anne_brewer

I hope it is #1. Anyone closer to north texas than the gentleman in Hawaii I could trust to verify authenticity? thanx! Anne

Jacques and Stephen, Have sent this wonderful info to my dear husband - the swordcare kit and clove oil are now on my birthday list. I know he is grateful to you all for making his shopping easier. Thank you again for the links and suggestions. Anne

Gabrial, Jean, et al, Thank you for the photo technique ideas. Will employ them the next time I update the photos. Back to the sword, itself, any suggestions where I could find more research that would help me understand this sword? BTW, I updated the info on the sword page so it should be more accurate now. Also posted all the new measurements there as well. I've been googling to try to find more details on Hisamichi's swords. If there is a pattern of change in the sori's as time moved forward. Also, given the hamon is misuke and influenced by Mino tradition, I am wondering (excuse me if this sounds terribly ignorant) if the blade shape is influenced by Mino as well. Page 265 of Connoisseur's, bottom of the page, talks about the hamon. Am still reading to see what I can find about variations in sword shape. Bottom line, any ideas where I could find more info on this smith? Thank you for all your time and guidance. You all have made this research a fun experience - when it could have been so frustrating. So glad I found your site. So glad you all are here sharing your wisdom. Anne

John and Ford, Your insight has been helpful. I am curious, was it common to sign a piece later? Given the Ford's translation, I wonder what the mei means as well as the purpose served if adding it later. I like the use of the word "naive" to describe the feeling the tsuba inlay evokes. GF's tsuba seems to be much less sophisticated than the one above. Also, I found 2 tsuba on Nihonto.us with the inlaid "branch" pattern that seem closer in the level of sophistication to the one I posted than 2 GF's tsuba's inlay. The ones on nihonto.us are kaga yoshiro dougle mon sukashi tsuba and kaga yoshiro multi mon sukashi tsuba. So I guess my real question what does the "primitiveness"/"naivety" of GF's tsuba tell us about it, if anything. Also, any ideas about resources I could use to further research the tsuba? Thank you. Anne

Bob, :lol: . As I mentioned, sword photography is a bugger-bear. Actually, any reflective surface is a challenge. If I come up with a decent strategy, will let you know. Stephen et al, Is the sword worth a full restoration? Does anyone have any educated guesses about its value?

Thanks! Checked out Lohman's. Very cool stuff. Am still mulling over what to order, other than clove oil, if anything. :D Anne

Stephen et al, Again, thank you for the continued thoughts and research. Also, thanks for the compliments on the mentioned pics. The photography is a bugger-bear. Just read another post where there was a suggestion about photographing a sword through a western window with late afternoon light. What do you think? Also, am wondering if it would be helpful to others to have a section sharing just sword+furniture tips. As a newbee, this would be oh so helpful and save OH SO MUCH time. A thought re the hamon, have been looks at Connoisseur's pg. 269. Am wondering if the hamon was done by Hisamachi using Mino tradition ("features identical to Iga no Kami Kinmichi 1." Have been tracing this path through the book and now my head is spinning (trying to digest and connect all the unfamiliar terms). -man! Any help from you big brains on this? Following this path, would this help us better understand the sori? Stephen, I will do the measurement you mention above later today and get back to you. Again, thanks for the photo compliments. Ford, anything is possible. Regarding, restoration, would it make sense to send it to one place to have it rewrapped, polished, etc? Is there a place in the US/Canada that is qualified? Or would Japan be best? Have sword, willing to travel. Need to get back to nanake practice. When my hand starts to hurt (a bit of the old arthritis) will be back on the sword research. Until, later, Anne

All, Thank you for all the help and info. The definitions and images are awesome. Have posted a few new images on the both the "Blade" and "Boshi & Mune" pages. Ford, here, also, are the mune images you requested. http://web.mac.com/anne_brewer/Grandfathers_Sword Digging deep into the recesses of my cluttered mind, I seem to recall that the gentleman assessing the sword did not wipe off the vaseline - he seemed to "know" what it all was. Perhaps, he didn't know as much as he thought. This may account for the differences between what I was told and what we are discussing here. As far as I am concerned, the assessment on this board is the best one the sword has had to date, under my care. I will update my site with the information here once the open issues are resolved. Also, regarding the rewrapping, I agree it is appropriate. I'm a little curious of what the current wrapping may be the result.... Also, I am interested in your thoughts on Ford's question on the other board as to what would be the most appropriate next steps in caring for the sword. I would like it to be in good condition but am concerned about spending more than it is worth on it. I look to you all for wisdom and guidance. Ford, I measured the sori along with some others mentioned on pg 52 of Connoisseur's: Nakago = 9.125 inches Nagasa = 28.1875 inches Sori = 1.094 inches or 2.8 cm Kasane = 0.7 cm Mihaba = 3.55 cm Kissaki = 3.5 cm back edge of blade is, I think, lori-mune with a gentle oroshi Hope this all helps! I appreciate everyone's patience with my lack of language skills. With your help and generosity I am improving - slow but sure. Anne

By the way, on the website, if you double click on an image it starts the slideshow allowing you to see a larger version of the image. I f you still want a larger version of a particular image you are viewing, click download and it will download the image to your computer. All the images are sized at a minimum of 8" by whatever, so you can zoom them on your computer. Regarding the curvature of the sword, Sotheby's called it a straight blade. Could it be the angle from which my pics were taken? Will go through the other images and see if there is a better one. Anne

Steve, Thank you for the input. :D Could you help me out a little here and translate into English what you were saying about the kantei bone being connected to the suguha on the hamon? Seriously, I am looking at a labeled picture of the parts of the Japanese sword, but I am having trouble finding the words you mention. I understand hamon but ... Thank you Anne

Stephen, Jacques, Sencho, and Brian, As you requested, I've added images of the blade of grandfather's sword. Am curious what you think. Hope it provides some fun discussion for you all. http://web.mac.com/anne_brewer/Grandfat ... Blade.html If you need additional images, please PM me and I will add them to the site asap. And, tomorrow I will be taking some better pics of the boshi for Ford - and will have them posted mush faster than this batch. I apologize that it took so long. Life, work and the photo learning curve conspired against me. :? Best regards, Anne

Ford, Thank you for the sword care info. It is from the pharmacy and is labeled "Mineral Oil USP", "Lubricant Laxative." Hopefully is does not function similarly for swords. I'll try a picture on my own using your technique sans the flame. When reading another post, noticed the person was using sunlight vs. fake sunlight from a bulb. Is direct sunlight better when photographing the hamon? Look forward to seeing your Oshigata when you have time. Best regards, Anne

Jacques, Thank you for setting me straight. I thought I read about mineral oil in a Japanese Sword Care article. Hmmm... Am off to remove the mineral oil and re-vaseline oil the sword. Thank you again. Anne

Here is the link to the Boshi detail images: http://web.mac.com/anne_brewer/Grandfat ... etail.html

Thank you, Ford. So glad that Dad's vaseline saved the day. Since the blade has been wiped of the vaseline, I applied a thin coat of mineral oil. Is that enough to protect it in the humid north texas weather we are having these days? Regarding your attempts to see the boshi, let me post some other boshi images I have. Will crop and enlarge to get you a better detail shot. Are there any other detail shots you'd like? As you saw, each image section of the blade is comprised of multiple shots. I can add whatever you'd like. I would just need a moment to size the images so they site isn't too much of a hog. Anne