Anthony

Ron, Thank you very much for your post. Again, to everyone who responded to my initial inquiry, I again apologize. I meant no ill-words towards anyone, it just seemed as if I was being personally attacked for asking a very simple question. Perhaps I should not take words on the internet so personally, it just felt as if I was being attacked and being labeled a bad person for even asking. I am very sorry to everyone that I got defensive with, but being from the South, one's honor or motivations is a very sensitive subject to attack. Perhaps it is a personal flaw of mine, and I will mind myself to watch what I say/type on these forums from now on. Thank you again to everyone for your thoughts on the topic, all of them were taken into account. Anthony.

I appreciate your opinions, but even you can understand... even a collector of the art for the art will not pay a $10,000 mark-up just to own a blade. Everyone has money in mind when making an acquisition. As with Mr. Barry, even if he didn't expect to acquire such nice items, it happened in the course of the purchase. But it was still a purchase. He decided that the item being sold was worth the price being paid, regardless of the materials in question. If an auction house was selling a $75,000 Masamune that was unpapered and easily recognized as gimei, you would not be so fast to question the monetary value of your purchase. Like anyone else, you would be careful to invest your money for the best purchase possible. Please do not try to label me as a person who studies art for the profit as opposed to art for art's sake. But also, like any other well-minded human being, I also weigh the investment to the entertainment value I will get out of an item. In no way would I purchase a $50k+ worthless piece of metal when I could rather invest $50k into multiple pieces that would better serve my learning and education, and possibly be worth their purchase price when and if I decide to pass them along. I am not sure if you meant to come off so abrasive, but please do not question my respect for the pieces in question. I appreciate everything on this earth for what it is. Be it functional, like a pencil... art, like a woodblock print... or both, as in a tsuba. But inside everyone is a voice telling them whether they are getting a good investment on their purchase. I have seen you post multiple threads asking for valuations on these boards, and as such, a monetary argument should not be brought up by you. I humbly and honestly apologize for any harsh comments I may have made if your post was not meant to be directed towards me... but I feel as if your last post was meant to be issued toward me (as you would not have posted it if not for the topic.) Respectfully, Anthony.

With all due respect, you can not value a sword, or fitting, without valuing the entire purchase. A $6000 sword might only be a $6000 sword because of the mountings that come with it. Perhaps you are speaking in a riddle that I don't yet understand... but buying a $1500 blade because it comes attached to a $1500 tsuba does not sound like a bad purchase to me. Again, this is all hypothetical as I am focused more on books than metal at my point in collecting... this topic was only started to hear stories like Barry's. But when buying an entire piece, you have to look at the entire purchase. If you sold a mounted Wak, would you not add in the cost of the mountings/fittings into the cost of the blade? The same applies in the opposite direction. Again, I am not meaning to be argumentative, and much respect... Anthony.

That is like saying "ignore the mei". When making a purchase you either add in every piece you are receiving, or add in none at all. You can not separate the entire purchase from the entire purchase. Again, you are trying to make more of my post than was intended my friend. Much love and respect, Anthony.

Again, as originally posted, this is not a topic that I made for opinions on whether I should be buying Nihonto specifically for the fittings... It is just a topic to see what may have come of some of the more experienced members' past purchases. And please take the eBay reference for just what it is, a reference. I did not mean to insinuate that I would be hopping on the site to buy up everything I come across to try and make a profit on the fittings... I just wanted to hear peoples' experiences at buying pieces and being pleasantly surprised at the "trinkets", or perhaps buying certain pieces for the fittings they saw presented. Again, thank you for the reply. I appreciate every bit of knowledge given to me, but I believe you took my post out of context. :D Anthony.

After looking at all the scenes being printed, and all the views being shown... I am HIGHLY doubtful that this scene never took place. All artists have some form of original subject (be it real-time or memory) that they give an interpretation of. I believe it is very... VERY... unlikely that this many prints were made of a scene that never happened. Perhaps we do not know when the skirmish occurred, or who was involved... but I feel fairly confident saying that this piece of history did occur. Our learning just may not be up to task to discern when, or where, with who, this may have occurred. Anthony.

