chuck

I got these earlier this week. I would love to post pictures, but pictures do not in any way do these justice. I cannot capture in pixels the grace and power that Ford has imbued in these miniature sculptures. Absolutely gorgeous. I am in awe. Thank you Ford!! ...and Raiden says "gu-bah", but that's about all he says right now. I think it means thank you. peace.

Six months ago my son Raiden was born (short version of a long story - My wife wouldn't let me name him "Thor" and I wouldn't let her name him "Aiden", so we found a happy compromise!). I wanted him to have something personal and special, to carry with him as he got older, something that would always be his. So I contacted Mr. Ford Hallam and commissioned a set of menuki special for the boy. Raiden: http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w32/ ... C_0398.jpg Raiden Menuki: https://picasaweb.google.com/1029203212 ... unmpLL6zwE Ford's own discussion thread: http://www.followingtheironbrush.org/vi ... 33&p=25881 Don't have these yet - they'll be on their way real soon! But I am ecstatic how well they came out, and Raiden and I can't wait to get them! Just thought I'd share. Thanks for looking. Peace.

Well, I'm sad to say it not just eBay. There's a local annual antiques fair where a large number of antiques dealers show up and display their wares. The only dealer there in Asian "antiques" has, the last two times I have been there, one of these obvious copies with a price tag on it of $1,750 (there's still casting flash in the nakago-ana!). I've seen the exact same tsuba up for $10 on eBay. Sad. Especially since there were a couple of other pieces he had that I liked a great deal (a bronze vase and something else I can't remember now), but I didn't buy because I couldn't be sure if they were antiques or "antiques". I figure someone willing to try to sell a $10 tsuba for $1750 is pretty much to be avoided in everything else as well. I'm not sure if there's anything I can say or do about it, but I hope to gods that no-one's dumb enough to pay that much. peace.

Really nice!! Is there anything of interest on the kojiri, or is it just a plain metal cap? pax.

Trying out a new camera. Figured I'd post my favorite menuki. Anything anyone can tell me about them would be appreciated. They're red copper with gold and silver plating. Late Edo, I'm pretty sure. EDIT: Ok, I can see the picture doesn't do them justice. I'ma git the tripod and try again soon. Damn newfangled technology. pax.

Ah! I had mistaken that for grime from age... the whole "never clean inside the sukashi" thing. Grrrrr... I'm getting better at spotting the fakes but obviously I'm not 100% yet. Apparently, I knew something wasn't right, but I was wrong about why. I know this is probably going to ultimately sound silly, but I've also been haunting nihonto sites and the aoi-auction site, so I've seen a number of tsuba in the 1000-1500 price range. This tsuba didn't have the "look" or "feel" of the other tsuba I'd seen, so I was wondering if I was either misunderstanding something about the tsuba or if the seller was trying to pull something. And now I know. Much thanks for all the info. The more I learn, the more I realize there's more to learn.

Whoops! Sorry!! I was only trying to improve my understanding. I didn't realize I was breaking any rules. Many apologies. I will wait for the auction to end before any further discussion Thanks!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Edo-period-tatemaru ... 231076e00a Not that I'm thinking of bidding on it. But since I've started collecting and trying to understand tsuba and tsosogu, I've been looking at as many examples as I can find (even on eBay - I love it when I can spot a fake!). This looks to me like a real tsuba, but also pretty unexceptional. But I've seen unexceptional looking tsubas before with hefty price tags. So if this is, in fact, a reasonable price for this tsuba, I am interested in understanding why that is the case. In other words, what is it that makes this particular tsuba rare and valuable? (assuming it is at all)? Thanks!

By "sword oil" I'm assuming you mean choji oil? Ok, that makes more sense than trying to rub it dry. Good to know. Thanks!

Is alcohol ok to rinse off the "rust dust", or should I just try to brush it out best I can with a soft brush? Thanks for the help!

I just acquired a new tsuba three days ago, perhaps without examining it as closely as I should have, got it home and took it out to show a friend of mine, and I noticed several small spots of red rust on the back. Deep in carved grooves. I'm not taking it back. I like it too much. Perhaps not wisely. It's one of those things, you know. I know rubbing with ivory splinters are the best thing to use to get off rust spots, but I don't have the first idea where to get them. Also, once the rust is out of the groove or wherever, there's a lot of rust dust on the tsuba (I tried rubbing with a wooden toothpick, then I figured I'd better do it right and see if I can get ivory). Is it ok to use a q-tip maybe wet with a little alcohol to get this off? (I know better not to do this without checking with the experts first.) I'm between cameras so I don't have any pictures right now. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

I know it's a tsuba and not munuki, but could someone perhaps explain the "Mentally Unstable Man Taunting a Frog with a Gourd" motif? http://www.japanesesword.de/?site=fitti ... b25s6pmg85 I'm just not comprehending it.

