Curran

Apolgies in advance. I am zapped from a long work day and family obligations... -so this may be less than lucid. To answer Ken- Quick European blades: handled a few Italian dueling rapiers that I could could make move nearly as well as a sport fencing Epee. A gent who lives nearby in his half-castle has a nice rapier with a German made blade that feels well too, though requires more finger strength. Has a very heavy weight on the butt of the pommel. Rich T, I believe commented on the short life of the straight sword? I was more just thinking of the benefits of a straighter sword. This one http://www.nihontocraft.com/Murata_Tsun ... atana.html popped up for sale today and is supposedly a homage piece to the famous historical sword "little crow", but looks slimmer to me. How different is it from the slight bend many of us fencer place (or placed- not much fencing in my neck of the woods these days) on our Epee? Hope that made some sense. Off to bed for me.

Ken, That too is a long discussion. Short answer is the Japanese fencing schools sprung up during the 1600s and blade shape of real swords straightened out to more closely match their practice counterparts. The front of the blade became better suited for thrusting. More of a rise in unarmored dueling (my school vs. your school). Since my experience with kendo is limited to 1 year of active participation with a college kendo team, I don't think I have adequate basis to athletically cross compare and well put it into words. From an Art viewpoint: as much as I love the graceful arc and active hamon of Oei Bizen, sometimes the mild sori and quickness of a balanced shinto blade has a working appeal to my western brain, -yet it is Art in hand. It feels like the best of a sabre and rapier rolled into one.

Ken, That is a very big question. Like most things philisophical, answers will vary depending on who you ask. Our well spoken alumnus Darcy (who occassionally pops his head into the forum) would have said, "Collect the best you can afford". I agree with him, though I would dwell on the points that the _best_you_can_afford_ can change with time and should be the best of what speaks to your eye and your feel. I distinctly prefer my c. 1350-1425 Bizen and Yamashiro, but have always tried to keep the eyes open and relaxed to see what jumps out at me. I've been enticed by some earlier Yamato tanto, an Owari-Seki sword or two, a few Hizento, Sukehiro, late Gassan work, and even one or two Yasukunito. Oh- and a crazy little Echizen shinshinto yoroi-doshi tanto. That is a fairly broad scatter pattern. My opinion is Owari-seki is one of the best bang for the buck buys among the shinto schools. There are several popular shinto schools that just don't yield me satisfaction, and are quite expensive. Given that you are a fencer, some of the 1600s Edo schools will very much appeal to you. That's my opinion, having done a a year or two of kendo, and fenced Foil and Epee for quite a number of years.

Ken, Finding that wak with NBTHK papers for what you called a fair price- is a good find. I say that with a touch of envy. I liked the photos. The blade looks to be in very good polish. As John said, Owari-seki does get to be a sort of shinsa dumping ground for blades that meet certain characteristics, but are unsigned. I think that brings the Owari-seki down in overall stature, but the Owari blade geometry, hard dark iron w/ active and visible grain, and strong hamon temper usually with healthy sprinkling of large nie- it all appeals to me in a way that many shinto blades do not. John- I'll put a note with it, should I ever decide to sell it. I have the random days when I think to sell off my last non fittings (a tanto, an arrowhead, and this o-kogatana). As an O-kogatana- it was probably made to accompany a massive shrine dedication sword c. 1600. If you figure out how to input the Mino Taikan, I have about a half dozen other books that could use your leap of technology.

A good underated school. Some people have a special love for this school and collect only this. John Stuart seems to have put together some nice information on them. There isn't much out there in English beyond the texts Ludolph recommended, and I've never tried to translate the Mino Taikan infromation. If Mr. Stuart tackles that, I'll be first in line to try and get a copy. I have very few blades left, but keep this one Jumyo O-kogatana (see picture). It was featured in Bushido magazine many years ago, and is about the size of a nice little tanto. On a whim, I papered it one year- and it came back to "earliest Edo" Jumyo. That was fairly close to how I pegged it. Good enough. A very fun little piece. Some of the Owari Seki Nobutaka blades can be such very beautiful works.

