Merry friends of "Y! Auction".

[Yasaka Azuma]

Dale.
Your group image is spectacular. I have also confirmed.

 

28 March Live auction 1638 Japanese Art Including Property of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

https://www.christies.com/en/auction/Japanese-art-including-property-of-the-metropolitan-museum-of-art-20046/?filters=&intsaleid=20046&lid=1&page=8&searchphrase=&sortby=lot_number

 

It is a forbidden means for museums and galleries. Every time a financial crisis occurs, the director will want to sell his collection.

In Japan, if a cultural institution sells a donated item, the tax incentive will be revoked and a heavy tax will be levied. However, the Japanese government imitates Western countries, so it may be tolerated in the future.

 

 

[Spartancrest]

I wish we had the same laws in this respect, as Japan does. There is a bad mistake with the listing of two lots on Christies Auction site -  LOT 251 & LOT 252 - I wonder if it caused trouble at the actual auction? 

You will see there are only five tsuba pictured [three are duplicated in the lot photos] however eight tsuba are described - this has resulted in three tsuba being without images and if it had been me bidding, I would like to know what I am bidding on? Because of this error we have no record of the images for at least these three tsuba. I have heard that Christies have got this wrong before.

[Spartancrest]

For members information the Metropolitan Museum of Art receives an endowment of $3.3 Billion [ that's a B ] and has a number of billionaires on its board. So could anyone justify a sell-off of any of its collection, even if it was closed to visitors for a year due to covid?

[rkg]

8 hours ago, Spartancrest said:

For members information the Metropolitan Museum of Art receives an endowment of $3.3 Billion [ that's a B ] and has a number of billionaires on its board. So could anyone justify a sell-off of any of its collection, even if it was closed to visitors for a year due to covid?

 

Dale,

 

If only it were that simple.  The met's annual budget (before this) was on the order of $300 million (that was in 2017, bet its more now (see below)), and realistically the amount you can reliably pull from an endowment is pretty small and still guarantee that you'll be able to provide the same amount of money in perpetuity.   There's a ton of retirement calculators out there you can play with yourself to simulate their problem - and they are supposed to be managing this to last basically forever. If you burn through a big chunk of your endowment, you're gonna have a big hole in your budget for your current programs when things get better for a long time to come.  So what do you do...  the other interesting thing is that they always have the tin cup out, even when times are good - over a third of their income was from gifts, grants, etc - billionaires like to be on the board and maybe they can be touched for more, but it seems like -somebody- is being pretty generous already...  And... if they have a large pile of lesser stuff that they are basically just paying to store/will never be on display because their "good stuff" is better, is it so bad that it gets sold off to somebody who will love/care for the pieces?  Probably won't make the people that donated the lesser pieces happy, but...

I guess they cold save money be firing everybody and waiting until they can open again (throwing a couple of thousand people on the street -would- save a lot), but...

 

https://www.metmuseum.org/-/media/files/about-the-met/annual-reports/2016-2017/annual-report-2016-17-report-of-the-chief-financial-officer.pdf

The darker point of view is that this is a business like any other and their primary goal is to stay in business - kind of hard to do with no money coming in the door.  The other dark observation would be the potential for self dealing - Boards deciding "we have to sell some items" and then being the first in line to buy them for their own collections...

And again, they've been deaccessioning stuff for a loong time - the change is that the revenues from the sales can be used to meet operations costs - and from a certain point of view money is fungible so maybe that doesn't matter sooo much.

 

rkg

(Richard George)

[Spartancrest]

Richard - The way it works now is the Museum sells its excess to collectors [or investors] they grow old and die leaving their collections to the Museum who sell them on - ad nauseam. Hell why not lease the lot out! How much money for hanging "Self portrait with a Straw hat " by Vincent van Gogh, or 'Washington crossing the Delaware" on your wall for a week? Where does it ever end - - with an empty building that still needs to be maintained. Sorry but the almighty dollar should not dictate what is or is not worth preserving. The interest rate at the moment on that 3.3 Billion is 6.4 Million a year approx - that should employ a lot of people.

[Yasaka Azuma]

On 1/22/2021 at 8:38 PM, Yasaka Azuma said:

 

That's right, Dale. You find quickly. It's a different product, but it must have been made from the same mold.
In Japan, it is described as "like so many mushrooms" that similar products are immediately put up for sale even if they were sold at a high price before. Phew, what a relief ...

 

 

 

He was there again to hide as a bit part.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/p841442644

 

[Spartancrest]

Yas - I feel so sorry for whoever 'won' that auction, all fakes [maybe the Mino real but very low quality?] 51,000 yen !!! 

This common reproduction is starting at a very high price as well.    https://www.jauce.com/auction/s814150095

And check these three -  https://www.jauce.com/auction/o461771927

                                            https://www.jauce.com/auction/c894148996

                                            https://www.jauce.com/auction/w436961534

what a huge price difference for mass produced reproductions.

