New to board

[Ask]

Hi I'm new to the board,first post.

I'm also really bad with computers sorry. I have 3 items I'm looking for some help with but I'm really struggling. I tried for 3 hours yesterday but kept being told file to large.

It was only 3 photos taken on my phone (no digital camera sorry).

Can I make the photos smaller on my phone (iPhone 5)?

I'm really sorry to get off like this but I've looked around myself and can't get any info as I'm not really sure what I'm looking for,I'm new to the nihonto scene but it's very interesting and the knowledge here seems very good.

Regards

[Antti]

Hello,

 

 

There is a topic on the forum in the "Forum Guidelines and How-To's"-section about pictures.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7

 

Try to take as good photos as you can, it will make giving feedback a lot easier. Also saving the picture as .PNG for example can help with the file size-limit.

 

Welcome to the forum.

[Ask]

Hi thanks for your reply,I will look now and sorry for no signature.

Regards

A.s.K

[Antti]

...and the rule is, as in the amusing smilie, your first name + preferably an initial of your last name.

[Ask]

Thanks again Antti but I'm having terrible trouble here.

What size for posting in here is good?

Not avatar just for information posts.

Ise Jingu

[Antti]

It does say that in the topic I gave you.

 

"1200 wide x 1000 pixels high" (make sure the size is BELOW that), and file size less than 1 Mb.

 

Bigger pictures will be converted to a link. When you write your post, you attach the pics in the Upload Attachment part on the lower part of the page.

[Ask]

Hi I'm struggling with photos sorry,I have 2 tsuba I know nothing about and would like some info if possible.

How old,what are they made of (this one is bronze or copper I think)?

Who made them etc

I will post the other later if I can.

Thanks very much for any help.

Regard

Ise Jingu

[Ask]

Please forgive me the sizes are:

H 6cm,w 5.7cm,d 0.5cm

Regards

Ise jingu

[John A Stuart]

I am sure your name is not Ise Jingu. Please sign with your proper name and initial. Like Mark S. or Jim B., it will not ID you beyond having a way to address you as a politeness. John

[Ask]

I'm sure w c fields is not on here too and some of the others.

It's ok I will try elsewhere,thanks.

[John A Stuart]

Before you go. Avatar names can be fictitious, but, the name you sign with should be yours. If that is a problem and I don't see why, then, 'see you'. John

[Ask]

Dear john, I don't understand the problem anonymity should be respected,it is at auctions and the like and that is a far more important situation than this.

The point you make about avatars is noted but if you look around you'll see a varied selection of names that are most probably fake but seeing as you persist my name too is john.

It's been an experience,wow there's always one everywhere we go.

Thanks

Ise I mean john

[Curran]

Mr. Stuart is an Admin here and one of the most fair handed people ever to help hold the reins on this place: for many years, nations, languages, and thousands of members that it has encompassed.

 

To my surprise, your tsuba turns out to be an interesting old one and predecessor to more valuable ones. It would be very easy to teach/explain too.

Good that you got the photos up.

 

Please re-read your thread and the forum rules and honestly ask yourself if you've been fair. I encourage you to try again anew.

Clean the slate and start over again. You can burn the bridges another day.

 

Put another way: It is worth your time, but why is it worth our time?

Or you can submit it to shinsa for a few hundred dollars and get an answer that way.

We're almost free, but do ask courtesy- especially toward the Admins.

[Ask]

Dear curran,if I offended it was not my aim and I'm adult enought to apologise when it's asked for or required so for the sake of keeping all happy and all that I'm sorry.

Honestly let's put it down to a frustrating 3hours with a laptop and phone I can't use.

Sorry

So now if anyone can help educate me I would greatly appreciate the when where who etc

Regards

John.k

[b.hennick]

Hi John K,.

Welcome to the Mesageboard. WE have few rules but they are enforced. I like the tsuba that you posted it looks to be an old ko-kinko piece. Kinko means soft metal - usually copper or one of its alloys e.g. unrefined copper is called yamagane. There have been some excellent ones for sale recently on the site. Their quality is outstanding. Yours seems to be good. There is a thread where new members introduce themselves. I suggest that you take the opportunity to read that a little and then to add your own introduction. People here do not hold grudges and so you are off to a fresh start. I was waiting for the dust to settle before replying to your original post.

