Curran

I know Herr Kremers and his son Paul to a lesser extent. I never knew Sasano-sensei, as he passed slightly before I got serious about collecting. I was not yet into Tosogu. That came later. Hindsight is that it would have been better to keep the sword and toss the house. The Great Recession was a tough one where I lived. While I don't believe in going All In on Art, it would have been better if I had. Buy that small Modigliani back when I could have. Get the smaller Warhol painting with my family name on it. Again, hindsight. David Rockefeller quote, "I think of art as the highest level of creativity. To me, it is one of the greatest sources of enjoyment" I envy those willing to go All In on Art.

That was me in 2007. And no, I am not Sasano Masayuki. The one I ended up selling did go Tokubetsu Juyo. Oh well.

I'm agreeing too much with Glen and Steve. I am not sure how much else to say. It is easy and lazy to trust the NBTHK opinions, but they haven't been very good for at least 10 -12 years now. Difficult to get modern collectors to self educate and trust their own opinions.

Fairly certain they are gold, but a lower %. 8k to 12k is my best guess.

Final pic.

More pics.

Pre DTI Sale: $500 Gold pair of God of Fortune menuki. I picked these two sets up over the years for a koshirae project that won't happen. Now fire-sale to finance a nice Juyo. Review photos and ask questions. Theme: God of Fortune hammer, bag, and travel hat Age: unknown, presumed 1800s Edo. Kaga-esque. Gold content: low. unknown. I've had these for years and they do not tarnish. One set seems slightly more rose gold than the other set. $500+ shipping PM me. Curran [Chris in ATL]

Yes! Thank god or [danke gott] that someone else said this. Nice tsuba with a "hot mess" signature. I feel sorry for the tsuba and want to give it a proper burial.

Might be worth a gamble.

Is the "enso" one for sale? Asking for a friend....

Just the basics here: The design is a long known and recognized Myochin that EVERYBODY copied even back in Edo. So: (0) Originals (1) you get a Tosa Myochin copy of the original..... (2) some other schools copied it too, in their own way (3) a few modern utsushi (4) a lot of fake cast ones. If I were into the design, I'd be careful with them unless I could handle it first and study it myself. There are just too many copies of it around. Don't make a mountain out of a molehill on this one, or digress into an argument about religions and the world. Just learn to recognize it as one of the dangerous designs. There are a few Akasaka designs that are nearly as often copied or faked. etc, etc, etc....

Given that I wrote him a letter and spoke with him by phone earlier this year, the Varshavsky collection is guilty of fake news here. I hate that term. In his late 90s now, Bob is still an active asset to this field of art + other fields too.

@Toryu2020 The Yagyu looking one, you can send here to Atlanta.

Hi Thomas- Of the NMB crowd, I would say you are the go to person for Kagamishi. What are your thoughts on this sort of one just listed: https://ginzaseikodo.com/en/product/fittings/kagamishi/ Workshop created, or more of a carved 1 off? You also remember the one I have, where I think it was cast and then worked for a bit more detail. More of a momoyama era product between these early ones and the more mass produced Edo ones. It will be my reference piece until the day I can own my ideal one, which I will add tomorrow once I can find a photo.

See the original post of 6 tsuba. I would sell Akimasa and the Edo Tosho tsuba together for $425. The Edo Tosho tsuba is far better than obvious in the original photo. I'll probably take better photos and post it separately this week.