Tengu1957

Edo period Kabuto and Menpo The Hachi on this set is lacquered leather. It was often commissioned by older men who could not wear an iron Kabuto for long periods of time. The Menpo is signed and made of iron. The noble face or expression on the Menpo was often favored by older men as well. A leather bowl could repel sword strikes as well as iron ones. Many thanks to Nick Ricupero for selling this to me.

Wakizashi for a Daimyo O-Suriage sword 58 cm NBTHK TH to Taima school Kamakura , Yamato Den Fittings all matching to Mori clan , Habaki solid gold with Mon I have not seen the papers for the fittings yet This is believed to have belonged to one of the Daimyo from Mori because of the extensive use of their Mon. The fittings are unsigned , when the papers come back it will help date which Daimyo it may have been Many thanks to Mike Yamasaki for selling this to me

Andy , The item came from a friend who has had it for more than 40 years. I'm fully aware of who you are and what your reputation is. You may interpret that however you like.

I'm 66 , started at 22

Nagamaki Naoshi Katana Nambokucho period - mid 1300's 64.8 cm NBTHK Hozon Hokke School , associated with Bingo Mihara Many thanks to Mike Yamasaki for selling this to me.

Maidate ,Edo period Iron with a light coating of dark brown lacquer 38.2 cm X 3.6 cm Repousse Hachiman Daibujin , the great god of war Hachiman

Jussi , thank you. It just gives a different feel in hand for what all of the O Suriage swords must have been like as Ubu. I don't take very good photos buts it's better than it looks here. I will be interested to see what it will paper to.

Ubu Tachi This is an Ubu Tachi from the end of the Nambokucho or early Oei. 78.75 cm in length. The sori on this really shows what the O Suriage Tachi looked like before being shortened. It is suggested it may be early Uda or Kai Mihara school , it is unpapered and in old polish and Shira saya I am learning lot from this piece. Many thanks to Mike Yamasaki for selling this to me.

Bryce Thanks for the link. I believe it holds true even today that a sword with extensive horimono doubles the price of a sword without horimono if the same quality.

Wide Shinto Wakizashi with Dragon Horimono Sagami No Kami KaneYasu 53 cm long , 3.5 cm wide A wide and heavy Ubu sword made around 1660 Kanbun Horimono is deeply cut dragon chasing the pearl and other protective Horimono on the reverse NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon This is one of the widest Wakizashi I have seen from this period. Many thanks to Nick Ricupero for selling this to me

O Suriage Tachi NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon with attribution to Kokubunji Suke Kuni late kamakura Sayagaki by Mr Tonobe 69.2 cm He was originally from the Ichimonji kei in Bizen of which his Father was also a sword smith Sukekuni then went to the Bingo Mihara group to live and work Rated Jojo saku The Koshirae has menuki of the Hosokawa clan Many thanks to Mike Yamasaki for selling this to me

As a person who collects test cut swords I would say without a NBTHK paper all test cuts are suspect. If it's on a big name blade without a paper then it's a high chance it's fake as well. The test cuts were very expensive so it doesn't have to be a big name on the sword to be true but why would you want a legit test cut on a gimei sword ?

The image on the stand has the sayagaki , if I click on it you can enlarge it. He wrote a lot on the front and signed it on the back

Nambokucho O-Suriage Tachi NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon to Shikkake school One of the 5 schools of the Yamato Den 71.2 cm with a 23 cm Nakago. This would have been a massive Tachi before O-Suriage . Solid gold Habaki Sayagaki by Mr. Tanobe : This sword is O-Suriage museum.The omote shows an itame mixed with Nagare and Madame. The ura side features some ji-nie.The hardening in suguha is nie- laden and is interwoven with uchinoke and got sure, and the hakikake in the Boshi. We reorganize the characteristic features of the Yamato tradition the connected gunome that appear in places resemble doe-yakiba ,with that this masterwork can be attributed to the Shikkake school. 2021

I'm not sure why it was used , it doesn't look like anything recent. I assume it was done the last time the shikoro was remounted.

Your right Uwe I quoted in incorrectly

Myochin Iehisa O-Boshi papered Tokubetsu by the armor society late Edo Myochin Ietsugu Akodonari I posted in error previously in the wrong place. Momoyama jidai. Usually Haruta did this work but this is a Myochin who worked in this style. Many thanks to Nick at nihontoart.com for selling these to me

Kabuto with Akoda Nari shape 62 plate Koboshi signed by Ietsugu of the Myochin school ( 1800+ rivets of descending size ). Russet iron with Menpo. I think it may be of the Momoyama period or even a little earlier. I like this shape quite a bit. Many thanks to Rick Ricupero at Nihontoart.com for selling this to me.

Please see close up of Nakago

Koto Katana with Edo period Tameshigiri Bizen school O Suriage Katana 27.75 inches or 70.5 cm in typical Bizen school temper circa 1550. NBTHK Hozon Edo period Koshirae with matching copper Koshirae and sea cucumber style Tsuba In gold it states : Enpo 4 of Heishin 11th month 16th day November 16 , 1676 Tomita Yaichizaemon Jo Shigetsuna Ni Do Ochi , cut two bodies in half Shigetsuna is listed as a known tester in Marcus Sesko's book "Tameshigiri" . It's not common to use Koto blades for test cutting. Many thanks to Nick Ricupero at Nihontoart.com for selling this to me

Great sword !!!!! Nick is a great person to do business with always has very interesting items.

They hand guards fold forward , when you draw the sword they pop out automatically. You have to fold them forward while holding them closed. It's a spring mechanism.

Thanks Ray , I shouldn't have went from memory

Shikomizue - sword cane Wakizashi - signed Yamato Daijo Fujiwara MasaNori Ubu ,worked circa 1661 57. 2 cm Total length of cane 96 cm In the early part of the Meiji period after the prohibition for wearing swords many ex Samurai had these sword canes made to carry a sword without breaking the law . This was probably the Wakizashi that the original owner carried with his Katana. The outside of the cane is lacquered to resemble wood so it would look like a regular walking stick. When you pull the sword from the cane the two hand protectors pop out automatically. This owner meant business !!!!