Deron Douglas

Hi folks, I've been trying to reach Chris Bowen for about a week or so now and haven't received any replies to my email, which I find strange since he is usually pretty fast. Has anyone been in contact with him lately? Or know if he is away? Thanks, Deron BTW... I'm up for a couple of awards in the graphics area. It's a public voting thing, so I'd appreciate any help? Link for voting Best Artwork: http://www.critters.org/predpoll/artwork.shtml Link for voting Best Artist: http://www.critters.org/predpoll/artist.shtml I know it's a shameless act, but it seems common over there :-)

I was wondering that as well? I have one that is chipped, but ultimately I like to see an ubu-ha as large as possible, or near pristine if you know what I mean?

LOL... love it! Deron

Milt is right, but I think you got off lucky. I lot of people (not me of course :-) ) made more costly mistakes. But this one WAS obvious... sorry. Cheers, Deron

That's a really nice yari Milt.... Damn!@ I'm a fool for these things. You'd think'd learn by now.

Hi Ludolf, do you mean the one I originally posted on or the one above your message? Cheers, Deron

Hi Milt, yes, I saw that price! I was pretty surprised to say the least. Is this the going price for a set like that? Or had "auction fever" taken over? Cheers, Deron

Well, it seems that an identical set of my tsuba (discussed here before) is getting around: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1 Here's another set. The last appeared before (single tsuba same vendor), and another from this "set" at AIO Art.... OK... why do I bring it up? Well I was looking at the photos depicted here and compared them to my set... the details are identical in all respects.. but the "grain" in these seem bumpier. Maybe these were cast when the mold was a little more worn. I think the dating is correct.. "Late Edo"... and I know from experience (Silver casting) that the detail such as the signature is hard to get with sand castings... usually we use the lost wax method with plaster molds. So the details are much better. I wonder if anyone has any thoughts on this? How was the quality of casting back "then". Did it depict such good detail? I'm wondering if these could be High Quality modern reproductions since so many seem to be turning up. This is the third set I've seen for sale this year. Cheers, Deron

Hi Pete, Thanks for this info. The "pitch" that everyone is talking about... it looks more like wood chips to me. Does this mean the artist added pitch to the wood chips... saw dust really since it's so small. They are kind of nice, thank you. I was born during the year of the ox so I thought they would work nicely for a wak I want to eventually finish off. Mine are pretty close in design to the ones you pictured... but then a "duck is a duck" as they say. Cheers, Deron

Hi Curran, so this is pretty common? Yes, the metal looks pretty thin. I don't want to chance damaging it, so I won't go near it. Do you recall who made Ron's? Cheers

Thanks Brian, I was wondering why it was doing that :-) Ever see anything like this menuki before? Cheers, Deron

Hello, I removed this set of menuki from an old tsuka yesterday (in preparation of a new wrap) and I was somewhat surprised by it's appearance/construction. I was wondering if anyone has seen anything like this before. I'm fairly certain that they are solid gold, but the gold material is very thin. Also, the detail (while in the photo is not apparent) is very fine. These are about 10-13mm square in size... so they are pretty tiny. The menuki themselves seem to be filled/backed with wood/sawdust and glue as a binder. I assume that this is due to the thinness of the material. I'm thinking that due to the expense of gold "back then" the artist tried to create the "illusion" of an expensive set of menuki by fashioning them out of a thin material (less gold/less cost) then backed the "shell" with wood to prevent collapse. Similar things were done in Europe with wood and gold leaf. I've never seen anything like this before and was wondering if anyone has experience with this type. Perhaps someone would venture to guess the school and age as well... any info would be much appreciated. Cheers, and Happy Thanksgiving to our American cousins.

looking at the translation of the shinsa paper......... have a question. The part about the name of the person who turned the sword in for shinsa. You translated that as so and so " dono " and interpret that as a honorific ( as Mr. )......... I always thought that " dono " means submit, as so and so submit ( this sword ). Can anyone clear this up ? May be Herr Nobody ? milt THE ronin Hi Milt, Sorry... that paper isn't for my sword. It's for another that I found that seemed similar. I hung onto it for my own future reference. These webpages aren't public, they're only for my own reference so you'll find some info that I go back to now and then. Deron

Hi, here's a page with three of my waks... http://ca.geocities.com/derond@rogers.com/main.html I don't have any decent pictures of my katanas... Louis S. took the pictures of the Kanesada wak BTW.. I'm not that good. I also have the matching Kanesada katana... both are papered. The katana is "TOKUBETSU HOZON - "Extraordinarily Worthy of Preservation" by the NBTHK as is a Takada Kat I have. They have a "history" that I've been able to discover... the history is important to me. All the swords I have would be considered "middle of the road" (maybe some would consider the "TOKUBETSU HOZON" swords "upper-middle"?) from "common" smiths. But I like them and won't trade or sell them for anything... I'm satisfied. I've lost the "pangs" of wanting to get "more" swords earlier this year. I just finished placing my first sword in some nice mounts, nice sageo, good sayas in fresh paint... and I look at them as say, ok they aren't top of the line $60.000 swords... but sh!t... I like them a lot. And they are good enough for me :-) Besides, I have 5 kids and they need things... so I figure I'm lucky to have these... so I'm enjoying them. Just my two cents.