John, Jean and Brian - our moderators - all do a very good job of keeping this a happy place. Stay with us and you will lern a lot.

[John A Stuart]

All well and good. Thank you, John. John

[Curran]

John K. welcome,

 

As Barry H. said "ko-kinko" with "ko" meaning old and "kinko" meaning soft metalwork in this instance.

Dates probably mid to later half of 1500s.

A utilitarian piece probably used on a smaller sword during the Warring times of that era.

 

Such simple pieces would go on to influence the Cha or Teahouse Aesthetic of peacetime that would develop most well known in the Higo schools of the early 1600s.

For a pricey example of that desired school, see here and compare to your own: http://ginzaseikodo.com/hikozoE.html

 

 

Any typos or error by me, others please feel free to correct. It is late here and off to bed. I'll revisit this tomorrow and make corrections or expand on other comments or questions.

[Ask]

Excellent curran thank you very much,i look forward to hearing from you.

[Ask]

This is a bit exciting,should mine be that bright colour,should i clean and its crude but i need to ask how much was that specimen?

[John A Stuart]

John, Do not do other than give soft metal tsuba a wipe with a soft cloth. The patina is of immense importance and requires a deft touch. John

[Ask]

Thanks John will do,would be nice to see it looking better though.

[Dr Fox]

Hi John and welcome. The post signing bit, is something you are not yet used to, It was the same with a lot of us. If you check on the board, you will find that you can set up an auto sign on your posts. Do that and then it is taken care of for you.

[Antti]

This is a bit exciting,should mine be that bright colour,should i clean and its crude but i need to ask how much was that specimen?

 

The price of that tsuba Curran linked was about 12 000 USD (1 200 000 yen), but it was the work of a famous Higo-artist called Hirata Hikozo, so do not quit your job just yet. :lol:

[Ask]

Thanks Dennis I will try to find the auto sign thing it takes no time but it is めんどくさい。

 

Antti I cans quit my job that's where I found those bad boys, :-)

[Brian]

Thanks Dennis I will try to find the auto sign thing..

Have taken care of that for you and added it to your signature.

 

Brian

[Ask]

Thank you Brian your a gent, I will try it now.

[Curran]

John,

 

As others have said, please do not clean the tsuba.

Even after 25 years appreciating tsuba, I am still cautious dealing with the kinko ones.

 

During the 16th Century Warring States period http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sengoku_period

tsuba were very utilitarian with less decoration that would follow in the calmer periods thereafter. Many tsuba were made, used, and lost.

However, the Japanese appreciation for "Keep It Simple" would often look back to these tsuba. Also, with time, some of them developed deep patina or character that could be

appreciated much like an old tea bowl. Yours is imperfect, like a chipped old tea bowl, but has some of that aesthetic that a number of collectors like me appreciate.

 

A 17th Century master of making these Keep It Simple tsuba was Hirata Hikozo. The tsuba in the link is "Den Hikozo" with the Den largely implying it is probably his work. 'Den' is an uncertain term and can mean 'almost like' in both the positive sense [has more positive traits than X, but X is our best match], though usually it means [has almost all the traits we feel necessary to say X, but not quite X]. It is a term that gives us fits. The "Den Hikozo" with the link is lacking in some ways and not worth the $12,000 asking price- thus sat on that site for a few years.

 

A ko-kinko like yours is probably worth a few hundred USD to the right person.

I only keep one ko-kinko in my collection, and it is a nice huge example from which I can see the influences Hikozo studied in his works.

If I were so bold as to attempt an American NBTHK lecture on Hikozo and the Hirata school of work, yours would be a good ko-kinko piece to compare and contrast with some of his simpler works.

The metal "fukurin" on yours has a worn off or broken point that shows the metal underneath, and that alone would be a great example of showing how it was done in ko-kinko works and how Hikozo intentionally did his differently.

 

In conclusion, it is a very nice find for coming out of an old house. It is not super duper rare, but an interesting piece that either will become a good starting study point for you or something that you will eventually sell off to a person who will care for it.

[Ask]

Thanks Curran that was a good read.