KM, I'd found the Sassa reference via another website, but wasn't sure it was correct. I have not had time this evening to research the family. Stein's website has been down all day, so your link didn't work for me- but I am very thankful to know the name "Katsumoto" as I hadn't been able to find anything for that mon. Thanks again- Curran

This tsuba is signed 'Isso' with kao and has NBTHK Hozon papers. He was an interesting fellow, who had Isshi as a teacher and was assistant to Ichijo. Later in life he was a retainer to the Kii branch of the Tokugawa family. I would like to identify to identify the family Mon on the tsuba. I have not yet found a good online reference, though I know it must exist. Can anyone help identify the two mon?

Peter Klein recently pointed to a set of the NBTHK "green papers" that were obviously wrong. There was a problem in the late 70s with illegitimate papers being issued by a branch (or some of the branches) of the NBTHK. I do not recall the specifics, but am cautious of anything dated 1976 or later. That cuts two ways: up till 1972 (?) the Green Papers were the highest non Juyo that the NBTHK issued. But so many people are OH MY - THE QUESTIONABLE GREEN PAPERS !! and that is all they know.... that it is often easy to check the date (I love the old pre-1972 green papers) and hem and hawh about "dubious" green papers to get the price down. I confess- I have done it. Occassionally the item (usually a tsuba in my case) comes back with Kanteisho or Hozon papers to something other what the green papers said. But that can happen with some items submitted more than once for Hozon (different shinsa, different paper). Is the sword signed?

Gassan habaki might tell you something, but then most Gassan blades are so distinct as to already tells you it is a Gassan. I do not know much about Gassan habaki. Would be nice if Mr. Tschernaga wanted to educate us further- but on 99.9% of the swords out there, it is as Brian said: no correlation.

Nice tsuba! Tosho, I think. More photos would help. But I would hazzard a guess of Momoyama or early Edo? The mimi and (now plugged) kozuka ana were added (and plugged) later. Good old iron piece.

Tempo (Tembo if you want to say it that way) tsuba. Hot stamps. Lead plugs. Looks perfectly fine to me. More than a few of your high end Nobuiye have lead plugs. Good buy if you got it for cheap. Leave it alone or carry it around in your pocket for a while. Don't try and clean the crags at all, unless the crud is aggressive red rust.... even then- practice on 15 or 20 other tsuba to develop your feel for such work before you tackle this one.

List, All listed tsubas are gone. The fuchi/kashira remains, and I have the last (& best, a pristine signed Hamano) tsuba to list when I have more time. Email me if anyone wants photos. Otherwise, I will post here when time allows. Curran

Okay, the next one: Hamano Naoyuki tsuba $1100 --------------SOLD------------- See the Comptons Collection Vol #3 reference for an very similar one. This one I am selling came out of a museum collection. Museum numbers inside the nakago ana. Condition is near pristine. Comparable ones are out there right now at $3000+ and $1700+ on dealer sites. Again, condition is near pristine. Tsuba is, of course, very 3-D. The scanner cannot pick it up. Curran

Gang, in the sales section I am graduating a part of my tsuba collection. Most all are non-sukashi pieces that I have enjoyed studying. As far as I am concerned, they are open to discussion- as each one had enough to teach me that I held onto them for a while. I'll be posting more tsuba over the course of the next few days. I will go so far as to guarantee each piece for papers if people chose to submit to the upcoming NTHK shinsa. Natuarally, some already have papers- but if you want to submit again, sure.. Ps. Always willing to consider/work trades on papered ko-Akasaka tsuba Curran

Peter, I more than understand- but there are a bunch of smart people in the community. I think we can come up with a more intelligent solution. At least put out a sign on the table saying: "Juyo Masamune, Juyo Norishige, Toku Hoz. Sadamune available" and let people inquire about it. The dealer can get a name, a card, and a feel for whether this person across the table knows enough sword ettiquette to handle such an item. Then it is up to the dealer. You don't want to show me the Yukimitsu tanto... thats fine.

