cluckdaddy76

Here is a brass tsuba that is 10.1 mm, but the seppa dai is inset at roughly 6mm. This one looks like it has been set a couple times and sepoa dai may have been thicker when first made. Jason

Sorry I took so long, but here is a start. I will post the katana and koshirae by this weekend at the latest. Here is a tsuba for now. 70 X 64. Has some work around the mimi but some is faded.

I have been trying to identify the theme of this tsuba, but am at a loss. It is 79 X 79 mm diameter with a 4.2 mm thickness. The only note I have on this one stated it may be Owari, I was thinking Kanayama may be a possibility too. It appears to have been set more than once. I appreciate any info on the theme or school if anyone cares to comment. Jason

Jake I agree with you, the flashy kinko tsuba with certain depictions seem to be fetching top dollar right now. I feel one currently has a better shot at openwork iron tsuba if you have a trained eye. I will have two of those that I plan on sharing soon once they arrive as I believe I did very well with these pieces. Hozon papered pieces that are mediocre in my opinion are also going for good money these days too. I understand that it is a few hundred USD to get papered so people may factor that in, but if the tsuba itself is not all that appealing, I would never buy just because it has modern hozon papers. I am only just starting to make purchases; I was lucky to come into the bulk of my collection all at once and was given great advice to study first before venturing out into the market. My collection kept me busy for a few years, but now it is time to do some hunting. I am attracted to natural motifs such as plants and animals and for some reason prefer iron. I do have my eye on a nice shibuichi plate tsuba coming up for auction that I am hoping will fly under the radar.

Dale, it seems to be a mixed bag. Here is what I have found going through various examples. If the tsuba is mostly openwork, they do only show one side. Solid or mostly solid plates do have pics of both sides. Signed tsuba can vary, solid plates seem to have both sides of the tsuba and if signed a third close up pic of the mei. Signed openwork pieces usually have a second close up pic of the mei but that is it. I have not looked at every single one yet but went to various pages to test the pattern I found, and it stays fairly consistent. Jason

This was the only print that came with the collection I inherited. It was in a junk frame, so I decided to put it in a decent quality one with UV protection glass. The framer who helped me wanted to make it a floating piece, so I needed to pick out a thicker frame. I did choose the frame design. The pic does not portray the floating part well; it looks better in person. I figured it was worth preserving and would look good on my wall. It has a special backing on it to help preserve it from deteriorating and the off gassing that happens with this rice paper. Jason

Pic 2

It took about a month and today I received the call to pick up my rice paper print from my frame shop. It is not in perfect condition , but it is an original. I would appreciate any knowledge on this piece, it was one of the other items in a large collection I came into all at once. The guy at the framing store was actually excited to frame this one. He had a couple other prints at the store from someone else to frame when I stopped in to pick mine up. He laughed when I saw them and told me they were tourist reprints, even though people still pay decent money to get them set. Jason

I watch the auctions, and I mean many different one's regularly as I feel this is a great way to study. I have noticed a huge uptick in tsuba going for much more than they were even say six months ago. This includes both legitimate pieces and people greatly overpaying for modern pieces. To me it seems a bunch of newer collectors without much knowledge and deep pockets have jumped into this hobby recently. Just my opinion. Jason

Curran, in total agreement with you, I did not think this piece was worth much more than 3K, I would have at least expected papers at that price considering in came from Japan. Jason

I may have something of interest. I came into a decent size collection all at once and have a katana with Satsuma mon on the kashira and also on the koiguchi of the saya, both seem to be sterling silver. Fuchi however is old iron with no mon. Saya appears to be old, it has a large iron kojiri with great patina on it. The tsuka was rewrapped in the 1980's according to my notes, and the koshaire is sort of tachi style, but not an elaborate one. The blade may be koto, but I have not done much research at all on this piece. Blade is good condition and in decent polish. If it did not have a few kitae-ware on one side, it would be an excellent blade. I am not sure the blade is from the Satsuma area. If this interests you at all, let me know, I will take some pics but it may take a week or two. Jason

I did not purchase this one, I was just studying. This went for 2,555,000 yen, $17,300 USD. I was looking for a gift for myself, but this was a bit steep . It is also not my taste in tsuba. I would spend $17,000 much differently if I had that amount to spend. Jason

Can you post more pics including whole blade with habaki removed? There will be people here to help but will definitely need more pics. Jason