Curran

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?

The squared off tagane marks most often exist in the Higo Hayashi and its subsequent Higo Kamiyoshi school. Depending on the maker you are talking about, some makers are more precise and consistent in their marks than others. Here is a Hayashi example of a Musashi style tsuba that I have owned for a long time.

*sigh* 200,000 yen exactly? I almost want to ask the dealer's name. Almost. Couldn't give you a 100 yen discount and avoid himself the pain in the neck?

If above 200,000 yen and a by-the-book dealer, then there is paperwork to be filed. Some dealers will simply declare it as sub 200,000 yen.

You confused me at rayskin dying vs rayskin dyeing. The marine biologist side of me got curious at the title. On the tosogu side: mostly red lacquer, gold lacquer, and just standard urushi brown-black. I believe I have seen blue once or twice, and possibly green too- thought the green may have been more modern. With a shinsakuto, I believe there even was a warm purple color same tsuka- but it was part of an anime inspired koshirae.

Oh, yours is right here on the table. Lovely Hayashi, thought a little eccentric in construction = frankenstein of father vs son's style. The paper inside the box said it was a Shigemitsu, but I think it is a collaboration of Shigemitsu and his son Tohachi. Nice tsuba. Having just been in Munich and Bavaria this past January, I'm rather fond of Germany. Wife was surprised how much she enjoyed the people and culture. Or at least that part of Germany. But a German still owes me a ko-katchushi, and been wormy about it. Last time we communicated, he claimed he was too ashamed to send it to me after taking so long. I've since acquired a better one, but I still keep some sharp nine inch nails ready should I have time and a hammer to crucify the worm. I guess I only need one or two nails for a worm. I'm still missing two tsuba from Poland, but I'm 99% sure that is local USPS fault. Brian is the one with the real problem here.

Not sure which German we are talking about. I know there was one fellow, who still owes me a tsuba. I am liking most Germans, but one or two - not so much.

Here I simply thought they were scroll weights. A fancy dancy pair here: https://www.bukowskis.com/en/auctions/E168/lots/898261-a-pair-of-Japanese-scroll-weights-early-20th-century They are always in pairs, and they are always in the Japanese and Korean dramas when someone has got to pen a scroll. Especially when it is anything governmental. A tsuba that implies you are literate AND might be from the government. Fairly scary back in the day.

Definitely not Shimizu-Jingo.

NBTHK attribution would probably be "Kodai-Higo" (later period Higo). The little tagane marks at the bottom imply Kamiyoshi work, which is a late Edo Period subschool of the Higo school. Take this to mean Kodai Higo, with an outside chance at a more specific sub school attribution to Kamiyoshi. My own opinion is just Kodai Higo.

ditto

Ladders for picking olives? The rickety things we would use in Italy before automation. In Japan, maybe for some other sort of fruit? Just a guess.

I'm pretty sure I donated it to Goodwill or a well known church thriftshop in NYC. It bothered me too much to keep around, so I've let at least 2 tsuba go that way.

Perhaps. That one looks baked. Some of his tsuba look quite authentic, but jacked with or "juiced". We have someone in the USA who enjoys a reputation for similar work, even on NBTHK papered tsuba. Or at least Hozon level one. Supposedly he feels he is improving them. I've never asked his rationale.

The Concentric Rings one looks like the work of the Yahoo!Japan seller who surfaces many tsuba having similar siblings in famous books. Yet many of his tsuba are some sort of chemical frankensteins when you finally get them in hand. The excessive and slightly odd "natural" age diveting, and the stomped in dirt appearance. Everyone who has been buying off of Yahoo!Japan falls for one of his works sooner or later. Myself included, many many years ago.

Better attempt at Hikozo. The seppa dai is closer, but the feeling is otherwise off. Geometry is a bit out of whack. There was a papered den Hikozo up recently. Hikozo liked to experiment, especially with silver on his kinko works. It was one of the ugliest 'failed experiment' ones I had seen, -complete with some forging issues- and it was interesting because it went for a relatively cheap price. Genuine, but it defined the lowest end of what prices Hikozo gets. I'd say there is a $40,000 range from his Juyo to his barely papered examples. -Respect to Hikozo for experimenting with various metals and mixes like he did. A list member owns a suaka+silver Hikozo that was clearly an experiment and has a lot of tea house aesthetic appeal. I like it very much. The Hikozo with silver experimentation are often the most interesting, won't make Juyo, and therefore affordable.

I know. I have the Baur Collection book. If you are going to own a Nobuiye, that is one to own.

Indeed, Bravo. I'd pay a lot for that first Nobuiye of skulls.

Correct. Fairly classical later one. I'd go with the bronze one. I confess I am surprised it is going for $100. Usually they grab a small multiple of that.

I strongly doubt that. --Half a lifetime ago... maybe. But that was a long time ago. When it comes to these NMB kantei: Mauro often posts exactly what I am thinking. I've gotten in the habit of seeing if he has already answered it before I do.

Well, Italian isn't my mother-tongue, but I would reply, "cio non e' che cosa vouleva dire..." I learned by ear, and it has been a long time. Probably I butchered the conditional conjugation of the verb. Still, when I think on it- it is true that other organizations might go with some slightly different calls. The team members shift, and it is hard to know what the two sides of the NTHK might say these days. I do think Mauro is correct in his statistical approach to this. His records of NBTHK attributions are a great database I wish I had the time and brains to build myself.