This one I have owned for many years and displays great. Yet for some reason it scans poorly. NTHK papers & Aizu Shoami Tsuba: -----------GONE----------- NTHK papers from Hargihara-san. 72 pts. (=good) Gold and shakudo arrowheads. Well cared for tsuba.

Alright- Tonight first up: Higo (Nishigaki) Mountain Pass Fuchi /Kashira $725 Large size- definitely for a katana. Gold and Silverwork.

It does not seem to be letting me edit/add to my original posts. The Bushu-Ito is most likely by MASANAGA or a contemporary in the Masatsune Mon of the Bushu-Ito Group. See pages 138, 139, & 147 of the Nihonto Koza. These tsuba that I sell- I will guarantee this for papers if anyone wishes to submit to the NTHK in the upcoming Chicago shinsa. Curran

Where were you Milt? We missed yah, but I figured you were more set on Chicago.

Next one: Tsuba #2: Bushu-Ito ---------SOLD-------- Very good condition. I believe the flower is called "Clematis" vine. Thank you Mr. Moriyama for helping me to learn to recognize it on tsuba.

Feel free to openly discuss or ask questions, as we might as well make an academic lesson out of this. This tsuba in typical Kunishige fashion is very thick: 9mm

I'm trying to focus more on sukashi tsuba- with greatest interest in ko-akasaka, early owari, kaneyama, Ono and early Higo. I will be selling the majority of the non-sukashi part of my collection. Figured I'd post them here before considering evil eBay. If interested in one, shoot me an email or post here. I'd also be interested in most papered ko-akasaka (or Tadashige) for sale or trade. Curran C. Tsuba 1: Hirato Kunishige --SOLD--

-No, that would be a mistake- Bad karma It adds up. I had a wealthy guest/friend drop in and visit the show on Saturday. Hands on guy who likes to see things before he buys. He could buy anything in the room fairly easy. He didn't see anything that quite fit the bill, and I wasn't going to go forcibly digging under people's tables. So he left with a few thousand worth of various fittings. Pocket stuff to him. As a hedge fund manager, I deal with more and more of these people as we grow. Nihonto is small potatoes to them. I don't mind the dealers being offish towards me, as I focus more on fittings and rarely buy big, but then why should I bring someone over to them and make introductions? The karma adds up.

The Tampa show was good, though Chicago Show+Shinsa being only 2 months away seems to have had a number of people opt out in favor of that. Volume over the last few years has been consistent, but then a drop this year. Certain regulars were absent. There were many good fittings to be seen, but many good swords were kept under the tables and you had to know to ask for them. I've never liked this, but that is the business practice for some. For everyone I know about, there must be one that I do not. I sold a good number of tsuba. Even mix of sub $500, $1000+, and $2500+ tsuba graduated to new owners. I had a very scant few blades for sale, most on behalf of a friend. 2 offers of cash+trade for the higher end ones. I was very tempted by a nearby dealer's tanto w/ koshirae. It too had been under the table, and I did not know about it until very late in the show. All in all, there were some good items around. I came with cash and left with more cash than I intended. One tsuba I wanted was "not for sale, but I'll leave it to you when I die" and my distant 2nd favorite- the very hung over owner changed his mind. With family obligations in Tampa, I only spent 2/3rds of the time at the show. I would have liked to been able to hang out more, buy and sell more. Just never enough time.

Kyo-sukashi. 1725 to 1800 is my call. Rich is da king. Not much to add. If the plate is (probably) thinner, I'd probably put it later (1750 to 1800). Ps. Your Umetada plate patina is entirely consistent with that of other Umetada tsuba I have seen from that period. A few years ago I owned a similar style Umetada by Yoshitsugu. Distinct patina. Gray black, and somewhat slick as if it had somehow been burnished. Curran