Ashmolean Tomorrow

[kissakai]

Hi

I meant to ask earlier but I wondered who would be at the Asmolean 'Tosugu at the Ashmolean Museum Oxford on 10/09/16 (tomorrow)

I'll be there and it will be nice to put faces to all the collectors I've contacted via email

 

 

Grev UK

 

 

[Michael 101]

Hi Grev,

 

I will be going - see you there, it should be an excellent day.

 

Kind regards.

Michael

[kissakai]

I look forward to seeing you

Are you taking any items with you?

[Ian]

Hi Grev

 

Many people from here going. All will have name tags on 

 

Ian

[kissakai]

GB Token Ashmolean Tosogu lecture

 

An event at the Ashmolean today organised by the GB Token Society was a great success. These events don’t just happen, there is always a bucket load of time and effort required by many of it’s members so please accept my thanks for a great day.

 

It started with an introduction by Paul Bowman followed by:

Pre Edo Iron Tsuba by Mark Radburn

Ko Akasaka tsuba by Eckhard Kremmers

What’s it made of and what does it tell by Ford Hallam

Viewing various tsuba from the Church collection

 

Each talk was exceptionally delivered and it’s the old cliché ‘you needed to be there’ but I will add a couple of quick comments. The significance of seppa dai and ‘ana’ shapes, differing surface and ‘iron bones’. Ford threw in a grenade re yamagane among other gems. Just in case you were wondering it was Ford that used the Spock analogy

 

 

 

 

 

 

For me

I loved seeing the various tosogu and  swords in full koshirae. I have a tsuba once own by Eckhard which I showed him and he not only give me some additional technical points about the tsuba he also said it was originally owned by Sasano (bonus). After looking at black and white images of the Church collection is was wonderful seeing them in ‘colour’

 

So a congratulations to the organisers and I look forward to the next one

 

 

Grev UK

[kazarena]

It was a very enjoyable event. Very solid, as you would expect from Mark and Eckhard, sessions on sukashi tsuba (I learned a couple of new terms including 'shindig zukuri' :-) ) and Akasaka school, and ground breaking stuff from Ford - myths vs reality in relation to soft metal alloys.

Huge thanks to Paul and everyone else who organised the event.

 

Regards,

Stan

[Ian]

For all that weren't able to attend, I have posted some preliminary photos (my phone) and downloads on the website 

http://to-ken.uk/home/news.html

More to come soon, including Ford's ground breaking revelations 

 

I hope you enjoy

 

Ian

[paulb]

Dear All

many thanks for the positive feedback to date. I believe the event went very well. As mentioned above much of the success was due to the excellent contributions from some very knowledgeable people. I could not believe my luck in being able to have such recognised authorities in their fields in the same place at one time. However another reason for the day's success was the incredible support given to us by the Ashmolean Museum. For those who don't know it, it is the oldest publc museum in Europe and has a very diverse collection. It is a fantastic place and It is always worth spending time there. The Curator and her team not only helped arrange the day but made many examples of the Church collection available for participants to study in detail.

 

One other point I would like to make. I believe that the study of swords and tsuba can be a very solitary pastime. While internet discussion can improve this I dont believe there is any substitute for getting together and talking to each other and looking at swords and fittings. This was proven again yesterday. If you dont belong to a local society consider joining one it will help you learn and should prove very enjoyable.

I hopeThe Token Society of Great Britain will hold more  events in the future alongside their regular meetings.At the risk of advertising can I suggest The best way to ensure you are kept up to date and aware of what events are happening is to join the society..

[Bugyotsuji]

Oddly enough I enjoyed this day much more than I was expecting.

 

Hard to put my finger on why, but it includes everything said above about the speakers, the organizers, the materials and the museum support, and also the eager participation and obvious interest shown by the attendees, some quiet, some more voluble. The whole package worked; the atmosphere was light, friendly and cheerful, a good omen for any future such meeting. And what a setting in Oxford! A pity that official permission for Ford's soft-metal zapper/analyser was held up at the seventh hour, but I felt we all understood the potential practical future value of the team and equipment ready at the back of the room.

 

Congratulations to Paul and his supporting wife.

[Justin]

Congratulations to Paul and the rest of the committee for arranging this event. I was very disappointed not to attend (should have stayed in the UK for another 6 weeks). Have heard lots of good things about it. Well done to all involved. Keep up the good work.

[paulb]

I have just recieved some images from the study room display at the Ashmolean event. All of the pictures may be seen on the token of great britain facebook page but I have posted a couple below to give an idea of what was there.

These are reproduced with the kind permission of the Ashmolean Museum.