help ID of tsuba and kodogu please

[Millsman]

Took a chance on buying a wakizashi at auction. Moses Becerra will be evaluating if the blade can be saved from being polished by someone who knew nothing about polishing a Japanese sword, fingers crossed. What I could not see from the auction photos was that all the fittings were a matched set. Saya ,kojiri, kurigata, kozuka, tsuba, fuchi, menuki and kashira all have the paulownia mon.

I would very much appreciate any information about when these were made, any particular school and if so where I might learn more about them. Also as the gold has disappeared from several of the pieces any thoughts about would it be proper to have them regilded ? many thanks in advance.

http://s51.photobucket.com/user/steibls ... t=3&page=1

[Marius]

George, do not repair anything on the koshirae, please. You will diminish the value of the koshirae or even damage it. Best policy is to enjoy it as it is.

 

Your pics are low resolution - it is impossible to say anything about the koshirae, sorry. Nice to hear that the pats are matching

[Millsman]

Thanks for your response. If the photos appear in low resolution you may be using an IPAD? I couldn't get the photos to open correctly on an IPAD only on a PC. Before posting I sent to another PC to see if high resolution was possible, seemed OK. On photobucket first click on the individual photo, when it opens click on the magnifying glass symbol in the lower right hand corner, another identical photo drops down automatically click on that magnifying glass symbol in the lower right and you will see a very high resolution photo.

[Marius]

No sir, I view them on an iMac. My Photobucket pics are OK.

[Sage]

Having to click the second magnifying glass threw me off until I read George's explanation, but I'm getting hi-res pics on my MacBook. Large but a bit soft...

[Marius]

Aaaaah! Thank you Alex! Photobucket has a crappy interface, but this is beyond criticism. What moron has designed this feature (or rather bug)?

 

OK, here is my comment:

 

Judging by the decoration of the saya and the mediocre workmanship of the kodogu, it is a late Edo, low/mid-grade koshirae. Don't ask me about a school. Rather gaudy, nanako work far from competent. Still, a nice find.

 

Speculative mode ON:

This kind of koshirae would be worn by a:

 

 

merchant or otokodate

 

[Lance]

I disagree (only a little) and think the quality is better than mediocre, and would call them solid mid-level work. As Maruisz wrote they couldn't really be attributed to a school or group though, as they were most likely made by "town carvers")

I cant remember which book(s) I read this, but supposedly many saya had this type of work added to existing or newly made saya, similar to what is seen on lacquerware boxes during/after the Meiji sword ban when they were sold for export or became decorative objects.

 

 

aside from the length restrictions I thought the merchant class were prohibited from using cetain mon ike those of the Imperial line or Shogun?

 

 

I wouldn't do anything to the worn gold either, maybe have the tsuka rewrapped, this will also help prevent the menuki or kashirafrom getting separated in the future.

 

Regards,

Lance

[Millsman]

Many thanks for the comments posted. As a total novice I have now learned that it is nanako work and have seen the difference between my examples and really fine work. Still hope Moses will determine the blade is a worthwhile candidate for full restoration. Even if the quality of the fittings are not special I am still pleased that if nothing else it is a matched set. The craftmanship is certainly beyond anything I could manage. Additional comments more than welcome and if nothing else I may now consider adding some tsubas of a higher quality to my collection of various objects.

[Soshin]

Hi George M.,

 

Hope people havn't been too hard on you every collector at one was a newbie. From what I have seen in the photos the fitting on your first sword are not the best. The blade itself might be worth something and Moses is very knowledgable. I personally didn't have much luck with Nihonto but have put together a decent tosogu collection after making about every mistake once or twice. If you have some free time please check out my website it is mostly about tsuba. The link is below. Please feel free to contact me at anytime.

[Millsman]

Thanks again for responding to my query. All comments are welcome and I didn't really expect to find a National Treasure. The good news is that Moses thinks the blade is very nice and worthy of restoration.Thanks to David,I like your site.Regards.