Shugyosha

Gentlemen, Never being one to shy away from an opportunity to demonstrate my ignorance, I'm wondering why this sword at Aoi Art isn't selling: https://www.aoijapan.com/katanared-signature-rai-kunizane-honami-kaomistutada It has been in their auction twice now and is currently back sitting on the shelf looking lonesome and waiting for that Mr Right to open his wallet. I suspect that there is a deeper reason than my analysis is capable of revealing: the sword appears to be healthy, is unsigned but has a shumei done by Hon'ami Mitsutada attributing the blade to Rai Kunizane and this is backed up by Tokubetsu Hozon papers but, there is the telling remark "we think that this blade is comparable to NBTHK juyo blade"...which I take to mean "this blade won't receive juyo papers". If I am correct, does anyone have any thoughts as to why not as it seems, at face value anyway, a pretty good candidate to me and it may be educational to indulge in a bit of speculation. Has the shumei attribution prejudiced its chances of progressing further perhaps or am I just overestimating the quality??? Any views gratefully received. Kind regards, John

I would guess Yamato Hosho school which is famous for its masame hada. I think he's gone a stage further and mixed two kinds of steel as the layers really jump out on this one. A lovely sword.

I think it's one that Peter Yorke attends regularly, but you would have to check the list of exhibitors. Garth Vincent sometimes has Japanese blades as does Michael D Long and I've encountered them at the London Arms Fair so they may do Birmingham as it is nearer for them and may well be for you too. If you are going to London you could try to drop in on Don Bayney at Grays Antique Centre, though I understand that it pays to contact him first as he isn't there every day.

Hi John, The top floor of the Pitt Rivers museum in Oxford is given over to weaponry and there are some Japanese blades there. Best, John

One of the other things I do is archery and they ain't arrows. Not if they are expected to fly anyway.

Sorry Jean and all the other members, I was hoping that the irony would come through, but French is my second language... Perhaps if Gerald were to contact one of the Francophone members by PM he might get more information? Mes meillieurs sentiments, John

Vous avez raison. Tous les membres qui parlent Anglais sont nuls. :laughing:

My first thoughts were shinshinto Gassan and I haven't had any better ones so that's my bid.

Hi Al, The signature is on the side that would be visible when the sword is worn with the edge upward so, it's a katana if it's long enough. The inscription on the other side is the date...unfortunately neither are very clear to me but I can make out "Bishu Osafune" on the signature side. I'd guess sue bizen so pre 1600 but probably not pre 1500 if the date tallies . It looks like it's machi okuri and probably started life as a katana for single handed use (katate uchi) but the cutting edge was shortened so that it could take a longer grip for two handed use later on. Maybe someone with better eyes can help with filling in the blanks on the date and signature. Best, John

Hi Jeremiah, Thanks for posting a very thought-provoking thread. As soon as I've worked out the answer I'll let you know. This is something I'm having real difficulty with lately: tying money up in what I think of as an art collection but what is in fact stuff that I don't display and so don't enjoy on a daily basis. Furthermore, I'm not sure that I need to own more swords in order to continue to learn about them and I know that the ones I can afford aren't likely to be of sufficient quality to satisfy me as my tastes have moved on. And this in the context of struggling for an overall purpose or direction to my collecting...so a bit of a conundrum. In the meantime, I'll keep thinking about it as I don't want to just drop the whole Nihonto thing and hopefully by the time the question resolves itself I'll have saved sufficient money to take things on. Best, John

Sorry, forgot to add the relevant smiley to indicate that I wasn't being serious.

Hi Ed, How does the tsuba fit? There's always a chance that some enterprising person swapped out the tsuba if the original was a good piece that would turn a profit. Any luck with the habaki? I'd use some kind of penetrating oil - do you get WD40 in the Netherlands? Give the area a good soak and try to work the oil in under the habaki, wrap it in kitchen towel and find something to do for a couple of days. Hopefully that will sort it out, but it might come to attacking it with tin snips or the like and replacing the habaki. Best, John

Hi Timur, I think you should perhaps take a step back. What Ray is saying is that there is a strong possibility that this is gimei due to the placement of the mei. Also, IMHO it does look rather fresh for a group of smiths working around or pre-1300. Some examples of signatures here: http://www.sho-shin.com/hatakeda.htm More examples and some prices here: https://www.aoijapan.net/?s=hatakeda&x=31&y=18 Best, John

It's an interesting idea - do you think there's a market for owning antiques on a "time share" basis?

