Bazza

Peter Bleed wrote: > A major problem in trying to assess “Namban” fittings is that we actually know very little about what “Chinese” sword fittings were like. I might be able to add something there - I have this BIG book on Chinese swords I hardly look at. I'll endeavor to do so in the next little while... BaZZa.

Ahhh, if only one could one would!!! BaZZa.

Honour restored - rotated, cropped, resolution preserved... BaZZa.

Off the top of my head - KASHUU? EDIT: The last character is likely SAKU. BaZZa.

I wondered too - rebound???? Is there a swordsman in the House??? BaZZa.

I imagine (no expert here either) that an aluminium saya might be drawn and therefore seamless, rather than have two pressed halves welded or soldered... Is there a metallurgist in the House??? BaZZa.

OMG, one just doesn't expect this... The only other real win I've had in my life is the hand of my Darling wife Jenny. Without her I wouldn't be in the Nihonto game... There is a back story, but suffice to say we have just celebrated our 49th Wedding Anniversary. Oh, and I've just had another win at auction - a bajou zutsu, of which more later... Well, to be honest my other call for the Kantei #1 was Hosokawa Masayoshi, and as Rayhan said it was the yasurime. BUT, I was pulled to Munetsugu. I'm off to PM Rayhan and I would just like to conclude by thanking Rayhan for an extraordinary act of generosity to encourage our mutual togetherness and devotion in Nihonto. A special and heartfelt thank you to Brian who continues to lead us out of the Wilderness by his Solomonesque counsel. A huge thank you and acknowledgement to this wonderful community of like-minded souls who "hang out" in the pursuit of our passion. Thank you, finally, to those who have offered congratulations on my winning of this Grand Prize. Gambatte. BaZZa.

WHAT ARE PEOPLE SMOKING?????? :-? BaZZa.

Wonderful stuff John, but like the answer '42', what does it mean!!!!! BaZZa

A most interesting signature indeed. It would take me months of trying to "get it". I can read some of it, but there are strange characters interspersed... Rotsa ruck... BaZZa.

No worries with Brian's method. What a super bloke. Bonza. BaZZa.

Ahhhhhh... dither, dither, dither... My years of camping on NMB has taught me how little I know, over time recognising that we have some super kanteika here but most of the experts are in Japan!! Sadly I can't find time for a marathon research adventure, but first up I downloaded the hi-res images and studied them trying to conjure up period, school and the elusive name. Well, it is all elusive. Then I had a good look over the field of bids (everyone did, right??) seeing how they gelled with my thoughts. I chuckled at the OCD question of a spreadsheet, having thought of that myself, but not to be unkind that could be the blind leading the blind... So, here's my try. KANTEI #1 Undoubtedly Shinshinto by one of the greats. The powerful sugata and choji midare suggest to me Koyama Munetsugu. Dunno about the yasurime as I don't have time to hit the books, even though I have the Munetsugu book (somewhere), so this is "an impression". Sokan/Munehiro is a possibility, but having seen a katana by him I don't recall the nie evident in this sword. Shame about the broken hamachi. KANTEI #2 A Shinto blade. Again, OTTOMH - first impression is Hizento due to the presence of kuichigaiba in the hamon. Not possible to see how the hamon ends because the blade is machi okuri - there is a "tell-tale" in this for Hizento. BUT, the keshoyasurime says definitely not Hizento. Hmmm, who else displays Hizen-like qualities in their hamon?? I plug for Echizen no Kami Minamoto Nobuyoshi. KANTEI #3 O-suriage mumei, Koto, Muromachi period. The workmanship is variable, better on one side than the other. I'm truly all at sea here, but I'll plug for Heianjo Nagayoshi on a "gut feel". A most marvelous exercise even if it has caused a knot in my stomach for weeks and revealed the parlous state of my kantei skills... Thanks to Rayhan and Brian for riding shotgun over this. Best regards, BaZZa aka Barry Thomas Melbourne, AUSTRALIA.

OTTOMH at first glance it looks like a Hizentou, agreed. But then I look at the nakagojiri and I don't see Hizen - unless it is a waki-Hizen I'm not so familiar with. Then I look at the hada and it seems too loose to be a mainline Hizentou... Mmmmm. VERY nice pickup, though. Oi loiks it.

