesko's Tosogu Classroom book with quite a bit in English about the Goto boys. As for Goto Tokujo Mitokoromono, well- I don't know if I have ever seen a complete set before. I have seen mix n match between him, his father, and/or his son, but never a complete set by one guy.

I like this post by Tim. It sums things up well. I largely collect (school) + (High Quality) of Owari and Higo schools. The two general groups are about 80% of what I own. This doesn't mean that I don't buy outside of these groups. The other 20% does really fall into category collecting (one example of various schools) There are some that collect entirely certain themes. I've walked into households where there are 1000+ tosogu of a certain theme.

I thought a good chance that it was. I couldn't remember what level papers, but learned towards more likely Juyo than not. If you see enough of it, you can learn to identify the makers by things such as composition and certain tell-tale details. For me, the nanako made me think = Tokujo. But I think I can only reflexively recognize a few generations. The big format Goto book [I forget the author] also helps a lot at times.

I find this VERY funny. The mon on my Goto Tokujo menuki are also suspiciously close to that of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Talk about casting shade. If I can find it, I am going to link an article written by our esteemed Markus Sesko @Markus https://markussesko.com/2013/04/23/goto-chojo-the-secret-saver-of-the-goto-family/ It makes for great context. Kojo's two kids, older brother Tokujo vs younger brother Chojo = Toyotomi vs Tokugawa

Some like this one are a lot less of the sandy variety. TH to Yagyu. Theme is the 4 Classes of Japanese (Edo) Society This one might have been a special commission. Very unusual theme, and not evident it is Yagyu at first glance. The mimi and other evidence points to Yagyu. Tsuba really need an angled view for kantei traits.

Generally they tend to be more sandy, like this one. This one passed Hozon to Yagyu last year. Chrysanthemums in a Bowl of Water, or something like that. Fluidity in life? Good mindset for fencers.

Okay, Steve said it first. This is what I was thinking. It reminds me of the early efforts of a contemporary artist I know.

My opinion is that it is None-of-the-Above . It doesn't fit the textbook definitions of any of those schools. Quite a challenging thing.