My Tanegashima with signature

[dimitri]

hello, on the advice of "Bugyotsuji" I disassembled my arquebus and I had the great surprise that there was a signature. I took pictures. and at the end he saw where they were placed, so every day I see them to go to my room with my mask brought back from the island of Miyajima.

Thank you for having more informations.

[Bugyotsuji]

Hi Dimitri, It looks to me like 

摂州住田中善五郎作

Nothing else on other facets?

I am just researching this smith now… Sesshū Jū = Living in Settsu (Ōsaka) Tanaka Zengorō Saku (made by)

There is a gun by this smith recorded with a date of Kyowa Gan-nen (1801).

[Bugyotsuji]

PS Notice the circle ⭕️ under the firing pan. This means the gun was well used and therefore had a pan reconstruction (Buku-naoshi).

[dimitri]

No there is nothing else, there was a lot of grayish dust at the bottom behind the barrel, there were also 2 repairs on the wood and I don't have the rammer to load the projectile, it is a wooden gige with a brass mouthpiece or all brass? It is interesting but suddenly it will miss some additional information and nothing at all apart from all the engravings on the barrel.

[Bugyotsuji]

The rammer, or ramrod, is called a ‘Karuka’ カルカ in Japanese, originally a Portuguese word. Gently tapered, they were generally made from red yew oak 赤樫　aka-gashi or 赤檮 itchii-akagashi, but you can make one yourself. I have made maybe twenty in my lifetime. Each one took several hours, using only hand files and sandpaper.

 

In 1801 they were not using brass for ramrods in Japan. Even metal end-caps were not used until the Bakumatsu under the influence of foreign guns.

 

(In Yonezawa up north they used iron ramrods from fairly early on, but their guns were a very different style and concept. Think of them as the exception rather than the rule.)

 

 

[Bugyotsuji]

On top of the barrel ring we can see an exaggerated brass design of a Kabuto helmet. This was a typical design from the Osaka workshops.

[dimitri]

Thank very much for all clarifications and explanations.