John A Stuart

When I look at it it seems to be sukashi. The book says no. I defer to the book until the author recants. You all may be right though. John

Hi Stephen, I do not think a sculptor would use 'saku' in his mei. If the last kanji was saku it would read akimitsu saku, but I think the last kanji is yori or I as Chinese reading. All Chinese is KyoKoI. Need the pros for this one. When in Kyoto one time in an antique shop, I saw a bronze of this type about 30" tall and a cast base that was tagged at $60000. Of course that area was so high end my nose was bleeding. It is the Gion area where all the Geisha live. Wonderful people in those shops, one woman even gave me an umbrella because it had started pouring rain. Spring there is pretty wet. Love that area. Anyway, John

Hi Stephen, Nice, I can see those going quite high $20000. Who do you think they were sculpted by, KyoKoI? GyoKoI? John

Hi Ford, The eye does have the shakudo accent although it does not really portray the faceted look of the compound eye. Maybe to show a reflected highlight. Mustn't get to picky, eh? I have been trying to find a smith that satisfies the criteria within the Mino den, no luck there but Watanabe is not much help. That info was given by the dealer It is fairly fresh (under 200 years I think) so I was focusing on shinshinto smiths. I have a kashira that has the same theme, older and on iron, not as fine though. John

Hi Brian, It does look sukashi and if it was what an extraordinary tsuba that would be. However it is gold inlay. The English caption alludes to the fact it is not sukashi because the black and white plate gives that look. The manji formed at certain nexi really stick out in this one, eh? John

Did we see these already?

Hi Milt, Reminds me of a Showa period copy of a kyo-sukashi tsuba. I guess you'll know more when you get the red coat off. Luck, John Speaking of which is your magic show - poker chips and tumbler?

Heyyyyyyy..... no fair!!!!!! The 'here it comes 'post' jumped the queue. John :lol:

Hi KM, Try here. http://sushi-knifes.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc

Hi Titus, That is really a koshirae of magnificent workmanship. I especially like the way the crayfish / lobster is done. I would like to see more of the tanto though. John

Hi Wim, I would take Koichi-san's take on that over mine anyday. When kanji are messed with or interpreted like in sosho etc. I am confused and can only try. That is a more sensible date for the sword given the late shinshinto look it has and your study shows. A student, John

Hi KM, The European sword had very simple guards until the innovation of the rapier like weapons and the change from slash to thrust style of swordplay. There was a period where they became more and more complicated then the trend reversed in the smallsword era. There were some slashing weapons that had large guards eg. falchion but even with the sabre like weapons of the late 18th and 19th centuries the hand guard was minimal. The parry to a nihonto, a slashing sword would have a better chance of success using the flat of the sword rather than the minute area of the tsuba. If you check some of the kenjutsu ryu you will see what I mean. John

Hi KM, I just want to mention here that the tsuba was not intended to parry a strike though of course it would happen occasionally. Remember there were actual tsuba that were made of lacquered leather. The primary function was to prevent the hands from sliding onto the cutting edge. John

Hi All, My batteries finally charged. Here are some better views. John

Hi Guys, Not the Julian, Gregorian thing. The start of the lunar new year fluctuates from February to March. Certain additive months were added certain years to adjust for sidereal to lunar calender. Calling the 8th month August would not tally with the lunar calender. It has been discussed before how the 8th month was used as a charm month and did not truly reflect the month of forging. That convention nevertheless would not account for the real 8th month, the end of September start of November. In southeast asia it is even later, Tet or Changmai though they aren't relevent. I guess it really matters very little. John

Hi Koichi-san, I really find the month thing a toughie. However the start of the 8th month would be at the end of September would it not? John

Hi Ford, That is scans for you. The tenjogane has the usual old penny look and what looks like crepe is a fine nanakoji. I was going to post some better pics but my camera batts went dead, NiMH type, so it'll be a bit before they are recharged. The workmanship is pretty darn good. I really have a hard time trusting the mei on most of these fellows. John

Hi Wim, The date looks more like Anei to me 1772, perhaps? The 8th month August thing is misleading also, not really August. I can't help with the mei which is Seiryushi Kanetsugu for sure, the Seiryushi being a personal name. John

Hi Martin, Just a coincidence I'm sure. Before last polish probably not there and gone with the next. John

Hi Stephen, A few sellers have had ID private bidding before, and I did like to see who was bidding to check for shill bidding. Most auctions are still ID transparent are they not? I hope you don't mean they all will become private, too much room for manipulation. John

Hi All, I have just received an excellent fuchi made by Kanenaga. Apparently this is Watanabe Kanenaga a Seki swordsmith that also made tousougu. Has anyone seen his work before? know more about him? Would this, then, be Mino school? I just did some quick scans so you can't see how nice the takanikubori work is or the ko-nanakoji. John

Hi Scott, Yes and no. Like most things collectable you have to be able to seperate the gold from the dross. Where ever there is a demand there are fakers/fraudsters. There were thousands made through history. John

Hi Mike, Mark, You are right they are absolutely meaningless outside of Japan. I don't know why they come with swords except to help make a sword appear more legitimate. These are so easy to copy and replace any info on them. I kept that one as a keepsake example. John

Hi Mike, According to regulations the torokusho is to be turned in for a kobijutsuhin yushutsu kansa shomei for export. However sometimes this is bypassed and swords are exported with the torokusho. Here is one that came to me a few years back. Unless fake. John

Hi Milt, That is a good question. One I had asked a few years ago. I got no response at that time. I would like to know who can do restorative work as well. In fact that tsuba of Jim Gilbert that had some ya repaired that was on your sales section and sold, where was that repaired? If there is such a person that will do the work I can imagine he'd be very busy. John