Bob M.

Hi Grev., Just to be clear, it wasn't this Bob M. who sold you the pieces... Regards

Just playing devil's advocate here - Of the results arising from NBTHK shinsa what percentage could be regarded as wrong ? Same question but in the views of Western collectors and dealers ? Are these ( wrong attributions ) grievous enough to change the entire current system ? How strong would the arguments need to be to overthrow the time and investment by numerous academics and dealers who have a vested interest in retaining the status quo ? Perhaps an alternative society to give opinions with a more 'western and modernist' slant could be set up ? Take the responsibility away from the NBTHK to look at Tosogu as they are clearly not up to the job ? Is part of the problem that genuine expertise in this field is disappearing at an alarming rate, thereby giving less able 'experts' more of a say than in older days? Is there a danger of the opinion/attribution being more highly regarded than the piece itself ? Even more so than today? Interesting thread though, great to see opinions on this. Regards

I understand that Sothebys now impose a minimum lot value of £5000 on Japanese Art. Anything coming in at under that figure is sold through Olympia Auctions which was set up by an ex Sothebys associate.

Hi Dale, I think that the gentleman collector that you refer to as being named adjacent to the back b/w view of the tiger is Donald Stoehr. There are a number of obituary notices for him, if the same person, but I have not seen anything that references a specific interest in Nihonto or fittings. To the best of my knowledge, the tiger pair were split ( under contentious circumstances ) in the early 2000s. It is quite likely that the original and still missing piece ended up with an east European or Russian collector after the Nagel auction. This was getting on for 20 years ago and so it could have changed hands multiple times since then. Images of the Utsushi that Ford made have been freely available on the internet for many years also. Sites like pinterest have shown it for a long time, so it is no wonder the Chinese fakers have picked up on it. Obviously, it was only after the views of the back of the tiger tsuba became known to us that it was possible to compare Ford's Utsushi with the original. The more complicated treatment of the point where the tiger sits was an interpretation of the available information from the front view ie. in that area, almost nothing. I remember having long telephone and Skype conversations with Ford about that area on the piece , and eventually deciding to go with the paws and exposed bamboo framing, all of which were very difficult to blend convincingly. As I am sure you are well aware, there is more background information and commentary to see on the 'A series of fittings' thread - for those who are unaware or would like to revisit, the relevant Item Nos. are 306 and 307. Best Bob

When I last spoke with Ford , about a week or so ago although clearly very poorly, he was in a positive frame of mind, impatient to get the medical procedures out of the way and resume his work in his studio. Today's dreadful news comes as a shock although sadly, in truth, not unexpected. I first ' met ' Ford on the NMB when he replied to a posting of mine. We got on together quite well and then after a while started to look at the tiger tsuba project together. Over the years we became friends and cooperated to build the basis of a collection that would be of good quality but above all informative and educational. My thoughts are with Bella and family, Joel, Kyle, Jo and all those who knew him over the years. Bob

Hi Jay, Some nice fine detail in that... Regards

Hi Colin, I think that the older Hartman collection was by Roland Hartman ( d. 2010 ) brother of Alan, ( d. 2023 ). Both brothers were art dealers who had collaborated in their early years before going their separate ways. That auction was from 1976 which seems to indicate that he had a change of direction in his collecting. I agree with you about the lotting, but when Bonhams get these sort of results....

Good / top quality always sells well especially if it has a good provenance. The estimates were ' come get me ' , but the fact that every lot in the fittings section sold is encouraging in itself. We will never know, but it would be interesting to see if any of these items were headed back to Japan. More probably purchased by Western millionaire collectors.

Hi Ian, Thanks for your posting - I have never heard of this collector before. It is interesting - I purchased the tsuba at auction about 12 years ago and it had obviously had a light clean after appearing in the Fahrenhorst catalogue and prior to my acquisition. The collection that I bought from was Szechenyi Japanese Art. The tsuba was still very dirty and a lot of detail was obscured and so I got Ford Hallam to give it some TLC, with the spectacular results seen on the thread. What was the year of publication of the Fahrenhorst book ? Again it would be interesting to try and establish a timeline for the piece. Best Regards Bob