Old NBTHK papers for a Koshirae

[waljamada]

Wondering what and/or who it is attributed to or says about the koshirae.

[kato]

石地印籠刻鞘大小拵

Ishiji inrou kizami saya daisho koshirae

[waljamada]

Kato, thank you!  So far my Google searches haven't found anything on the maker but I'll keep digging.

[waljamada]

Ended up buying it because according to the measurements it may match/fit a blade I have with a red lacquered bohi and sohi....so fingers crossed it all works out....they would make a beautiful pair.

[b.hennick]

Good luck! 

[ChrisW]

Quite a looker, here's hoping!

[waljamada]

Just learned why my search for a maker by the name Ishiji inrou kizami didn't work   someone on Facebook shared this info, thought it was useful info for someone like me who is new to buying koshirae:

 

"The characters 石地印籠刻鞘大小拵 do not refer to a maker, but are just a description of the koshriae. 
Ishime (石地) is a stone like texture, inrōkizamizaya (印籠刻鞘) means the saya is carved in the style of an inrō (pill box), and the last part is daisho koshirae (大小拵). Kanteisho for koshirae rarely give an attribution and will only give a signature on the fittings. The fittings on this koshriae are late, seemingly mass-produced pieces which I have seen attributed as ‘Sendai’ work."

[Geraint]

On the plus side Adam, it doesn't need to fit.  Just display the koshirae and the blade in shirasaya with it.

 

All the best.

[waljamada]

Geraint, very true.  Only problem is wife will only let me display nihonto in so many places.  I'm running out of viable places but have found ways to sneak them in about the house.   Plus she did let me keep my suit of Japanese armor in the guest room.

[b.hennick]

Adam, I think that you need a safe. Have fewer blades out and change them around as you wish. 

[DTM72]

You are doing well Adam. My wife has them all confined to one location. At least it is in our bedroom and I get to see them displayed every morning and every night.

[ckaiserca]

What happened to the koshirae for the Wakazashi? 

[waljamada]

1 hour ago, ckaiserca said:

What happened to the koshirae for the Wakazashi? 

Excellent question.  Current seller didn't know, so for now the answer is lost to history.  I will keep my eye out for it though and if possible will try to reunite them.  I'll add it to my stack of ongoing quests.

[waljamada]

5 hours ago, DTM72 said:

You are doing well Adam. My wife has them all confined to one location. At least it is in our bedroom and I get to see them displayed every morning and every night.

 

Thanks Dan, was able to put the armor in the guest bedroom because the alternative was our bedroom.  For the other spots the key to get the wife's support/permission was to put them somewhere where they don't necessarily stand out but appear at a glance as simply decour.  I think I may have one more spot above a built in cabinet in our "library"...after that I'm tapped out of good spots.

 

My office room however is my domain and may do as I please.  I'm out of shelf space for an additional katanakake so I essentially have hit my limit kicking in the "if I buy one, I have to sell one" rule.  Plus cleaning this many is essentially where I want to cap out.  Anymore and I feel like I personally couldn't love them properly.

[Sansei]

Adam, is this an apartment or a house? With all of your Nihonto to display it seems that you need a man cave.

[waljamada]

Sansei,

 

Its a house, about 2,400 sq ft.  The house was built in the early 1900s so the basement is kind unusable except for storage of non-essential items (christmas decour, tools, over flow etc..).  So the only man cave I get is my office room.  I tried to argue the lack of need for a traditional dining room but lost to my wife and mom/mother-in-law.  I didn't stand a chance against that combo.

[DTM72]

15 hours ago, waljamada said:

  I tried to argue the lack of need for a traditional dining room but lost to my wife and mom/mother-in-law.  I didn't stand a chance against that combo.

I know that story all to well. My wife is Asian, so in Asian tradition, her parents live with us.

[waljamada]

Well boys....it was a failure.  Tried to match the blade below to it....it was so darn close....the length was right....the sori in theory was right...but I discovered this blade has a sharper sori turn on the top 1/3rd which makes it catch at a certain point in the saya.  I lost the heart and didn't even try the tsuka...I'll give that a go tomorrow.  Bummer.  

 

$590 bucks semi-wasted =|:^(

 

*photos are not exactly to scale

[Geraint]

Well I wouldn't call it a fail, after all you have an attractive koshirae and as I said, displayed alongside the blade in shirasaya it should look great.

 

Oh, and at that price you did well.

 

All the best.

[SteveM]

I completely agree with Geraint - this is a very attractive koshirae. 

[Jussi Ekholm]

I agree with above opinions, I think you got a good find. I like that saya style and color theme.

[waljamada]

Appreciate the kind words gentlemen.  Is a bit of salve to the burn.  I'll see if it works on any of my blades and maybe upgrade their saya...otherwise it's going above a built in cabinet next to a mark twain bust.