 

 

[Yasaka Azuma]

This Natuo and the seller's self-proclaimed tsuba also regularly appear online and make me laugh. This time with a ridiculous starting price of 200,000 JPY!
https://www.jauce.com/auction/w457589907

[Spartancrest]

This famous tsuba of a monkey and hovering wasp was recently featured in a NMB post, the guard is found in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

 

There is a rather shoddy reproduction selling now https://www.jauce.com/auction/w460657968  it is pretty poor and I  can't see it fooling many.

[Brian]

WOW that is bad!

[Yasaka Azuma]

Oh! The seller of the golden tsuba claims that it is a modern product. But it's only a matter of time before someone else uses the same mold to send out an indistinguishable copy.

 

[Gakusee]

Would it please be possible please to revert this thread to the less obvious fakes? Not these crude imitations (eg the guilt brass monkey and wasp above) of tsuba-like objects but actually good-quality tsuba where a discerning eye notices something is amiss?
Otherwise, you will keep flooding this thread with shocking examples but we as a forum shall not necessarily be learning, progressing, etc. 
Thank you. 

[Yasaka Azuma]

Is that so. As far as my posts are concerned, I haven't posted anything that will improve the knowledge of the members. Rather I am a nosey parker. "Hey! Check it out! Such a strange thing was on sale."
From the image Dale showed, I felt a "future threat". Its manufacture clearly created a three-dimensional mold from a two-dimensional image of the museum. Small factories in Japan are in trouble because the number of jobs is drastically reduced. They want to make anything if it makes money. I can't imagine the detailed means, but I think it's only a matter of time before the introduction of a 3D printer.

[Ian B3HR2UH]

Keep doing what you are doing thanks Yas .

Ian Brooks

[PNSSHOGUN]

Agree, not much for Tsuba but this thread is teaching me alot, even with the obvious ones. It also helps weed out dodgy dealers if they are selling other items.

[Gakusee]

10 hours ago, Yasaka Azuma said:

Is that so. As far as my posts are concerned, I haven't posted anything that will improve the knowledge of the members. Rather I am a nosey parker. "Hey! Check it out! Such a strange thing was on sale."
From the image Dale showed, I felt a "future threat". Its manufacture clearly created a three-dimensional mold from a two-dimensional image of the museum. Small factories in Japan are in trouble because the number of jobs is drastically reduced. They want to make anything if it makes money. I can't imagine the detailed means, but I think it's only a matter of time before the introduction of a 3D printer.

 

Hi Yas, quite the opposite actually. Many of your posts are informative and educational, eg #50, 60, 71, etc. In fact, I have commented positively above on what you are doing. However,  many of the examples in this thread are too obvious, even for the novice tosogu person such as myself: they are too crude, the casting bubbles or fissures are too obvious, the lines are too dull/blunt and clearly an artefact of lousy, sloppy and lazy casting. 

 

Where your posts shine best is when you highlight non-obvious imitations or fakes, which only a more experienced eye could pick. You had a few posts in which eg the tiger looked very good but some of the lines in your circular highlights were just a tiny bit blunt rather than crisp as should be when done with tagane. Or in one of your posts you had circled some areas and one needed to look carefully in order to notice that there was a bit of “bleeding” of the gilding in an otherwise acceptably decent piece of work.  That is all useful and what people should be becoming attuned to and looking out for. 

 

Also, in many of the posts the explanations are missing - why, what, how? Just low-res pictures of low-quality trash..... Please do not take this personally but constructively. It does not apply only to you but also Dale’s posts, by the way.

 

That plethora of eyesores does not help. It is better to pick out one or two masterly examples of a fake and dissect it: eg “ hey, NMB, look at the hitsuana; look at the sanmai method; look at the way the flower is chiselled; look at the cast post of these menuki; etc etc”.  I have always been a supporter of the maxim: “less is more”. 

 

Again, please keep up the good work - we appreciate it , are grateful for it and salute it. 

[PietroParis]

Obvious trash has some value as well as it provides entertainment. IMHO it's up to the people who animate the thread to set the balance between fun crap and insidious fakes. Members who find the thread too lowbrow can either skip it or provide worthier items for discussion.

[Yasaka Azuma]

Pietro. Thank you for your concern.

You all . I'm neither a buyer's guide nor an open classroom to grow someone into a connoisseur. It's mostly just for fun and sharing with like-minded people. Otherwise I can't continue.
Especially, except for exaggerated or inadequate explanations in online auctions, images are the only clue to the decision.
Anyone can do it, because if you have access to it, all you have to do is observe it. We encourage you to discover the fishy product and present your point of view here or in a new thread. "Eureka!"

[Yasaka Azuma]

I think that the images up by Dale about the replica of Kinko-tsuba and the images I have saved can be classified as follows.

 

First, a product that repeats the original design.
Secondly, the one that retains the original design, but gradually omits the details.
Thirdly, It has been transformed from the beginning, and since the creator continues to make it without knowing the original design, it is a shape far from the original.

