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When shipping in the United States, USPS Registered Mail is best for high value items up to $50,000. It is slow but secure, as the package is signed for each time it is handed off internally and it is held in a secured area while waiting for the next leg of the journey. And the insurance is relatively inexpensive. Otherwise, I insure collectible items using a special policy (like this) that covers items in transit, and I ship them UPS Next Day Air to minimize the item they are in the UPS system.

I’ve had this hanger for a couple years and photographed it more than once. Didn’t notice the numbers until I brought it out to compare with Hectors . I find it interesting that in our small sample size, so many have just 4 digits. -Sam

Adding a link to a thread started by @Hector Sam brought to our attention that there are numbers stamped on the inside of the clip. Hector and Ian had numbers stamped there as well. Sam's "8" Hector's "7" Ian's "2"

Hmmm… they could be persimmons, maybe, which slowly turn a dark rusty colour as they cure.

Mike, nice KOZUKA, unfortunately the iron front has some rust which should be dealt with competently. You say the back is SHAKUDO (not Sakudo), so a picture of that (dark background please!) would be nice. That's not a mouse but a rat (NEZUMI) on the front, a symbol of prosperity and good fortune, and the start of the Zodiac cycle. The technique of the KOZUKA (the KOGATANA blade is missing?) reminds me of NARA school, but as it seems to be a later EDO item, techniques and motifs were often shared among schools and traditions, so it may well have been made from other artists. The photos are not good enough to see what the rat is eager to eat. Maybe plums hung up on a string for drying? Just a guess.

I Hello friends of Tosogu. My sister works in a lab, so I got her this piece with a little mouse on it. I was wondering if anyone could help me find out more about the piece. I don't know what fruit, like the mouse, for example, but mainly I need help identifying the school. It's not signed, and the back is sakudo, unlike the front, which isn't gold. I love the detail of the gold in gold. 1,4 x 10 cm 30gr

Wouldn't petri dishes condense and amplify if there were any residual moisture?

Today at auction I bought a box of powder flasks without having had a close look at them. Sadly there was little in there of any real age or value. I’ll clean them up, make some replacements for the missing parts and then (with the others I bought recently) probably pop most of them back into another auction.

Good idea 👍 Uwe! You may well be correct.

Hi guys.. . Anyone ever had good quality koshirae made. Cost, time etc⁹

Hi Piers, I agree with “Ihei” and wonder if the above is 榎並屋?! Hard to tell from the pic under this light… What do you think?

Checked my four chain example and couldn't find any stamps, there's an existing thread recording various examples:

lucky for me, australia has one of better ones. so im in good hands. just a 3 year wait

I apologize for the bad call! The ersatz habaki and odd hilt binding threw me totally off. As I said, I am learning myself. It's a really nice present for your father!

Thank you so much for checking your chain hangers Ian! I think this interesting new subject is something Bruce @Bruce Pennington might like a record of. Best, Hector

You're very welcome - I hope that it was useful. You are also very fortunate to have a Kotani Yasunori blade. 😊 Best, Hector

Usually referred to as 七宝 Shippo in Japan, a word which covers the two concepts of a) that particular design or pattern, and b) cloisonné.

If this is the one you refer to the black background is lacquer. It is not inlay into metal. The technique is generally referred to as Ryukyu lacquer.

Usually one photo is not enough. It will need to be seen from two or three different light angles to pick out the contrasting shadows and details more clearly. It could be 'Sesshu Ju Setsuya Ihei Saku' 摂州住摂(津)屋伊兵衛作 If so, (and we will wait for confrmation from Uwe or one of our resident Japanese nationals), then this gun was made by Ihei of the House of Settsu-ya, living in Sesshu Province (present-day Osaka).

Definitely a bad Chinese fake, never been in Japan. It would be illegal there.

Thank you, sir. Thank you very much for your help.

Try this. https://kotaniyasunori.blogspot.com/?m=1

It’s a gun from Sesshū province “摂州住…..兵衛作“. Will try the rest as soon I’m back home…

It was more so the chain twist pattern, but once i could see the spring orientation in the clip and the way the links attached to the snail clip and belt clip. it was clear that it was a OG and i was wrong

Here is a two strand hanger that came back from the war with four two's stamped inside it . Others that I have are stamped with a single 6 , what looks like 37 and what looks like three circles