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Thank you very much for all your input. sounds like Im at the end of the road with this one, it was insured so worst case I will have to claim it. thank you for all your help and knowledge. regards Hamish

Hi john, I would love to do this but I can only find two examples and both are sukashi in the pony theme. mine shares the same traits of the smith like soft metal inserts in the nakago ana.for aesthetic reasons over function, but there is nothing mentioned about construction of the metal plate. the school did come from a armour making background in the 1500's so is this shown in the steal of my tsuba (so I know nothing of amour too)

chinese my ass my declaration stated it was a "Antique Kyu gunto", no age stated, I assumed they know what one is ( prob a dumb assumption) thanks for the advice. ill get in contact with them regards Hamish

Hi guys, I sold a meji gendai in Kyu gunto mounts to a gentleman in Japan, big problem is the customs people have refused it and are trying to send it back saying its not Japanese??? when it is quite obvious it is. can I resolve this issue with them? other wise this will require me to refund money plus all the postage and import taxes twice over costing me some wear near $400-500 AUD ontop of the sword costs. can any one help me please. I was thinking of contacting tsurata from Aoi-Art if no one can help, I know what your going to say, just refund him, but I sold the sword because I needed the money.

so hear comes the tricky part, if this smith is so highly prized, why cant we find anything for sale from dealers or many examples. sounds like he wasn't a prolific smith. in sesko's book he is mentioned is the same rankings as GOTO ICHIJO and KANO NATSUO, which are very expensive names to buy. SSSSSoOOOO why did I only pay $400 for this?? if hes so highly ranked ?? the metal work to me should warrant a shinsa. or am I look at through rose coloured glasses. can I please drag curran into this for his advice

:o step away from the sword !!! preservation vs conservation vs restoration that old chestnut

:o

im so shocked I have to comment again :o

why the hell would you want to do that!!!!! that would be a right shame, the condition of the nakago is very special point of the sword and its travel through history, after the samurai into the militarism of Japan. I would compare that to respraying john lennons rolls because you like the original colour more :o

more pics

the two examples of BAMEN TSUNAMASA's work

Good morning people, I hope you are all well? well the weather is crap today so I decided to start this post, I picked up a tsuba in Ginza at a antique store about a year ago, just on the visual qualities, with the help of Board members they translated it for me ( still any thank to you all) but work picked up and my research was put on the back burner.....until to day DA DUN DAAA ( bad written sound effects ) haha. I would like to discuss this tsuba in full, to better help me and others understand why this smith is so highly rated, and even if my Tsuba is not gimei . Im unable to find many images of his other works as to compare workmanship is hard. But Markus Sesko's book THE Japanese TOSO-KINKO SCHOOLS, mentions a smith that signs the same, is one of the most highly rated smiths of the Bakumatsu era, But what made him so highly prized???, yes the metal has a good colour and activity at me rim is attractive to me. so I throw open the door to the blessed knowledge of the true TSUBA CONNOISSEURS, as I normally collect imperial swords and dirks and don't know a lot about tsuba regards Hamish

if it comes in the original koshire, this would be a very nice and rare addition to my collection hahahahha

yep, just the right shape for a nice Kyu gunto tsuka

that aside, for a newcomer to swords, I would say that's a excellent rubbing of the nakago, well done

well, iv never been stung with fakes... BUT my worst purchase is one Papered Akasaka Tsuba, and by worsed I mean its great in every way apart from when I needed to sell it to raise some quick money, I couldn't sell it full stop. this asidel, I have always regretted NOT buying the things I should have like a papered Tsugahiro katana for $5000

sweet jesus, that's not cheap

yes, I agree.

I will jump into the fire, BUT looking at pics and making good factual comments can be difficult or foolish to me... it looks like mid koto by the suriage nakago. (maybe a tachi) the overall shape is appealing and the chu kissaki looks un-altered. BUT there are heaps of areas with course grain and openings so I would say its a sengoku produced blade, I use this term instead of "bundle swords" as I feel that's a some what instulting term. yes they were made faster/cheaper but they still had to perform in battle. school??? at a random guess Bizen or yamoto??? but I don't know. this aside the whole swords looks untouched by white hands so that is a real plus for the beginner collector, and the ito is a really nice example of itomaki. OPEN THE CAN OF WORMS I HAVE HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Im with Joe, the blades abit funny to me. maybe the work of a china, india or US back yard metal smith, the hamons very bad looking but the steal looks have some folding work done. either way its a sad learning curve best og luck next time

hi, its a nthk kanteisho paper, which is the second grade (meaning important) regards H

Brians bang on the money, there construction is very interesting. BUT I wont steal Markus Sesko's thunder and pick out the good bits because the whole thing is worth a read if your interested in the aesthetic's of all tsuba. https://markussesko.wordpress.com/2014/10/

and re-size them abit smaller, when we click on the pics, there very large and abit fuzzy

I guys, I was under the thinking that they could have been given as gifts to soldiers, like a bit of a good bye gift. also how can you tell the difference between ww2 production and post war production? regards H