Hi Brian, that's what I've read as well. Deron

Hi John, Thata's really interesting because I've always been under the impression that shakudo while indicating a mix of copper and gold, also involved a patina to get the "effect". Reactive metal sells "shakudo" in sheets and wire... having the correct mix. I wonder what it looks like in this state. I have a friend who is a jeweler, I should ask him to perform an experiment with me and we'll mix some copper and gold in his blast furnance and see what happens. Thanks for these observations John. Cheers, Deron

Hi Brian, you've had me thinking all weekend... I'm wondering if I should "touch-up" the shakudo on a couple of my fuchi/kashira that are showing some wear. I've done shakudo before as mentioned. And you indicated that this wear is natural... but the question is... is it "right"? I'm wondering... I remember hearing that a "LOT" of Japanese dealers do this using various substances... in fact there is one dealer on eBay that... I swear, must use a small brush and black flat paint to "touch-up" his shakado pieces (for this reason I say away from his stuff). As I mentioned, it doesn't look bad, the rubbed away areas actually bring out the relief more. But remember them being a much deeper-purplish black before. Just wondering. Deron

Available in: Soft Cover - B&W $50.00 Soft Cover - Color $75.00 HardBack - Color - $100.00 For informational purposes I would suggest the B&W version if you are low on funds and don't want to spend $100.00 There are not a lot of color pictures and the information in this book is what is really exciting. Of course if you are like me, you may prefer the hardback for it's durability. ------------- The Namban Group of Japanese Sword Guards: A Reappraisal By Dr John Lissenden Prior to their redefinition by Ogawa in 1987, the Namban group of tsuba had received scant attention from scholars. In part, this had been due to the lack of a clearly defined categorisation, making systematic attribution of the group difficult and thus preventing coherent study of the corpus as a whole. Dr John Lissenden uses this redefinition as the starting point in his accessible, creative and thoroughly researched study of Namban tsuba, for which he was awarded the degree of Master of Arts in East Asian Studies by the University of Durham in 2002. The author has made good use of the research that has been previously done by European and Japanese students, but has also been originally critical of some of the established scholarship. This approach has allowed him to present interpretations of Namban tsuba that are indeed new. Among collectors and curators, some aspects of this study will be debated — even contested — but the clarity of the author’s position will cause them to reconsider some of their originally held beliefs. Collectors also will value this study because it presents an innovative categorisation of this previously neglected group of sword guards, and serves to clarify the diversity and relationships of the Namban style. Including, as it does, expositions on both gilding and casting as related to this group of tsuba, the author’s reappraisal also uses the data on sword furniture as a new source of insight and information on historical developments in East Asia during the 16th to 18th centuries. B&W - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/155404 ... 04-2029634 Paperback - Color - http://www.lulu.com/content/360453 Hardback - Color - http://www.lulu.com/content/361355

Hi Brian, Thank you. Been busy with other things... life seems to get in the way of hobbies. Finally finished mounting my "first sword"... looks stunning. It was a five year project. Maybe I'll post some pics here. The book seems to be selling... I didn't want to spam anyone. So I haven't listed it in forums or via email. But I'll do that now in the sales section. Actually, I've worked with shakudo patinas in the past, bought that really good Japanese patina book... gave it a try on a few items, stunk up the house... wife loved it! :-) I wouldn't do it on really expensive stuff, but cheap "finds" are always worth a try I guess. I also feel that the "wear" is a sign of the items age... much like character lines on a person's face, adding to the beauty and character. Cheers, Deron

Hi, Has anyone experienced the shakudo finish evenutally rubbing off the high-lighted areas of a f/k for example. The base material of shakudo is a mix of copper and gold and it's untreated color would be copper/or orange/brown. Since the purple coloring is a product of a patina "dip" or chemical reaction, the surface would be the only areas effected by the patina. Therefore, the rubbing of the surface in higher areas would eventually wear away the patina revealing the copper base underneath. OK.. I probably answered my own question, but I'm curious if anyone else has seen this. Thanks.

Is this guy for real?