Frustration!!! for insect lovers

[Mantis dude]

Hi All,

 

So after 15 years of collecting, I have looked for a mantis themed kogai. Well found one in Bonhams up coming auction.

http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21861/lot/196/

 

Description is as follows:

Lot 196*

A fine and rare kinko koshira-e for a daisho

The fittings by Hamano Masanobu (born 1773), Edo Period, early 19th century

£35,000 - 45,000

US$ 59,000 - 76,000

 

Anyone have a spare $60K for me to borrow? I'll be your best friend?

[BIG]

Hi,

 

There is only One Way to have a best friend: to be One yourself!

 

another insect ( dragonfly ) lover

[Soshin]

Hi Ken W.,

 

Wish I had that much money to give. It is a nice sale of tosogu and nihonto at the Bonhams auction in mid May.

[Uechi]

Very nice, but I personally wouldn't pay any where near that kind of money if I had it.Besides the bidding price you have to pay a premium to the auction house. In addition, they basically want you to give up your first born to bid. I registered for the auction but will not bid. Asking for a photo ID and a credit card should be enough not an ID , a copy of a utility bill and a bank or financial reference.( at least not on purchases of less then 5K) They can keep there auction. I have bid on numerous items from other houses and did not have to jump thru my butt to be a bidder.

[watsonmil]

Dear Jeffrey,

Please see my post ( scroll down to watsonmil ) : viewtopic.php?f=3&t=18623

 

It is really quite disgusting what these " important auction houses " continue to get away with. 20 years ago I visited Christie's in London at their New Bond Street address and I was treated like a King. Today, ... I would not meet their standards, I suppose and surmise I would quickly be shown the door.

 

... Ron Watson

[Ron STL]

Ken, maybe it's time to put my Kaga tsuba into your hands at a much, much lower price than these auction house prices. I'll talk to you about this not this week, but next week, okay? Maybe it'll make you feel better! Ron STL

[Stephen]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-SAMURA ... 208wt_1704

[b.hennick]

Hi Stephen"

He has kozuka not kogai. The kozuka is not up to Ken's level of collection. The Mantis dude rules!

[Mantis dude]

Since my post didn't post, where I talked about everyone's comments, I'll just say as frustrating as it is to see, the dai sho posted I thought people would enjoy since there seems to be an interest in the insect theme. It is a rare thing to see a dai sho done like that and while there is a definite sticker shock, it is nice to see items like that stay together.

 

I really have only seen about 5-6 kogai in 15 years with a mantis, given that like the posted kozuka there are tons of them (careful because they still make that one) and mino school produced so many fuchi/kashira with a mantis/insect theme- you would expect to see a few more than what I have found or should I say not found out there. There was one in the Met exhibit a few years ago (amazing sword & armor gathering), the walters museum in baltimore has a few online, and I found a few referenced but no pics in some major auctions.

 

I don't understand why people have such issues paying 10x the actual amount it costs to ship an item from the major auction houses. I am sure there they don't consider shipping a profit center with such narrow margins like that. (Please note the previous line is written in as sarcastic a tone as possible). I actually did a survey for one of them and shared the sentiment as well as even noted that I know many collectors don't bid on auctions because of that - no matter what you spend on an auction no one wants to get gauged.

 

Anyway, Barry is awesome, he is spreading the mantid gospel. Thank you Sir!!!!

[Stephen]

Well i under stand you were looking for kogai, i posted the link to lean what you thought about it, it looks to me to be a better matis than a lot of the ones that look flattend out...guess ill never know now.

[cspage]

Not to be too picky, but that insect looks much more like a locust or garden variety grasshopper than a mantis to me. Am I missing something? Just an observation.

 

Colin

[Stephen]

Colin

 

I too see Grasshopper on auction link, fig I was on the wrong one as I could find the mantis kogai. Get tired of being pointed out im lost, lol

[Mantis dude]

Guys its a daisho, there is a grasshopper on one set but the other is a mantis. You can see the front claws on the mantis one. I had a link but when I pasted it, it took up pages. So if you can't see it, I will try and save to my computer then upload. FYI, if you click on the picture shown, you will open several pictures which you can zoom in on for better detail.

 

 

As far as the kozuka goes, there have been made for so long including modern day, I just don't trust seeing them on the internet. Some can be quality I am sure but it is too easy to distort a picture. Most are modern. I am just cautious when it comes to that. Plus with so many out there, it isn't as interesting as others seen. I was given one years ago that has a back with half cat scratch, a pattern I haven't seen, most are just plain backs. ebay recently had one signed, it was a big gimei but that was a first for me to see. Just way too many being produced.