Peter said: > They were a matched pair of short nails with silver foil covered sakura-shaped > head that had been pounded into the mekugi. They came out - although the > mekugi was totally trashed. The fact that the mekugi was totally trashed says to me this was not done by a Japanese craftsman, but by some arstistic goombah (East or West) wanting to jazz up the appearance of a plain bamboo mekugi. I have occasionally seen these decorative style heads in tanto tsuka, but they were attached to a tight sleeve/pin style sliding fit. Also seen, of course, are horn mekugi that look quite nice without any decorated tack heads. BaZZa.

I go for printed - the wait will be well worth it. I think the phrase is "deferred gratification"... BaZZa.

Richard, Looks like it has a fukurin??? Even expertly following around and into the inome... BaZZa.

Chris, I'll stick my neck out and say there is NO SUCH THING as a "base polish" for a blade that is considered collectible - there is no purpose or point in doing so. There is something called a "base polish", but is properly called SHITAJI TOGI. This is the first phase of polishing wherein the basic shape of the blade is "set" - that is, pitting, chips, rust, "woofs" from a previous polish etc etc etc are removed and the sugata fine-tuned as necesary. The togishi then thoroughly cleans his togidai (polishing station) for the second phase of polishing called SHIAGE TOGI. This is the "finishing" phase where the hamon and hada are brought out and burnishing of shinogiji and mune are DONE. The point is, when the shitaji togi is finished hardly any features can be seen. It is the shiage togi that brings out the hamon. In short Chris, for a collectible sword the only way to go is a complete polish from start to finish. Anything else is fiddling/tinkering/stuffing around or whatever you want to call it... The most important thing right upfront is determining whether your sword is worthy of the full process. BaZZa.

Neil, Can you tell us more about the rare blackened variety, please?? I've never seen one that I can recall. BaZZa.

Hmmm, I'm the first to admit I "know nuuuthing" about kodogu/tosogu apart from liking them all... BUT.. I would opine for fail simply on the appearance of the mei. Having seen a bit of GOTO work, without even going to the books the mei seems right upfront strange to me. As Pete Klein said "My feeling is that it may not pass shinsa but if it is recognized as shoshin then it would be a 'very' important addition to canon". As for the work I think its very good and I would love to have it in my collection. Looking forward to the result. BaZZa.

Agree with the above expressions. Having said that it does appear to be a rarer type of bayonet, being double edged and much shorter than the usual bayonets seen with Arisaka rifles. BaZZa.

Jojo, On your original box lid query you might want to investigate infrared photography. Best regards, BaZZa.

A couple of years ago in another thread I promised to present a bajou zutsu found in a toolbox in a shed in country Australia. It has taken awhile to get around to writing it up, but here it is. Firstly, I acknowledge Piers Dowding who agreed it was a genuine bajou zutsu and further opined that the stock had been sanded, always a problem with casual acquisition by people who can see a way to “improve” a piece. Piers also commented that the pan lid seems to have been replaced, possibly abroad as the shape is unusual. The overall length is 20 3/8 inches (51.8 cm) with the barrel length 13 inches (30.0 cm). It is somewhat degraded due to poor treatment and storage over the ages, but it is signed and nearly complete. Although it reminds me of a Kunitomo gun, I’m not sure if there is a flash shield missing or not. It has what I consider to be a high quality lock. I have three short-barrelled Kunitomo matchlocks with internal coiled springs for the hammer, but this bajou zutsu also has an additional coiled spring for the trigger. I am surprised to not see a maker’s mark on the lock as my three guns all have a maker’s mark stamped inside. The signature is simply MORIMASA SAKU 盛 正 作 with a number SHICHI 七 on an adjacent barrel flat. The muzzle shape is quite distinctive so I hope some someone can identify the gunsmith in a book and reveal the school he worked in and perhaps the age of the gun - from my limited experience I’m thinking ca 1800?? A very exciting find here in Oz and one wonders how some of the things we see here originally came to Australia. Best regards, BaZZa. (aka Barry Thomas)

Hooooo - that IS a smile... a very benign smile... or is it a smirk??? BaZZa.

Dear Ffolke, Found this link during a post-dinner trawl: https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/770889661192407860/ Some very interesting photos IMHO. Enjoy. BaZZa.

Thank you Peter. Having studied the Opium Wars at one time in my life I found this very interesting indeed. It is far less sanitised than the history book my course at the time was using, sticking in the main to "the facts ma'am, just the facts". BaZZa.