Curran

Nice quiet thread where I get to see pretty stuff and do not need endure overly long posts with little content. The pictures here are proving, "worth a thousand words". Some real diversity of spectrum. Ububob- you need better photographs of that first tsuba. Nice to know RKG had entered the Tea House with a Yamakichibei. Also like the more funky wabi-sabi one. Boris, will trade you a lightsaber for either one. Jason K.- that is exactly the sort of tsuba I get a kick out of now and then. I find it easy to imagine the koshirae for them, and have noted similar canting in some nice Akasaka tsuba where they add to the sense of swirl in the design. Had a really nice example years ago, long since sold off to Europe. Lorenzo- good to know where that one. Love it and the original. Fernbracken always makes me hungry for korean bibimbop or yukgaejung. Keep the images coming....

I recommend : http://pages.suddenlink.net/afuresearch/afu/Philly.htm Nobukuni School by Kowalski. Easily worth $12. My copy is currently in storage, but I remember this being a good resource. You can ask Harry to confirm that it contains the information you seek.

My personal favorite 4, as of 3 years ago. Slight change since then. No photos yet. To emphasize the idea behind the thread- often favorites are not those of particular value to others. One of my current favorites is a simple iron tsuba by a samurai who retired and made arrowheads afterwards. Only made a few tsuba, and is relatively unknown.

Probably Umetada. Inspect the keyfret under a loop, looking for any open channels on the mimi or thereabout. If the keyfret is all inlaid using gold wire, you may have a Kozenji tsuba instead of an Umetada tsuba. My wife would like this one. Thank you for sharing.

Max, You seem to be off to a fine start. Just be patient as the hobby covers centuries of variation across a good sized country. Building you basic framework of understanding and then filling in particulars can take a while. Unless you are incredibly devoted to it, give yourself at least a year to get your bearing and sort out what you have absorbed. (1) Is there no Japanese Sword club within visiting distance of you? (2) How many of the swords you are caring for now exhibit the minor rust or spider rust exhibited on the 2 blades shown? As Jean said, (den) Osafune Tadamitsu is quite collectable, though a shortened unsigned wakizashi from the later muromachi war time mass production is worth significantly less than an unaltered katana or tachi from the earlier end of the school. Still, it is something i would stop and look at.

Shinny? Seriously, I know that one of our Australian members was in an unusual situation which involved having to cut down an (ostrich) or large emu- but taking a sword to possum seems a bit Southern Fried Samurai? Where does your cousin live?

Mia culpa-- Thought I was helping, but Peter is right that it is not the Goto book. Careless of me.......I've edited out the link due to my error. I have only purchased 2 item from the Japan auctions in the last 2+ years. Mark-up including shipping only added +10-15%, so I didn't have a good frame of reference. I'll take Peter's word on the added agent and shipping from Japan mark-up. Forewarned: Yes, the currency rate is now FUBAR for those of us in the USA. If you know what you want and where to find it, USA is best place to buy. Last tsuba I purchased was in Tampa, only to see a similar damaged one with only Hozon papers go off for about +30% on the Japan!Auctions. Prior to the earthquake, things were actually selling back to Japan. Not sure about now. Found something else I'd like to buy if the funds come together...again here in the USA.... The Japan auctions continue to be downgraded to browsing and practice.

I keep an eye out for certain books fellow collectors told me they'd like to buy if I see them at auction. Recently there have been a few good one on Yahoo!Japan. I hesitantly passed on a fair priced Higo Kinko Taikan because we are moving soon. This TOSOGU GOKECHO MEIHIN SHUSEI is up for sale a second time: ---------------edit-------------------------- After shipping and agent fees, it will be $300 to $325 to those of us in the US. The US dealers offer it for $550 up to $600. Can be read about here: http://www.nihonto.com/3.1.10.html and here: http://www.satcho.com/ Anyway, not a book for everybody- but I already have my copy and enjoy it. Figured I'd share the heads-up with the NMB.

I heard this at the Tampa show, but believed it was in confidence. I was waiting for confirmation from the West coast club, as someone like Fred Weissberg could probably confirm it. It seems it is now public knowledge or rampant rumor. Most likely he has passed, as he was supposedly ill for a long time and had severe complications with his eyesight. For various reasons he and I had little overlap of interaction, but I greatly respected his aesthetic. I once went after a tanto at a Christies auction and found myself outbid, only to see it in Cary's possession shortly thereafter. Regardless of how some felt about him, he did teach and share with the community. I regret his passing.

Sort of heavy handed on the sambontsugi. I would think this later generation Kanemoto.

For 150 Honkies, sure. It still pays for lunch and a drink. The 150 Honkie version is non-calligraphy version, but still on decent paper.

Kyo-kanegushi? I'll put it in writing for $150.

Not crazy about Sasano dating or even attributions in some cases. Just like more than a few of his tsuba. Overly intelligent composition by Peter for a tsuba that I don't think merits the gray matter used. I'm not debating much. I place it a bit earlier in Edo than the bulge of these produced assembly line by Umetada workers later in Edo.

