General questions about tosogu displaying

[remzy]

Bonjour,

I would like to know what you guys have as preference for your tosogu displaying, if any, do you keep your most prized pieces hidden away in a safe or do you display them proudly as art object like vases and the like. Having a nice collection is fun but rarely looking at it and not admiring it frequently sounds depressing!

Also, are there any "dont do" rules such as "dont put fittings near a window or in the bathroom" ?

 

This might sound like a strange topic but i was wanting to get the feel of what you guys think on the topic, and since I am keeping a low quality tsuba (like all of my tsubas by the standard around here, hehe) in the bathroom, I was wondering if the vapor could have a negative effect on it in the long run. My uninformed guess would be that the humidity is probably lower than in Japan most of the time but i could be wrong.

 

Thanks!

Remy

[Bugyotsuji]

Remzy. What kind of bathroom do you have? What kind of heating system do you have in the house? Is the bathroom heated too? What temperature fluctuations do you have there? When you say 'bathroom' do you mean the room where you take baths? Why do you keep them in there?

[remzy]

hahah, i dont know.. i have a small place and its kind of a nice decoration to have on the bowl but.. i get the message! no more silly questions... for a bit!

[Bugyotsuji]

Remy, Bonjour! (Bon soir?)

 

Now I understand what you were originally asking! Please overlook the OTT reply. :lol:

 

If the tsuba is not high of especially high quality, and if you monitor it from time to time, it could be a nice thing to have in there, if your wife does not object. How about a photo of how you display it! Is it iron with a lacquer finish to it, or is it some other material like copper or brass?

[rkg]

Remy,

 

I believe that leaving tosogu in the bathroom is one of the "standard" suggestions for getting patination started/re-started.

 

I'm not sure it will do much to "good" rust on an iron tsuba, but it might well make "bad" red rust get worse, and I'd probably think twice about leaving shakudo (unless you are trying to repair the patination) and possibly brass in a

high humidity place like that - and I'd probably not leave something like a koshirae there (rapidly changing humidity/

temperature = bad).

 

Just be sure the better half is OK with leaving the fittings in public view (story about some of wife's friends seeing

one of my naginata koshirae and never returning to our house deleted).

 

Best,

 

rkg

(Richard George)

[remzy]

Hehe Richard, i guess for a person not used to the sight of nihonto, seeing one displayed might be scary.

Thanks for your concerns, i decided that from now on i will only display the tsubas i have made myself in the bathroom, i wouldnt want to ruin the patina on antiques even if they are of poor quality, mine are of no consequences and could actualy use some humidity patination.

[Brian]

Remy,

I hope you don't take offense, but on a serious Nihonto forum, I am not sure exactly what kind of reaction or replies you hoped to get on displaying Tosogu in the bathroom :?

I can't see much else constructive coming from this one..so let's leave it right there.

 

Brian