shan

Hi Milt, I wonder how old the Fuchi-Kashira might be,would you sugest later Edo or is it likely earlier? Would the silver be steel? Re the Other post and the "Eton Joke", No it was clearly in poor taste and had the potential to "upset" people so it was removed with good reason,It may also have been off topic. I must not make jokes at other peoples expense... I must not make jokes at other peoples expense... I must not make jokes at other peoples expense... I must not make jokes at other peoples expense... Have you ever heard of a Koshirae that was entirely made of Brass metal and inlaid with Copper, silver and gold in the form of flowers and mythical animals? No sam`e or Ito, no Menuki just the bare metals. regards shan

HI all, I have this fuchi Kashira that i got a while ago and i have no idea of what period or school it may belong to. I have had a look in the Catalogues and it appears to be a bit like something called "Jingo" style. I am sure this is not the case but it appears to be Iron with silver wire inlaid in what appears to be Roof Thatching Bales AKA Wheat Sheafs? There is no copper on this at all its all iron and silver wire inlayed. regards shan

I have done a little research and i think i can answer my own question about authenticity of mei. "Its Gimei" Not very well written either. I have searched the forum and found the other Nobuie Tsuba posted a while ago and the example mei are very different. Thanks for the translation guys. shan

Hi Jacques & Milt, Thanks for the confirmation. Ever heard of this maker? If so does it look "right" or another Gimei item?( i think i can answer this before i ask but ask i will and wait for the ridicule ) I am a sucker for punishment(is it goto??? ) I think i have seen this honeycomb pattern before on this forum. regards Shan

Wow,that was fast.thanks Milt any idea what the creases and folds mean and what the wheels might be? I gather this is a late Edo item again? Armourers Tsuba? many thanks Shan

Hi everyone, I have had a look for this mei but i must admit that its part missing so has me stumped. I have never seen the second Kanji before either. The decoration is a bit like a faint Honeycomb pattern with a half wheel on either side. It also appears to have a layer in its side. Its a strange one for sure. Any ideas? as always your help would be appreciated thanks Shan

I would have tried to convince the seller to sell as a pair. Can`t make an offer as they are hidden winners. I tried that once before when i bought some menuki and got outbid on another set. I contacted the seller and said,I think you have made a mistake,the menuki i have is a half of the other sale and the other sale a half of this one.I had 2 odd menuki and so did the other buyer,but put them together and they were 2 sets of complete pairs.I said to the other "winner" i will let you choose which ones i keep and which set you keep just to keep them both sets together. He replied " i am happy with what i have thankyou" So thats two sets now split up forever. regards shan

If the seller had contacted me i wuld have bought both for that sum without hesitation. It pains me that there is so much good stuff owned by idiots. shan

It gets worse guys....... as he showed me some images of a nice Koto blade that he had been offfered for £1000. I said i thought it might be early and that if in VGC to buy it and get it looked at by a professional shinsa. He Took it to Don Bayney (You know...the very same guy who told him his tanto was Junk) and Mr Bayney has told him its worth around £4-5000 to buy in. I suspect that it may be in fact a very decent, early blade for an offer like that from a UK dealer. There truly is no justice in this world...... shan

Hi Brian, yes a bit lame excuse IMHO as well, but let it be known that it is better to not have advice than to have bad advice from a "reputable" dealer.I am unhappy with both parties on this occasion.One was selfish and the other stupid. Hi Steve, Yes he is a UK based Owner. To be honest i was so shocked by what i saw,i tried to get it at a very good price for him £250-£300 as i wanted it to at least get no worse. He rejected the offer as he needs it to hold koshirae together (oddments he made up again) I also wanted its saya with Kojiri because i had already (unknowingly) bought the tsuka with Fuchikashira and didn`t know there was a kojiri as well. then i saw the saya and blade and realised that i had the complete tanto set made for the blade. I tried to buy or swap it to put it back together,but he wants a tanto with Kozuka slot saya. We all know its worth nothing and he thought it worth nothing, but wants a good price for his handywork anyway. What i don`t understand is, it was a tanto in reasonably fair mounts that matched Fuchi kashira and Kojira.It all fit very well,so why change and destroy it all? As i have always said there are infintisimal levels of collector and this level just wants something that looks nice on a display rack and may be a talking piece for friends at a dinner party. In other words,If it could be bought, i would have bought it,he is nor selling steve. regards shan

HI all, I got my Kanetsune Tanto back and it was in untouched condition. :D I got this "interesting" explaination from the owner as to why he did that to the nakago of his blade. The reason that he did that to the other tanto blade was because a specialist in Nihonto approx 3-4 years ago had a look at the blade and its mounts along with a silver Kozuka he had, with views of a PX on a katana he was interested in. The expert was so keen to do a deal on the silver Kozuka that he offered the gent £300 PX for it for a deal that day and only gave a cursory glance at the Tanto (probably because the Kozuka was clearly a very valuable item and he was totally focused on that)."the 'expert' who examined my Tanto gave it a very quick glance and said it was virtually worthless but the silver kozuka he offered me £300 as a px price on the katana" This is the reason why he did that to the nakago, because he was told by an "expert" that it was (i quote) "virtually worthless" This 'expert' is in fact quite "a well known dealer",according to the elderly gent. This is why i always say get a valuation or opinion from someone who is not a dealer. His total focus in acquiring the silver kozuka led him to misinform the owner of a perfectly servicable (Flawless) blades worth. P.s there is nothing here that the owner would not substantiate if need be as he is very "upset" that he was misinformed about this tanto`s worth and what he did to the blade as a result of this poor "Evaluation". I am sure Most Dealers/Experts are honest and trustworthy (but perhaps not if there is a good profit to be made, as this would indicate) I Vividly remember Don Bayney(a very friendly & knowledgable guy) offering me a fantastic £200 for my again Flawless though average mounted Tamba no Kami Yoshimichi with sudare-ba that i was taking to Victor Harris for kantei(with some other blades)12 years or so ago.I did not sell to him though, regardless of his interest in it :? regards shan

