Nostro Titus

Thanks for the helpful input, guys. Regarding the restoration, I'm leaving any cleaning and restoration to the experts. I would like to see the end result though. Marius

Thanks for the rapid responses. I will relate the options to him. Marius

Good day I recently handled these two. Both unfortunately were sanded and coated with black enamel paint and then suffered more rusting. The fuchi depicts chery blossoms (mostly the half of the blossoms, unfortunately no sign of the matching saya guchi). Would the tsuba be Higo work (I was tempted to say Akasaka but in the end the overall look and finish pulled me towards Higo). Any information and comments welcome. Marius

Good day A gentleman asked me to validate this sword and is now interested in having it polished. Unfortunately all activities are obscured and there are some nasty areas where the kawagane is worn through. He is open to polishers based in Japan as well as Britain, but Britain would be more convenient for him. I have included some pictures of the blade just to show the general state it is in. It appears to be mumei shinto (please feel free to correct if wrong) with slightly extended kissaki. There are hints of masame in the boshi as well as at some spots in the ji, at one spot with large mokume present as well. yasurime that are left (someone did some heavy sanding in places) are kiri. Motokasane is 6.3mm just before the abrupt thinning in front of the machi, motohaba: 27mm. nagasa: 69.3cm Keep well Marius

Firstly, this thread ranks among the more informative and insightful. From my side there isn't much more to add, only the following. The mountings, including tsuba were made in a cultural environment that in many ways differ from the world today. Tsuba from the Muromachi and Edo already show signs of a different approach in subject matter and methods of execution and materials used. It would seem natural that contemporary tsuba would differ from their historical counterparts as they are made by artists that are trying to express themselves within the context of their culture and personal experience. The historical tsuba would have been something fresh and new, adding accent to the mountings and uniform. Like all things new, eventually the novelty wears off, it becomes a norm and loses some of the strength of expression. There are exceptions to this rule obviously. There is nothing wrong in the copying of historical pieces in order to gain a deeper understanding of the mindset and techniques of the historical artist, but even then there will be a bit of the copier expressed in the workpiece due to his interpretation of the item copied. My opinion is that there will always be a place for modern tsuba and that they will mostly be judged by the way the artist reflects his ideas (and school of thought) within his current environment, something that a blind copy or cast replica will lack. Regarding the functionality of tsuba and the protection of hand theory (incidentally, has anyone ever thought about it acting as a marker when you draw the sword, pretty much saying 'grip stops here, scabbard starts below', just a personal hypothesis). I am not in a position to comment on the Japanese sword in martial usage, but as I am heavily involved in the teaching of European swordsmanship a close parallel was the cross protecting the hand theory. In reality the instance of a blow striking the cross is very rare (there are situations where it is actively used in offense or defense). It does however serve a a good barrier when your wrist or hand is attacked by someone not stepping offline. I am guessing that the tsuba would be helpful in such a situation , whether by design or convenient coincidence. Trained people tend to step offline to cut to the hands and arms, completely bypassing the cross though. (I should leave this bit for the actual Japanese sword-art practitioners, I believe that includes Ford?). That aside, in the end as long as there are artists producing unique workpieces regardless of their area of specialization in style or materials, there will be people interested in the pieces because something in it piques their interest or resonates with their perception of art. A given item can mean many things to many people, that tells us more about the collector though and not the artist. In essence some people judge art the same way they judge people, seniority and age counts. Just my humble bit. Marius

Jacques The more I look at the oshigata the more your statement seems to be the case. If it is in any way helpful, here are the statistics: Total length 92cm/ nagasa:70cm/ nakago:22cm motohaba:31.2mm/ motokasane:6.5mm/ sakihaba:20.1mm/ sakikasane:4.8mm Width of the ji at the machi:20.1mm/ width of shinogiji:9.55mm The blade's shinogi is pefectly level with the thickness at the mune. Thanks for your input Marius

Hi Brian The nakago is only 22cm long, that is what made me consider suriage rather than machi-okuri. Marius

Here are a few more pictures of the sword in question. The hada is only visible in one spot protected by the habaki. The is a bit of weak ayasugi just under the shinogi but I'm strugling to see good masame that would help sugest Mino influence. The shinogi is no raised at all. Hopefully the picture shows the proportion of the kissaki (it has a notare komi boshi with very short ko-maru turnback on one side, can't see on the other. Hamon is nioi deki with sporadic nie scattered

Thanks Ludolf.

Hi I know I've been dodging the radar for a while lately, getting quite good at it apparently :D Does anyone have any example oshigata of Kanenori that moved from Mino to Echizen around 1573. He normally signed Echizen no Kuni ju Kanenori. Thanks Marius

Unfortunately there are no pictures of the blade including the nakago since I was simply called in to redo the damaged ito and had no time to have a look at the nakago. It is still on exhibition at the Jewish museum in Cape town.

I thought I would share a few pictures of a tanto. It is unsigned, attibuted as being Rai school. Enjoy.

Another tsuba. I actually enjoy the simple yet elegant design. Anyone willing to have a go at this one?

Thanks for the quick reply, Ford.

Hi. Just thought I would share this tsuba. Unfortunately it met someone intent on cleaning the "rusty iron" but at least it's not as bad as another one I saw. Does anyone have an idea as to the manufacturer of this piece? Nostro