Curran

Germans always have the best sayings.

Bingo. This time around, [with exception of one big name piece] most of the Horyu were on mumei iron pieces. They were difficult for me to decide which school they properly belonged in: ex: geez is this Kyo-sukashi or Akasaka.... they said "Horyu". C'mon guys, it is a sub $1000 mumei tsuba.... just toss a coin. If it falls one way, I will keep it. If the other way, I will sell it. Nope.... coin landed on its edge. 1,2,3,4,..... how many times? My statistics prof would scoff.

'Horyu' is more and more common from the NBTHK. I got two 'Horyu' the other year, and I just told the agent to hold onto them in Japan. Resubmit in 1 year, and both came back with Tokubetsu Hozon papers. One was a big name, and the other was sort of middleweight. This last shinsa, I submitted 12 items plus the 2 previous 'Horyu'. The two Horyu passed TH, but I got 5 new Horyu back, which is fairly idiotic. 5 out of 12? One of the 5 was a big name with a lot of evidence to support it..... but still Horyu. Chickenshits. You still pay agent fees, shipping, and considerable time wait.

https://www.ny-tokenkai.org/

Mid Edo Akasaka. Probably later half of the 1700s. Tsuba is probably about 4mm thick. I am not sure how they produced it, but those grainy waves in the mimi are a kantei point I have seen many times. Akasaka location and designs of the school became popular purchase for samurai on the processions to Edo and then back to their home province. Somewhat = proof you'd been to the big city.

classic kyo-sukashi

shincū vs shinchū is more Italian pronunciation vs english spelling? Lots of hidden 'h' sounds in Italian, where the 'h' sound is understood. Example: ci sono [there are] in italian, but the audible version is c(h)i sono when spoken and heard by an English speaker. When an Italian reads "shincū", it audibly will sound shinchū ? @zanilu honestly, your article is incredible. I remember a period years passed when I heavily relied on Torigoye-san's writing to justify my limited understanding of Shingen tsuba. I wish your publication had been around then. It should be read by many more people. It is very well done. Thank you_ thank you!

Luca- Incredible paper. wow. I'm very glad I logged on tonight.

You think one way, until something changes it. Up until yesterday, I hated Brie Larson the actress. Then I saw a number of clips or her singing. Suddenly I thought much better of her. As someone long self employed, I've had some serious financial ups and downs over the years. When the belly is full, sometimes the beauty of something like a Hikozo makes a lot more sense than when you've been starving 6 weeks. The govt can always print more money and has since 2008 vs very unique artworks that transcend our small existence vs the need to eat and find shelter. Between those 3 corners, I try to tri-locate from year to year. When you've looked at somewhere between 1 to 10 million tsuba over 25 years, the Hikozo and the Kaneiye come back to you as more and more appealing as you mentally throw away many of the others. That doesn't mean I don't have a few sub $1000 tsuba that are worth their weight in gold to me.

Just see them in person. Your opinion might change. There was an Isaac Asimov short story about a scientist that wanted payment in the form of a certain tea cup, in order to prevent certain catastrophe from happening to Earth. The govt agents thought he was nuts. When they actually acquired (*stole*) the tea cup and saw it in person, one of the agents considered breaking the deal-> the Earth be D@mned. I never thought much of the original Kaneiye tsuba, though the books all go on about him as Best of the Best. Then I saw maybe 10 of them in a special display room at one of the DTI. Nearly 180 degree flip for me? 15 years of looking at tsuba and I suddenly understood their appeal. $70k worth for the Ito-san Hikozo? Maybe aggressive. I'd rather have one of Fred's. I'd slightly prefer a certain type of used sports car over the Hikozo, but I get closer and closer to selling down 5-10 tsuba and just buying one of the Hikozo. Not there yet, and don't know if I ever will get there.

yes, the idea of gun blue on a legit tsuba has the vomit reflex kicking in a bit. I hate it when people hand me a heavily repatinated tsuba and ask, "what do you think" or "what school" The ko-tosho / tosho and ko-katchushi / katchushi game is a difficult one. There are also a lot of 1800s revival pieces that are copies of older ones. Some are very good.

This design is so popular that it can be difficult to attribute a school if mumei. Quality of work can differ a lot. Luckily, yours is signed. If you have the Akasaka book, you can probably go to the back and take a good guess at which generation of Tadatoki. Remember there were many. Odds are fairly good it is shoshin. Stephen, did you sell this one? I think the correct name general name for them are Horai tsuba. See attachments. It has been years since I read this, so forget the particulars from Wakayama.

I was impressed by the effort. Most people just want it spoon-fed to them. Also quite a difficult one to start with, and a very interesting one. @mickie please post more photos of the blade whenever possible.

Hi Brian- It _is_ signed Tadatoki that should be a big hint. Also, certain punch marks up top that further point to that school. Otherwise, I'll post an answer tomorrow. This one is easy enough that you should get it, even if someone else has to assist.

SOLD Can be moved to the SOLD section. I'll miss this one a lot. Not sure I should have sold it. Good pick up by the new owner. Mailing today.

The NBTHK is just that slow. Also, I believe the price for NBTHK shinsa rose recently. And shipping/customs prices+hassle. Don't forget agent and possible govt entry/exit fees. With fittings, the time and money isn't worth it unless dealing with >$1000-$1250+ items. Going forwards, I don't think I will bother submitting unless a very high ticket item.

ON HOLD (respectfully, given the counter part, SOLD) [Thanks all. Brian- please leave the listing up a bit longer.] I will try and post 1 or 2 other things next week as I warchest for the Goto Kojo piece. Here and in tsuba.

Picture? if you can.

For the sacrifice of pursuing a Goto Kojo piece up for sale, I will cut this to $925 for a while. The Goto Kojo piece isn't much of an improvement on this one, and is 3x the price of this kozuka. Still, I will leave it up a few more days. Thanks all. Curran

And comparison next to a special Momoyama Goto piece I will put up for Juyo shinsa soon. I'd guarantee the Ko-kinko O-Yanone kozuka to easily go Tokubetsu Hozon.

more pics, click on to expand.

NBTHK Hozon + cloth shifuku + fitted box (older style harder wood) The kozuka is slightly larger than most kozuka of the period, by about 1-2mm in each direction. Not quite an o-kozuka, but noticeably earlier work better than many Ko-Goto. $1000 PM me any questions. This is from my personal collection. A great piece with great age and presence. Curran

That is quite funny. Ford does a Natsuo level hommage. The Chinese do a knee level knockoff. Inside me is the urge to make 1000 photocopies of the chinese knockoffs and flood ebay with them at 1 cent each + $99 delivery charge.

I sold this one on behalf of a famous collector's estate. While I have some better ko-tosho and ko-kats, I sometimes wish I had kept it. I like the design and meaning.

As Mauro said. Is this tsuba for sale?