Hi all, Thanks for the opinions, This seems to indicate that the forum member (The blade is no longer for sale BTW,its off to shinsa),who expressed an interest in my blade and asked for images to be emailed and then once he saw the habaki,sugested that a wooden habaki is only for an inferior blade, is in fact incorrect. Is this the case?or does he have a valid point? Or Was he perhaps wrong in his assumptions that because he has a poor blade with a wooden habaki that all blades with wooden habaki are of poor quality?? many thanks Shan

Those online translations engines, sometimes have a lot of explaining to do as well. I expect that this is responsable for some of the mistakes in grammer and also context. I understand both points of view though. shan

Thanks for all your opinions and help. I think these are somewhat unremarkable pieces as sugested. Say no more. shan

Well it was the closest i could find from the books i have and i just didn`t want to state the usual suspects. shan

Well if its a giess you want then i will have a go. a Tochibata School tsuba? they were noted for there work similar to Owari sukashi style? shan

Thanks Paul. Thats what i thought might be the case. regards Shan

Hi Henry, I think that the Majority of what i get to see and buy are "bits and pieces Koshirae" anyway. I have nothing that has not had the Tsuba swapped out, or the menuki removed and replaced with something modern or just "nasty", or the fuchi kashira replaced, or indeed all of these things done. I am merely trying to get a sword back to similar themed fittings for my own gratification really. I can remount my own menuki and fuchi-kashira and can wrap the basic common ito styles including packing wedges,so the cost is not much at all. As usual there are varying degrees of collecting levels in Koshirae (as in everything else) and i sit firmly at the bottom of the barrel in all areas. Will i ever spend £2000+ on some mounts or Koshirae alone? I doubt it, as thats not where ,intrinsically,i see the beauty of the Japanese sword.For me,a good blade in poorer mounts will always be more appealing than a poor blade in a good set of mounts. regards shan

OK. Thanks for the opinions. So it is what it is and its worth what its worth. Close and delete as you see fit Brian.

Hi everyone, I have just been told by another member (or sugested)that a blade in shirasaya with an integral wooden habaki means it is considered not a good enough blade to have a metal one made for it,so is likely of poor quality.("What makes me wonder, though, is the quality of the shirasaya and the fact that the sword has no proper habaki, just the wooden one, integrated with the tsuka.This could mean that someone has determined that this blade is not so valuable as to give it a proper habaki (which costs money). ") My reply was that in order for a sword to be resting it would need (may be requested)to have all of its fittings removed but i am not sure if this is right. I have 2 with this feature and both are flawless and well made. One a Muromachi Soshu Sunobi Tanto (that has been shown on this forum) and the other a Tachi with Horimono of a branch with blossom on the shinogi ji at the monouchi area.(in very old shirasaya with integrated Habaki) Just wondered if anyone knew the answer or if this was correct that integral habaki meant poor quality blades. regards shan

Well said Brian and in an Ideal world....everything would be equal and we would never covet anothers items. To have an item that cost £1000 and be told it was worth about £100 would be undesirable to most of us wouldn`t it? We all want to pay a fair price for an item and (hopefully) iif we sell it on,make a little bit as well. But i digress. Can anyone see any similarities in the signed blade (link supplied) and the Ebay listed blade (also supplied)? regards Shan

To Be honest,the seller is sugesting you google the actual smith and glean all the information you find, as relevent to his blade.His whole listing offers the sugestion that this is by the smith and has an insurance value of £12000 to £18000. (........perhaps........) I have seen a papered and signed blade by Koretsugu and IMHO the signed blade shows different qualities to the item listed on ebay. http://www.samuraisword.com/nihontodisplay/Hozon/Koretsugu/index.htm I think that even as "Den" it appears to my untrained eye to be "different" and not as well executed for something done by a "master of ichimonji choji",but that may be the polish. Its also interesting to note that we are not offered the opportunity to see the Nakago for our potential £9000 stake. I wish him the best of luck because its an optimistic price for a 70 pointer. Regards Shan

Thankyou very much For your opinions. Indeed there are a few oddments that have this pin attachment. This and the Kashira are the only ones i have though,I never considered it damage before as i thought it would be invisible once mounted. I am going to mount it with another odd menuki i have that is of a samurai`s Bow and quiver with arrows. Regards shan

Hi Mark, I doubt that there will ever be a fake sword sold through this forum,The members would not stand for it. If you have a pre defined budget look to the "for sale" posts and you will get your first real sword and from that can then judge all others with a good point of reference. regards shan

Ah,I always wondered what those two pins were for. Tobacco pouches it is then. The red ink is a collection number i was told. 3.9 cm length. I have a Kashira with those two pins as well. shan