Thanks for the info!! I had heard the story before, but I didn't make the connection to the munuki. Also of interest: A kozuka showing rats pretending to be samurai: https://www.aoi-art.com/auction/en/auct ... 1213703271 I would unquestionably buy this if I had the spare cash. Shame that I don't. damn.

Turtle in a Gift Box? http://cgi.ebay.com/3653-Edo-Samurai-sw ... 4aa92ce544 Weird. Can anyone explain why "Turtle in a Gift Box" is a menuki motif? I'm really kinda curious about this one. pax.

Gorgeous!! Thanks for posting those!

All I got was a rock. https://www.aoi-art.com/auction/en/auct ... 1213703271 I can't help but to wonder - what other fittings would you pair up with your set of "men in shapeless raincoats pulling a rock with ropes" menuki? I'm thinking a f/k set depicting a rock quarry, and a tsuba with an image of a half-built stone monastery on a rainy day. Never seen another set like it.

Any pics of the peacocks? I'd like to see them. Thanks!

Jeez man. Someone pee in your cornflakes? Why wouldn't we discuss the influence of technological advances on Japanese metalwork? Seems to me it qualifies as a "rare subject" as well. These look like they have some historical interest at least. I'm glad to have seen them. puzzled.

LOVE the hot pepper F/K!! I want this! Where did you find this? peace.

Still trying to put my eyeballs back into my head. stunning.

That's actually quite beautiful, but I wouldn't have pegged it as Soten if you hadn't told me it was. This is what I'm talking about, and it's typical of most Soten pieces I've seen before now. Too many Samurai makes for a cluttered design. Inlay over everything - inlay should be for accents. If everything in covered in inlay, it all becomes indistinguishable. There's no feature that draws my eye, so it looks like a muddled mess. From some of the pics on this thread - viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2155 - I can see that when they tone it down, the effect is much better. The Sages in the bamboo grove tsuba is very good, imho. Also the one docliss posted. But they're also not as over-the-top as the battle scene tsubas. Were these intended for a different "audience" than other tsuba? The aesthetic seems so different than other schools - by "intended to have a wide appeal to ordinary people" do you mean that these were mainly purchaced by merchants as opposed to Samurai? Were they intended for mass consumption as opposed to ownership by an elite? Because that would explain a lot about the difference in style. When did the Soten school orginate? Can anyone give me a quick history? Thanks!!

I think you may be right here. The majority of Soten tsubas that I've seen seem to fall into the "Let's see how many Samurai we can crowd onto a tsuba" variety. Do you have any photos of tsuba by the school's masters so that I can see the differance? Thanks! Pax.

Ok, I've been reading about tsubas here on the forum, I've been buying expensive and rare books about tsubas (and reading them, of course), and I've been looking at hundreds of pictures of tsubas on the web. I think I finally understand sukashi tsubas. I didn't "get" the appeal of the abstraction at first, but I think I've get a better handle on it. I can now appreciate the elegance of designs that had me scratching my head a few months ago. (I still don't quite understand the obsession with flying geese, but that's another post perhaps.) But I just can't understand the Soten school tsubas. To me, they seem to lack the elegance of design seen in other schools, even other elaborately carved kinko work. To me the pieces I've seen seem too busy, clunky, and over-worked. Nothing draws the eye, and there's just a muddle of forms. Part of what drew me to tsubas in the first place were the simple designs based on natural forms, but the Soten school pieces that I've seen seem to be almost the opposite of that. How does the Soten school fit in with the other tsuba schools? Why do the aesthetics of this school seem so different (even to the point of being in opposition?) from other schools? Was it a specific group that wore these, or a specific region where they became popular? Or was it a reaction against the simpler tsuba designs? Still trying to learn stuff!! peace.

Wow. I've been sick for a few days, and I'm just finally getting around to checking this thread... wow. I had no idea the can of worms I was cracking open there. You guys make my brain all hurty. Now I know all about bones, the theoretical abrasive effects of long term exposure to silk, the aesthetics of asymmetrical teacups, and the religious significance of flower arrangement. Thanks. Seriously, thanks! I love learning stuff. peace.

Every now and again in the discussions here, the phrase "good bones" crops up. What exactly does this mean? How do you check to see if your tsuba's bones are good or not? If a tsuba has "bad bones" is there a way to fix it? Just trying to keep on learning. peace.