Peter, When it comes to kantei, especially in anything pre-Edo, I'd rather see your name on the issued papers than mine. I could easily be talked into a _den_ Umetada Edo Jidai attribution. Observing from a photo and processing what I see, I remain inclined to date it a bit earlier and less likely to be one of the (Shoami)-Umetada works. Sukashi is less. Shape is slightly different than I think as common Umetada works of this sort. Age in the sukashi looks older to me, but not that old. Another answer is it could be somewhat earlier Umetada work than most I have seen. For now I will stick to my initial opinion. John, I described it as go stone shaped because it looks to have the identical shape as the signed tosho tsuba I have from early Edo. Jim Gilbert described it as go stone shaped, but reviewing textbook illustrations of what is meant by goishigata, this is not quite what I meant. I don't know if Jim's use of the terminology was wrong at the time, or if it can include tsuba that swell up slightly from the seppa dai and wave down to the mimi.

Soon to bed and tired as one can get, so forgive me if I am not laser precise on this. I always forget that this design is common in the later Umetada works. However, the Umetada work seems to usually be of flatter plate without worked mimi. Also, the sukashi usually has an overlapping image at some point- as illustrated by the two examples of Umetada tsuba posted. I could be wrong and it is Umetada, but I agree with John about the mimi. I also see a raised surface similar to what I call go-stone shape that seems to have been slightly in vogue among certain smiths during the 1600s. I own a very nice example of this sort, but no images of it. Also, the sukashi says to me that it has naturally aged (thinned) a bit more in keeping with slightly older work. My gut feeling was and is that this is 1600s katchuchi style work. I'd date it somewhere between 1650 and 1700s. Confidence level is not absolute, but I lean away from an Umetada attribution.

Would mostly agree with John. Peanut gallery quick opinion: Katchushi, early Edo. Nice one. Well done. Walls of the sukashi would give a partial clue to age.

Gents: Chris, I enjoy seeing the photos of the house as it has progressed. Reinhard, I regard myself as only half qualified to discuss the blade if it is Bizen or near Bizen. If it is not, I will shut up and wait to learn. However, if I may stand on my ant hill and declare myself king of the world, it would be to correct you the one time I will probably ever correct you...... .....that is you want the Whisky, not the whiskey. Geez. What good are you if your mastery of the language is only 99.99999999999999999999999% perfect? John: http://www.lfw.co.uk/ The storefront is smaller than Aoi Arts shop. When I first wandered into this place 9 years ago, I quickly realized it wasn't the tourist shop I was expecting. It feels wrong to imbibe it here in our tropical region, therefore I have had only a glass or two in years. This may change with upcoming move. Okay, back to the Study Sword... anyone able to advance the discussion more?

I think the horimono are fine. I forget the correct term for these long sharp ended "gombashi" like hormono. My Nobukuni has them and I've seen them on a number of blades from the period. The horimono look old to me and the way they taper off where the blade has been o-suriaged, looks correct to me.

Most of my bizen sword books are put away pending a move of about 1200 miles. Wish I could consult them now, as I don't remember much about Hidemitsu and how the line fell out relative to others. Thinking about original shape, this was probably a monster. Reminds me of the Tomomitsu monster blades. Gut feeling is Veli is right about the age. Chris, John, Jean and others with their books feel free to correct me here. Also, if this thread is forwarded to Ted Tenold- he can best club it, "like a baby seal". Utsuri is wierd. The jigane also has a loose sloppy feel that sometimes seems to appear in that vague area of Soden <-> kozori smiths. A large blade shortened and extensively polished? Veli can observe how much it looks polished down from original indications. Most of the good earlier Oei Bizen blades can withstand being polished as thin as a pen-knife without showing an unraveling of jigane like this. Polish looks 'middle of the road' and not ideal for this sort of blade. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ An interesting blade in terms of size, shape, and origin,- but Veli said it was the price of the polish of two daito. For a study piece, there are a few o-tanto or good sized Oei Bizen "wakizashi" in Japan or stateside with Hozon or better papers at the price of polish of 1 daito. For the price of 2 to 3 daito polish, some very good pieces are available. Got privately offered a signed Oei Bizen o-tanto with Toku Hozon at the Tampa show, and had to remind myself I am only collecting fittings until we determine where we are going to live long term. US$ being as weak as it is currently, I regret not ex-patrioting to Hong Kong or Switzerland when offered the chance in 2001. Now every time I decide to sell a tsuba or help place a fitting, it either goes East to Europe, or far West towards Asia. Gotten so that I know the international customs codes by heart.

Well, cannot zoom in on the JSSUS print to compare and I don't the texts in my library to verify of this on its own....but maybe it paid to subscribe to the JSSUS. Photos of the blade if you could be so kind. Blow up the JSSUS article if you want any of us to try and give our peanut gallery 2cents about it.

Morita-san, For the 1000th time, thank you for helping us here in this section. I would never have read it 'Nobu'. Because of my interest in Nobukuni nihonto, I thought I knew many variations of Nobu and of the Kuni kanji. Apparently, I do not read as well as I hoped. :? Try, try, and try again.

Relaxed signature. Reads: Tomo ___ ? ___ Anyone able to translate it or help me see it more as it should be written? I'm just trying to practice reading signatures and the sloppy ones like this are good practice, but I couldn't make any conclusions about what I thought would be a simple character.

I give you 10pts for that one. Still wish I had made the lecture. I have had very little experience with Kaneiye work.

Bump. I have one reply, but not been able to reach Lee. Anyone have detailed contact info for him?

Matt, Nice write-up. I arrived to the show on Saturday expecting to sit with one person, but couldn't find him. I ended up sitting with 2 friends and watched over their table so the gents could go Mr. Klein's lecture. I wish I could have caught the lecture and seen the examples. Point of kantei: I thought Fozzie was only on the Muppet Show.