Bug, As in all cultures, some art is meant as art, some art is meant as history. Even in today's society, we have court artists who will draw the images of a courtroom scene when photography is not allowed. Perhaps what we are seeing is an artists quick interpretation of what is happening, and perhaps not exactly what was being seen. All art may very well be history, but not all history may be classified as true "art". Perhaps this is one of those times that the artist was trying to get a truth across while maybe not being entirely truthful in his interpretation. Just food for thought, but it does not sit well with me that this scene was printed and never happened historically. It may be perhaps that some ancient artists would have copied scenes of historically important events, but as this is a scene that has no easily recognizable information, it does not sit with me that this scene never happened. It does not come to my knowledge often that artists would fabricate a scene purely for the aesthetics. Aside from today's Hollywood, it was not often, if at all, that an ancient artist would completely fabricate a scene completely for arts' sake. There must be some truth behind the picture, unless specifically commissioned by the winning side for propaganda... which would be a study/lecture topic unto itself. This topic is getting deeper and deeper. It may very well be time for me to leave this subject as-is, and perhaps may be time for the more historically educated to take over... I am simply giving my views of the situation. Anthony.

As in every culture, some things were made more mythos than fact. As you stated, it may very well be that this battle never took place, but that the story was fabricated to give an understanding as to how the families in the picture came to power. As a matter of opinion, this may even be a great topic for your discussion, how history is fabricated to express the present. No one is trying to say that a battle didn't happen at this particular post... but perhaps the people involved were not the original combatants. Perhaps the flags in the picture just symbolize the families that came to power after the battle... and perhaps the battle was slightly exaggerated to make the story fit the outcome. This could all be used as a discussion topic, but may be out of the scope of the lecture. I am a philosophy grad, so perhaps I see fact/argument in anything presented to me... but this is a path of study none-the-less. No matter what you decide to do with your lecture, I bet the participants will be happy to absorb everything you have to offer! That is the great thing about information. Even mis-represented information gives insights into the true meaning of a topic. Even if the clans pictured didn't participate in the battle, perhaps you could give an understanding into why they were pictured as maybe they came to power after the mentioned prints. Anthony.

As was touched on earlier, you could always it as an opportunity to discuss the various crests used by the families. There are more than 5 flags being flown in the pictures, and these could either: A) Be used to try and narrow down the conflict (everyone one of the crests could not be present at more than a few skirmishes.) B) Be used to discuss the families present even if you do not recognize the conflict in question. Half of the trouble in being a teacher is possibly having to relate the subject matter to a topic that is not being pictured. Get creative, I know you will come up with something they will love!

Sadly the answer to tenta-porn and other unusual Japanese fetishes is that actual intercourse was outlawed due to decency laws even in cartoons... so while human/human intercourse was illegal, there was no law banning human/alien intercourse... hence the current, "trend". And for the love of god, please do not ask me why I know this... Anthony.

That is exactly the type of find I am referring to! Talk about a diamond in the rough... those are exquisite! Anthony.

So I know this might be a hypothetical question for most... But have any of you all thought about or have purchased a cheap blade just for the fittings/tsuba? I only ask because with the price of tsuba/fittings going up to almost $1000, has anyone ever purchased a "cheap" blade specifically for the mountings/fittings? Just wondering, as on the bay there seem to be many antique blades with modern fittings, and many antique fittings with modern blades. Please do not take this as a "should I buy this" post... I am just looking for personal experiences. Anthony.

From what I see, it looks gorgeous! PLEASE post a full-length, high-res picture if at all possible. I love looking at hamon like this because you can almost feel what the smith was feeling. It looks almost aggressive towards the nakago with a definite softening toward the middle and tip sections. Almost as if his thoughts were calmed as he went. Or perhaps it was the other way around... Peaceful in the beginning with an aggressive inclination toward the end. Realizing the power of his creation, he went into a more aggressive mind-set. Such is the artistic merit shown in many Japanese works... and why everyone appreciates them differently. Also, in the oshigata, you can see the hamon in the kissaki/boshi... is this apparent when holding it in-hand, or proof of a re-polishing? Blades like yours keep me absolutely captivated... congratulations! Anthony.

