The Blacksmith

I started collecting them when I was about 22. In those days, good Shin- Gunto katana were about £175+ exceptional ones perhaps £250 !Those were the days .

I like the last line of their listing: ' The interior lining and cords of this kabuto have been replaced in the past 100 years'. Personally, I think the whole helmet has been replaced in the past 100 years! I am thinking that possibly the skull was a cabasset or peaked morion, whether it was an original one or not is of course questionable too. The whole thing appears to me to have been embellished and 'antiqued', and antiqued rather badly too. The mempo is about the poorest that I have ever seen, and has a yodare-kake that doesn't belong. The shikoro doesn't belong either, nor does it appear to have any age, it also being a very poor replacement. The maedate, well if this is genuine, then it is an extremely poor one, and very badly fitted too! I doubt that even this is genuine personally. The whole aging of the helmet and mempo is far too even for my liking, and to my eyes appears false too, to cover up bad workmanship. I have had a few kabuto, and I certainly wouldn't want this one! I would have loved to have heard Ian's thoughts on this piece.

A very bad Chinese copy I am afraid. It is a pity that someone didn't do some homework before buying a sword. There are numerous articals on this forum about these swords and what to look for.

I can access the page, which is unusual, as usually facebook will not load for me as I do not have an account.

I don't know what so many tsuba are doing in Norway, but I gave got about half a ton of them here!

It seems that I did Alex! As I recall, the bill for the guitar from Spain followed about three weeks later.

Try and photograph the tang vertically, with the blade upwards, as this is how the mei is read, and this makes reading them much easier. I believe that the mei is Shigeyoshi, though I think this could also perhaps be read Shigeyuki. Hopefully, someone far better at kanji than I am will chip in here.

I bought a bayonet from the UK, sent by UPS and they handled everything, I just have a bill to pay of about £50 to them, but the bayonet was delivered to me about three weeks back, and the UPS bill followed. They dealt with all the customs etc. I also bought a guitar from Spain a couple of years back, again it was sent by UPS, and again it was delivered to me and a bill sent to me afterwards. UPS handled all the customs etc.

@Swords You do not need to apply very much cream to the leather, about the same amount as your toothpaste, then rub it in gently, let it really soak in, and then gently buff it. It certainly wont damage anything, it is non greasy, and you can use it on coloured leather. It is by far the best I have ever used, and the jar will last for many years!

Connolly's developed this Hide Cream for Rolls Royce originally. I do a lot of leatherwork, and have used it for nearly fifty years, and it the best hide care that I know of. Apply it, let it absorb, then polish with a soft cloth, and minutes later, you can sit in your Rolls Royce in your best clothes!

I cannot answer for others Peter, but I for one would love to see a picture of the sword if possible please. I love all Japanese swords and daggers, and it is the subject of this thread I know, but there is just something special about an itomaki-no-tachi koshirae. Russ

Stunning O Yoroi! I love these armours, and especially the work of Nobuiye. Unfortunately, one wonders what it actually looked like in real life. I saw an armour at the Bowden sale at Christies years back, beautiful gold Haramaki do, with one time crimson sugaei odoshi. Unfortunately, the real thing left a lot to be desired. Jon Anderson, who was with me at the sale didn't even think of buying it, as he said, it would have been a lifetimes work to restore it. But, that armour is absolutely stunning to look at. Thank you for posting it Peter.

Here is a wakizashi (short sword), with the kozuka in place in the scabbard as it would have been used. I also found these for interests sake.....

My copy of the book The Art of Japanese Sword Polishing arrived this morning, and after a fairly rapid glance, I must say that I am very impressed so far. This is an aspect, one of many unfortunately, that I know precious little about, so the book is all the more welcome. I presume that many members here have the book, does anybody have any thoughts or comments on the book? My only negative comment at present, is that it might encourage amateurs to 'have a go', and I dread the thought of that!

Amongst the blades that the V&A have is a Masamune (M20-1912). They also have some outstanding armours, uncluding the fabulous Doi armour. But, as always, possibly not much is on show. Masamune blade V&A The Doi armour.

The Wallace Collection have a couple of swords and a couple of kabuto, but noting much really. That said, if you like European arms and armour, then the Wallace Collection is an absolute must......and its free! Their collection of old master paintings is absolutely mouthwatering too! It is well worth a vist, and is just behind Selfridges in Oxford Street. As for the Imperial War Museum, well, like the National Army Museum at Chelsea, they have a few swords, but they are not displayes well and are probably more concerened with who owned them rather than the quality of the item itself.

Like Jean Collin, I do not think this is actually Japanese. Any chance of seeing the complete blade please?

The British Museum have a good collection, though I am not sure how many items are on show there these days.

Could be wrong of course, but the mei does looked stamped to me too. It doesn't show anywhere the tagane no makura.

Nice find, well done sir! As it is, the mon looks sort of Tokugawa(ish) to me.

I tried many times on Friday evening to access the forum, but to no avail, and it was still off early on Saturday morning.

I heard back from the dealer regarding the bayonet that I am buying from the UK, and the UPS price was also just £20.

I wouldn't object to owning this piece, and it is far better than either of the two that I did own forty odd years ago! I haven't fogotten my first Japanese blades, and they certainly were not of this quality, however humble it may be to some people!

I certainly wish that I was in the UK then, but alas........................... I have never been to the B'ham Arms Fair, though I have attended and stalled out at the London Arms Fair. Have a great time at the fair, and if possible, please post some photos. Russ