 

The so-called "low-end" Kinko would be the second final form or the third.
Of course, the first item need to be vigilant. Brilliantly decorated, they try to grab the contents of our wallet. Nonetheless, some buyers inadvertently pay highs for the second item, and those who choose the third item.
It's fun to think about it, and imagine it. If you refer my post It may be stale and boring to other members, but I would appreciate it if you could leave it alone.

 

[Brian]

Yas, do you think most of these are being produced in Japan, or are imported into Japan from China?

[Yasaka Azuma]

The image is a scene instructing the casting of watermark tsuba as one of the vocational training in Japan. This is just technical guidance.
Notice that the spout is set to the side of mimi instead of seppa-dai as in the past so that the molten metal works better with the mold.
Obviously, the original shape of the tsuba is bad, and it belongs to the third category I classified. As soon as someone advises on the design, it is likely to be promoted to the first category.
Another thing to note is that trainees often include foreigners of Asian descent. I'm not referring to this training center.

https://twitter.com/Ryuichi13720000/status/1361887796567281668

 

[Yasaka Azuma]

For March.

 

The staple products.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/f497787682

https://www.jauce.com/auction/n453460811

https://www.jauce.com/auction/m480343769

https://www.jauce.com/auction/g494831026

 

The Tokubetu- kicho paper records the name of tadashige and the age of 70. However, since the signature was cast together with the main body and then polished, the surface was covered with scratches and pinholes, and the sign disappeared and became unreadable.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/m481407935

 

Menuki, a white snake that is said to have spiritual power in the Orient, may be more magical with "Yin and yang" if you also own a black snake.
https://www.jauce.com/auction/w459075953

 

 

The color of gold is not good, it looks like painting. If you look closely, there are spots and burrs on the casting.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/v790570960

 

 

I think that tsuba, which is soldered metal press working to mimi, will disassemble when it receives an impact.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/r473272495

 

Since the Satsuma tsuba is popular even if it is unsign, casting reproductions are going around these days.
https://www.jauce.com/auction/t790145663

 

reference sample

https://blog.goo.ne.jp/yama2015073/e/1a423299a0c7b57b77459adf57d232c1

 

 

The two are the same replica. However, it is completely different when compared to Goto-teijo.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/m480811334

https://www.jauce.com/auction/w441561691

 

reference sample

https://jpsearch.go.jp/item/cobas-75065

 

The dragons and tigers that were soldering after scraping shakudo are it feels cramped.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/d490701918

 

The cycle of reselling the same item is getting shorter. By adding a sticker printed with "Yagyu-tsuba"name, it will sell for several times the price.
https://www.jauce.com/auction/s809950564

https://www.jauce.com/auction/c870737189

 

This item claims to be Kanayama-tsuba, which is the same type as the tsuba in the Sasano book.

Sure, the shape is very similar, but there are many traces of fine sand molds and pinwhole-like objects on the surface.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/d517568589

 

It is far from to call it Natuo. It's obviously fake on the contrary, it's smiling.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/p838144028

 

[Spartancrest]

 

Yas, does no one look at the nakago-ana?  This was never going to be real - 7050 yen - there are better paperweights for that much https://www.jauce.com/auction/371174105

[Gakusee]

1 hour ago, Spartancrest said:

 

Yas, does no one look at the nakago-ana?  This was never going to be real - 7050 yen - there are better paperweights for that much https://www.jauce.com/auction/371174105

 

The design could and do trespass in the nakago area sometimes. Even one of the greatest did it sometimes but clearly much more skilfully as can be seen by the tagane work. Clearly the fake tsuba above are emulating some of his famous design features and I do admit that the elevation of the leaves is excessive here. 
 

What should have been highlighted above instead are the sloppy execution, blunt lines, lifeless replication caused by casting, the crudeness, etc. 

 

 

[Yasaka Azuma]

Oh, yes. The natuo design is simple, easy to imitate and fits the modern human senses. This carp is also natuo. The silver plating is worn out and copper appears from below.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/h542719355

By the way, tsuba, which cannot be displayed, can be used for stationery, and kozuka  handles can be used for table cutlery.

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/22466/lot/1038/

 

[Yasaka Azuma]

Wow! I found tsuba for ninja.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/j724760497

 

[Spartancrest]

Do you think this came from a Yari ? 

[Yasaka Azuma]

Oh, It looks painful. However, what the Japanese loved is more painful when used.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/l652425522

 

[Brian]

I saw so many sodegarami for sale when I was in Japan. Maybe because they don't need a license? Or maybe they are being faked easily?
Not sure. The amount of yari poles also made me sad when I realized that a lot of yari and naginata are destroyed when found because people are afraid of the laws.

[Spartancrest]

Sorry for a change in topic but would everyone agree that these images are of cast fake 'Jakushi' tsuba ?

 

If so should I tell the museum that has one in its collection that they are taking up space with a worthless fake?