It appears you read a little too deeply into my last post. I never meant to seem that a signature somehow signified a better blade, but it does signify a larger investment. And I never meant to imply that a mumei blade is any less worthy of admiration than a signed one. I simply meant that when it comes to purchasing any attributed works (even signed) it often seems like a crap-shoot as to what your actual outcome may be. And gambling scares me, as I tend to have terrible luck. I would rather have 5 beautifully crafted mumei as opposed to one signed piece in any case. Anthony

(Off topic, I know...) Eric, The polish on that blade is absolutely astounding. I can only imagine it in person... Anthony

Thank you for the wonderful reply Clive. You hit the nail on the head with your posting as to my motive also. Being in the financial position that I may never have the chance to personally own a fine blade, it would suit me well to not only please the owner with a fine oshigata, but also the chance to study various pieces that I would never otherwise have access to. As per the photography, as I stated... I love viewing great pictures of blades. Yet there is something different about viewing a hand-drawn illustration. As you said, viewing anything is very dependent upon environmental factors such as light, and even more-so in photography. In a drawing, you know what the artist was trying to show. A photograph may miss the vertical intricacies of the hamon, but the artist is sure to show it. On parting... Clive, my time is crunched between family, work, and when I am not sleeping, hobbies. But I would love to take time to look at your various works. I am simply sorry if it takes some time to get that reply. :D I will also try to have pictures e-mailed to me of various pieces I have done and show them. While most are not true oshigata, you may find some enjoyment in my blade "portraits". Anthony

I know that I might be a little bit late to this party, but from the eyes of a novice... This is the exact reason that I find it hard to take that first plunge into the world of purchasing a blade. I have seen and studied many nice pieces, but I have been warned in the past about signatures, "Unless it's already gimei, it's always a risk." I absolutely love the study of blades, and can spend many hours reading online and researching, but purchasing a blade scares the hell out of me. Maybe a nice tsuba collection would suit me well. :lol: Anthony

You really think someone would leave their blade unattended with me at a show? I am assuming the owner would want to be present full-time. I will post an example of past work in the next few days when I can make it to my friend's house in Gurnee. Anthony

Thanks for the reply Lee. Oh I didn't mean rough-sketch as in, "Here's an outline of your sword." More of a, "Here is what it would turn out to be." It would take me at least an hour for each side of the blade and that doesn't even include the extra backgrounds and calligraphy work. I don't know if many people would be willing to spend 4+ hours sitting with me while an exhibition is going on around them. And as for working for a fee... given the circumstances, the chance to be in-person with various pieces would normally be payment enough. Maybe charge for a more ornamental work. I will have to upload one I did for a friend to give an example... Anthony

Thank you for the remarkably fast reply. That is also a question I had asked myself and why I figured doing them in-person at shows would be the best bet. I just see it as a wonderful opportunity not only for me to share my talent with someone else, but also to be able to closely study various blades that I would never have the opportunity to see otherwise. I have only been in Chicago for a little over 2 years now, and am still not quite sure what type of collecting scene we have here... but I am hopeful there might be one who wouldn't mind having me for lunch and a sketch session. Thanks again, Anthony.

So I have been watching the forums for a while now, and have a question that I don't believe I have seen posed before. I was wondering how one goes about entering into the world of drawing oshigata. I am a very well-founded charcoal, pen and pencil artist, and have even had works published in the past. I have 4 years of formal study, and it is hard to think of a better and more rewarding way to apply my talents than to draw oshigata. I guess my main questions were: 1) Is it even possible to enter into this field? (Or is it a closed-off community, so to say?) and... 2) With the advent of HD digital photography, do owners/collectors still have oshigata made for their blades? I love a detailed photograph as much as the next person, but there is always something more... personal... about studying a hand-drawn reproduction. I only have one final question to pose and that is: If you were at a nihonto show/exhibition and someone was offering to do free "rough-sketch" oshigata to demonstrate their work, would you accept? I am sorry if this question has been asked before, but I was unable to locate such a thread. Any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated. Anthony S.

Hello and good morning everyone. My name is Anthony. I have been lurking for a while now, and decided it was time to register and say Hello. I am 26 years old, and first became interested in Japanese swords while studying Mandarin in college (I just started on learning Japanese as well, and it is actually much easier). I don't remember exactly what it was that first caught my attention, but I fell in love with the grain-work achieved in some blades. There is also a weird feeling you get when looking at a well-polished blade and knowing it is over 400 years-old. You wonder what it has seen in its lifetime. I have always been fascinated with ancient and antique art, and I have a rather handsome collection of ancient coins from the Byzantines / Romans / etc. You can learn a lot about a civilization by looking at the money they used, and like-wise I feel you can learn a lot by looking at the weapons they produce also. And to not call these hand-forged blades art would be blasphemous. Well, that's a little bit about me. I am just glad that I found a community as knowledgeable as this one to learn from. Thanks again everyone. Back to lurking.