Dear all, I opted for the paperback version and my copy arrived this morning so here goes with my first impressions - apologies if it's a bit rambling. As regards the size of the book, it is actually a little shorter and a little wider than A4 size. This isn't a gripe as the size enables (in most cases) four good-sized photographs and a description of each tsuba to fit on each page (though some contain two or three where where Grev has picked out particular tsuba for a particular attention). The tsuba are not to scale, but dimensions are provided and photographs are all in colour and are very clear and detailed. In most cases they are of the omote of the tsuba alone, though some of the more interesting tsuba are shown both front and back, though I suspect also that this may be linked to the number of examples of a particular school in the museum's collection - for example there are lots of Namban tsuba (omote only) but only six Tanaka tsuba (ura and omote). The book is well indexed: schools are shown in alphabetical order from Akao to Yanagawa and in ascending date order within each school. Grev has included some commentary on the history and style of each school at the start of the relevant section. There are additional sections that deal with tsuba in the museum's collection that do not fit into the headings of a particular school such as those that are utsushi, shiiremono, modern tsuba (the sharp-eyed among you will spot a couple of shodai Hallam ryu examples) or tsuba "in the style of" certain schools or artists. In the case of signed tsuba, (with the exception of those that are gimei), the artists are linked to the index in Haynes and there is a useful section with enlarged photographs of the mei and this is cross-referenced to the full pictures of the tsuba. All in all I feel that it is a very well thought out and presented book with sufficient breadth to appeal to those who are at the start of their tsuba collecting, or who dabble occasionally like myself, but also some depth to attract the more experienced collector in terms of good pictures of tsuba from well-respected schools that have been hidden away until now and sample signatures of their makers. Again, congratulations to Grev on bringing this work to fruition and for bringing the museum's collection to light, which I do feel is a very worthy endeavour. :clap: :beer:

左近将監 Sakon Shōgen is an honorary title according to Markus Sesko's book so Matt nailed it. Apparently it was a court rank: "Lieutenant of the Left Division of Inner Palace Guards".

Hi Matt, This is as far as I got. I'm not sure it makes any sense and I'm not looking to contradict you, but I'll post it in case there is anything you can do with it... 金房化近將? 正重

Hi Ed, Maybe Kanabo Masashige. The first two characters may be Kanabo (金房), but I'm not convinced that I've identified the first one correctly. I can't make anything sensible from the remainder, though some clearer photographs might take things further. Being honest, I think you're going to have to wait for the heavy hitters to contribute. Best, John

I think it's a typo - whoever put the web page together missed a digit in the price, probably a "2" from the front...it'll be an interesting one to watch.

Hi Robert, Sorry, I somehow missed that it was a wakizashi... In other news, there's a Sengo Masashige here: http://nihonto.com/1.4.15.html And Aoi sold one within the last six months (I think): https://www.aoijapan.net/tanto-masashige-saku-sengo/ I'm not sure if the logic stacks up, but to my thinking a Muramasa tanto should go for more than one by his student so the Masashige prices might start to point you towards a low-end price for the Muramasa. But I might be talking crap... Best, John

Looks like Aoi will have one for sale presently... https://www.aoijapan.com/appraisal-quiz-445

There are other possibilities in Markus Sesko's book beginning with the 大 kanji, but again (for me) they don't quite tie up in terms of relating these kanji to what remains of the shapes on the tang: 大脇毛 - O Wakige - "armpit hair". 大雁骨 – O Karigane - a cut across the shoulder blades. 大毛ナシ - O Kenashi - large no hair cut. Yep, that's what it says in the book. However, I think it is heading in the right direction to assume that the first three kanji relate to the type of cut. Also the combination 切 手"kirite" is one that appears in a number of the inscriptions in Markus's book meaning "cut through" which might link in to what Ray has already. Unfortunately, that's all I can offer apart from apologies if I'm going over stuff that's obvious. Best, John

Thanks for posting Michael, it's been fun trying to work out an answer. I'm backing Thomas: I found a thread on here posted by PaulB on the Aoe school and the hada was the best match I've found so far...in fact I'll go (way, way, way) out on a limb and say Chu Aoe as there isn't much by way of sumegane in Michael's picture.

Hi John, I got 望 - bou - wish, hope, desire, aspiration, expectation. So maybe "in response to Mr Akiyama's wishes" might work as a translation - but it's the sort of thing that really gives me a headache and I wouldn't argue the toss if someone said something different. Best, John

Hi Dennis, I just "liked" your post. Did that help improve your rating? Hi Paul, I hope the edit takes care of it. Best, John