Teppo with scads of brass decoration discovered in Oz country home

[Bazza]

Seeing iBot's Sakai teppo description of lotsa brass on a teppo I was reminded of these pictures of a teppo discovered by a mate in the 'deep country' here in Australia.  There are 15 images I present for your delectation.  Any comments will be welcome.  No, the barrel was not removed as it was thought to be an 'imposition too far' on the elderly owner.

BaZZa.

    

  

 

   

 

   

 

 

   

 

   

 

 

             

[Bugyotsuji]

Ah, thanks for posting this BaZZa. It’s definitely ringing bells.
 

Recently Jan and I have been discussing which decorative themes were popular in which area of gunsmithing. Someone should research this subject! The samurai head caricature wearing Akoda-Mari helmet seems typical for Sakai, for example.

[Viper6924]

This one looks very similar to a gun I recently had in my possession. I can bet a tiny beer that this specific matchlock carries a Sesshu (Sakai) signature. As Piers said, the kabuto decoration seems to be an indicator for Sakai.

To my eyes, the decoration on the barrel looks good. In there lies the mystery. Because often I find the quality of the inlayed barrels to be much better than some of the brass editions scattered all over the stock. Were the barrel decorations made independently from the brass works? Could some of them, like seen on this specific matchlock, been made during the original production or a later work dated from late Edo to the Meiji era?

 

Jan

[Tanegashima]

Barry, pity about the firearms registration number stamped into the barrel. Honestly what a shame, surely this is not a registration firearms requirement for these guns in Australia?

[Bazza]

Hi Nigel, great to hear from you.  No, not an Australian requirement, but that horror was inflicted on Victorian collectors in recent decades.  I have seen a cased pair of flintlock pistols with late 20th century registration numbers stamped in them under the Victorian law of the time.  Sadly (or rather happily!!), the law was later abandoned, but these verdampt numbers are there forever to show the lunacy of the sort of regulations the Victorian Government is capable of.  Just ask Victorian sword collectors.

 

The registration number stamped into the barrels of Japanese matchlocks was a requirement of the early Meiji Government.  I've found a quick reference to the system in the pages of THE GUN COLLECTOR, September 1950.  The two pictures below should answer the question without turning out a mini-essay.

 

EDIT:  I should add that the fuzzy numbers you can see on the lhs of the image are Japanese characters.

 

Barry

aka BaZZa.

 

 

Edited September 6, 2022 by Bazza
amendment

[Bugyotsuji]

The stamp from the first great Meiji roundup and registration which occurred in 1872 as mentioned above is popularly referred to as the ‘Jinshin Bango’ (Jinshin Number). You can find them stamped either into the barrel or into the stock, in a visible position, but many guns escaped the roundup/registration process.