Tcat

Part II has been published...

We are going quite far back old boy so its doubtful. I forgot to mention the work is contemporary. I feel the need to chip in what I believe is a not commonly accepted piece of information / fact about China, a place I lived for approaching 15 years in total...that is...the country has a very large number of extremely skilled artists. Especially carvers and lacquer artists. It is the most common thing in our hobby circle to see a poorly made reproduction sword, and together with others remark in unison ''obvious China fake'', however, this approach leads many to believe that this level of 'work' is indicitave of the length and breadth of what China has to offer in terms of 'Japanese style swords' - which is a dangerously ignorant take. Sorry, Chris W above, I dont mean to pick on you, but when you comment 'Regardless of it being Chinese' you exemplify what I am referring to. Roughly 20 or so years ago when I was working for Sotheby's in London, there was a tachi in shirasaya which was left unsold after an auction and sat in a departmental store room for years. While doing a little tidying up I stumbled across the sword and had to take a look. Well, what I saw was what appeared to me to be a very nice shinshinto tachi with a wonderful tight hizen-like hada and suguha hamon. We had no experts left in London as the department had long since ceased samurai related sales, but I got in touch with the nearest guy who knew about the item and was located in our Paris office. He told me that the sword had been removed from an auction as it had been discovered to be a forgery made in China. He would not elaborate further on this... To caveat, I have owned both Chinese reproduction Japanese style swords and nihonto, and looked at quite a few recognised-as-high-quality nihonto on display. The sword I speak of was 'pristine' and there was absolutely nothing about it which would indicate that it was either a 'reproduction' or 'made in China'. Commissioned and bought, yes.

I have ascertained the micro tanto's origins and have discovered that there are others like it... The work was done in a studio located in China.

If you’re patient and keep your eyes peeled you might find the parts to replace those missing. Eg this just sold:

Lovely edo period nunome zogan rain dragon handachi fittings. My guess is not earlier. Would be interested to see what the experts say. Nice find.

It’s real. Thought it was worth the share. Trying to find out some more info.

Not my hand and I'm not the owner, I know nothing about it other than the photos. They were shared with no text on a WeChat blades magazine channel I'm subscribed to.

Just for fun, here is a micro tanto. I havn't yet seen one so detailed and wonder about its origins.

I dont think the oshigata shows what you think it shows. I'm not callling it dishonest... Just look very carefully to what exactly is depicted rather than what you might hope it implies. Drawing oshigata is indeed an art in and of itself...

Are we looking at the same oshigata? The yakiba just disappears... the oshigata generously shows hataraki at the point it terminates. If present, the boshi appears to be very weak indeed. Based off the photos I have seen, I see no martensite boshi. The obvious band of martensite which is reflecting light back into the camera lense runs off the fukura. Compare the oshigata in question with the other oshigata + sword shared in this thread which has a very obvious boshi. Note and compare how how each are drawn in the oshigata. Note how each photograph...what do you see? I have lot to say about this especially after a few drinks but I will simply ask you this - do you believe that a mistake has never been made on a paper? Also, I'm not the type to accept appeals to authority when I am staring straight at something telling me something the contrary. I just take this to be an automatic type of response, and as with the case of papers, honest mistakes can occur. That isnt what I am implying... See above, as with the case of papers. Do you believe 'AOI' has never made an honest mistake? This is what I see in the photos - The red line is my most generous take for where I believe the hardening to end. The yellow is closer to what I believe. I'm completely open to chaging my mind about this by looking at the blade in hand. Maybe indeed it is a trick of the light, but I wouldnt 'blindly' trust that it is. That is not because I believe others have malicious intent but rather beacause I know that all people including myself are fallible. Ultimately though, I can only rely on my own judgement, which involves a myriad of factors, when choosing to purchase a sword. I certainly wouldnt purchase one based on an oshigata if I had the choice.

Are you sure? You see *something* and you have attempted another 'wishful-thinking' red line. Forget for a moment the oshigata, simply look at the photos of the blade in the light. Ignore what I would call the cynical placement of the reflective glare from the light - focus instead on the white band of martensite and follow it - What does it do? Does it turn back sharply to make that 180 degree U turn or does it run off the edge like car overshooting a corner on a mountain pass? Just be honest with yourself - and don't make me get out my red pen.

I cant help but laugh at this red line, but you do you. I hope you don't think that glare from a light source is a turnback... Even in the oshigata, which I have trouble trusting, it runs it riiiiight up to the edge. A thousand miles from your red line. I'm not commenting any more on this thread or this sword without seeing it in hand. The photos in the light are ambiguous at best and seem to show the hamon running off the blade.

Use your eyes and your knowledge above any and all papers and certainly above any and all dealer descriptions. That's all I'm going to say on the matter. The photos are there for all to see, and I see no hamon at the tip of the kissaki, and certainly no turnback. Good luck.

Does hamon run off at kissaki...

Hi, is it the rendering of 近 in 近江？ They look quite different.

Yes you are probably quite right, paper knife is a good bet. I stick with silver for the blade. Cheers.

Looks like table cutlery and with the tarnish the blade is likely silver.

I think that among enthusiasts and students there is a great willingness to participate which has the unintended and unfortunate side effect of creating a lot of distracting and confusing noise. We stand on the shoulders of giants and need ''thought leaders'' to help provide guidance and knowledege to raise the level of education in the field.

Hi Peter, the forum needs knowledable people such as yourself to keep adding to the discussion. I have read many of your posts over the years, thank you for your contributions and welcome back.

I really appreciate that 'old hands' still visit and contribute to this forum - without which, as others have alluded to, the place would devolve into a rather tiresome and repetitive discussion of fundamentals and merrygorounds of the blind leading the blind. There is too much to learn and too many idiots eager to speak without knowing anything.

Looks like Dana didnt get the memo.

Tobacco pouch ornaments mounted on saya vibe.

Hi Mark, long live this thread. I cant say how many times I have come back here to see that masataka koshirae and some of the other treasures over the years. Looking forward to every new batch of photos. Thank you for sharing.

I know this one and its an absolute stunner.....

While rare, they exist. Quite a few from the edo period. As date of manufacture gets older, naturally, the rarity of original koshirea increases by a large factor.