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

All, Again, thank you for the time and thought given to helping identify the sword. I will write detail in the morning, but for now, I wanted to get the blade, hamon and other pictures to you via the updated website. Getting images of the hamon and blade took mw awhile - reflections, lighting and all that. Anyway, hope the pictures are satisfactory. The link is below: Grandfather's Sword http://web.mac.com/anne_brewer/Grandfathers_Sword I look forward to your discussion. Anne

All, After much googling, I found the following link to a tsuba which is quite similar to grandfather's tsuba: http://tsuba.jyuluck-do.com/HeianjyoShi ... Tsuba.html Also, I've uploaded the image from the page. The caption says: "[ Heianjo-Shiki Shinchu-Zogan Tsuba ] The Momoyama period (1573 - 1603), Estimate" Here is an image of grandfather's tsuba: John and Ford, thank you so much for giving me enough information so I could narrow my search. What do you think about the reliability of the information found?

John, A couple of thoughts. First, thank you for your thoughtful assessment of the tsuba. I so enjoyed reading it and will look up the Japanese word with which I am unfamiliar to get a more complete understanding of your assessment and the additional images you requested. Have you been to the website I set up with all the current images? Regarding the inlay channels, they are actually rather deep but unfortunately filled with red rust. I tried to remove some with a ivory tooth pick. However, there was so much that I was concerned about hurting the piece. Also, prior to taking pictures, I gently removed the black-red rust from the inlay surface using Japanese charcoal and water. I worked at avoiding the patina on the tsuba except where the rust had piled into big hard globs. As I use Japanese patina in my work I understand that rust is the foundation of many of the patina, so I was as careful as I could be for a bull in a china shop. An additional piece of information, until I removed the sword from its sack, the sword has only been looked at a few times and not touched since my father inherited it in the 50's. Prior to that, I believe, my grandfather had it sitting in the back of a closet. So it is original, with the exception of my work, to the form my grandfather got it in which was in the 1920-s to early 1930's time frame. My grandfather worked in Japan for 15 years building hydro-electric dams - I believe he was the project manager. Hope this helps. The Antelope

Yikes :? I'm confused. Are you all taking about my sword or the one in the image Ford posted? Thanks, in advance, for straightening me out! Also, Ford you get an "A" for effort however, I'm sure WE ALL want to see a picture of you doing that headstand :D Antelope

All, thank you for the great feedback and the images for comparison. :D Stephen, I was worried I had the images upside down. Any others I need to fix? You can PM me if you like - or, I believe the website pages allow for comments. Never done it myself so ... Am in the process of fixing it now - so should be available for you by the time you get around to looking at it again. I'm also posting the over-exposed tsuba image with the mei here as well to simplify matters. Will work on getting sword blade images this weekend. Am on a mission today to make my new nanake tagane courtesy of Ford's wisdom and generosity. Thank you all. Will post more detailed responses as I get the chance to absorb all this post-tagane creation. :D Best regards, Anne or Antelope or whatever brightens your day

Hi all! I am new to the site and Stephen asked if I would post some images of my grandfather's sword. In response, I have uploaded a number of images to a site on my .mac account. Posting the images there allows easier access for you all and more images than would be manageable here. Here is the link: http://web.mac.com/anne_brewer/Grandfat ... lcome.html As you will find, I don't know a lot about the various components. As a place to start, I've done my best to document my meager knowledge. What I know comes from a brief appraisal of the sword blade many years ago. Any other information in the descriptions is largely the result of my research attempts. Amoung the resources used were Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords, Richard Stein's Japanese Sword site http://www.geocities.com/alchemyst/nihonto.htm , and numerous others. Your assistance and thoughts will be greatly appreciated. I would love to solve the mystery of the sword! Anne (aka Antelope)

Brian, I have spent some time at Ford's new site. It is wonderful. Since finding it I refer to it regularly for guidance and just to see what the boy is up to now. :D Have spent the afternoon taking pictures of everything except the blade and the habaki. As I was reviewing the pictures there was a nagging sensation something was missing. Then I realized the habaki is on my bench in the studio as an example of good Yugo - another favorite surface texture of mine. Hope to have the pictures available this evening. To keep things simple, I am just going to load them to my .mac site and put a link on the board. Hope that will work okay for everyone. If you have a better process, I am open. Antelope

Stephen, Where to begin... Today I will take a few pictures to post of the sword/tsuba/etc. Last night I read all 11 pages of the tsuba discussion and am awed. The conversations were lively and informative. Yes, perhaps, there are a few "nihonto brains" here who can help me unravel the "mysteries." To manage expectations, the elements of my sword are quite humble so please do not expect too much. I will post the images on the tosugo discussion. Thank you for your kind invitation and offers. Thank you, also, for asking me to share my poor attempts at nanako, as I find their quality too poor to post. However, I will post the instructions and diagrams I have for doing nanako and, perhaps, some of the "nihonto brains" will fill in the pieces for me. I can visualize why the process I have should work. I am just having trouble "getting it" when the information is "sent" to my hands. And to answer the last questions, I LOVE google which brought me to your site. I was pleased to find Ford and Patrick here with whom I am familiar from Carving Path where I silently learned from the skilled people on that board. I found carving path googling Jim Kelso, whose work I admire.

Ford, Being new to the board, I just found your excellent slide show. THANK YOU! I assure you I will watch it many times - watch, practice, watch, practice.... Thank you for sharing your stellar knowledge. It is much appreciated by this lady. You are truly a scholar and a gentleman. :D Anne

Thank you for your kind words about my work and for providing a link to my site. This is a wonderful site! I stumbled on it while researching two items: first, a katane I inherited from my grandfather; second, information on making a tagane for nanako and the nanako process - I just completed 15 days studying Zougan and Hori with Naohiro Yamada (Hiko Mizuno's star student, I understand). Sensei only briefly reviewed nanako process, so now that I am back in the studio I am struggling to make the nanako properly, thus my search for information. Regarding the sword, I've been informed the sword blade is Shinto and believed to be made by Hisamachi. I've been trying to learn more about the swordsmith and identify the tsuba maker. The tsuba is older - estimated to be 18th century - iron with inlay. The tsuba shape is maru gata with maru mimi rim and only nakago-ana and kozuka hitsu-ana. (Sounds like I know what I'm talking about, but am just learning). Regarding nanako, I want to send an "Awesome!" to Patrick, re the workmanship on the F/K, and Kudos to Ford for sharing his knowledge with Patrick. Also, Patrick's picture of his tagane helps. Thank you! Again, thank you for the welcome and your kind words. Anne (aka. Antelope)