Ian B3HR2UH

Hello Jake , as no one else has commented I will give you the bad news . There is no chance of these being Goto . The workmanship is just nowhere near good enough . You would expect the Shakudo to be a dark bluey black wheras yours are a coffee color . Sorry to ruin your day . Attached is one of my pieces signed Goto Deshi ( I forget the rest ) which will show you what the color should be like . Ian Brooks

Hi Barry , would you aspire to have that " lovely " tsuba in your collection ? I think it is pretty mediocre and that we should be trying to educate people that this sort of stuff is just that. Regards Ian

Nice to have an original copy though MIck Ian Brooks

This is an interesting observation that deserves to be treated seriously . I haven't seen such a thing before . Ian brooks

They don't Gerry . I was offered some of these pieces ie newly polished blades in shirasaya with an accompanying mount . I obviously couldn't put the newly polished blade in the old saya to see if it fitted but I could see if the tsuka fitted over the nakago . It was no surprise that none of the handles fitted the blades they supposedly went with . It was just a mount thrown together to put on display . The lack of respect for their own history staggers me . The NBTHK must bear some responsibility for this , I think , as they seem to provide no incentive not to part things out . Ian Brooks

Dealers can make more from selling the parts than they can from selling the whole sword so they separate them out . Westerners want a koshirae to display with their blade so the obliging dealer puts one together for them from his left over parts. Ian Brooks

In about 1970 when I was 15 years old I owned a few non Japanese swords . Each month I would attend the Antique Arms Collectors Guild meeting at the Hawthorn Band rooms . There was a signed Japanese blade in a gunto saya on sale for Eight dollars . That price was way too high . Each month the asking price would come down by a dollar and when it got to five dollars I bought it ( from underneath my good friend Barry Thomas's nose ) . I couldn't read the mei at the time but later was able to read it as Tojiro Hisakuni a famous koto maker . Gimei ,I am sure ,although one Japanese who saw it was pretty keen on it . It is something that I still own . Ian Brooks

These are so obviously metal and NOT wood

It doesn't look like it is even tempered . The hamon looks like the acid etched or scratched fake hamon that they put on parade sabres . If he won't let you take the handle off then he is probably hiding something . I would walk away from this piece. Ian Brooks

Dale , you are showing pictures of tsuba by TOMOhisa wheras the question concerned TOMIhisa. Tomo and Tomi are two different characters . My tsuba is by Tomihisa and not Tomohisa who, as you have shown , is prolific. Ian

Attached is one of my pieces by Choshu Tomihisa . I have never seen another tsuba by this man Ian Brooks

Yes that's it Dale . So if anyone has the Vever catalogue illustrating this piece I would love to hear from them. Ian Brooks

Hi Dale , it is number 3682 in Hawkshaw and is illustrated on plate XXVI . The subject is three namako or sea cucumbers . Ian

I have a kozuka which was in the Peter Hawkins collection . His catalogue says that it was in the Hawkshaw and Vever collections . It is indeed illustrated in the Hawkshaw catalogue .There were five Sotheby's sales of the Vever collection between 1972 and 1974 . I have the catalogues for the third and fourth sales and my kozuka is not in them . Does anyone have the catalogues for the first ( 1972 ) , second (1973 ) or fifth ( 1974 ) sales who would be happy to look for my piece in them. Thanks Ian Brooks

It seems foolish to display the blades naked and open to the atmosphere . They are traditionally stored in saya for a reason . Ian Brooks

Hi Anthony , I also purchased a few items at the auction and am really pleased with them . I don't think that there has ever been a bigger or better auction of fittings in this country . I understand that the vendor lived in London at one time and purchased items from Sotheby's and probably other auction houses in the 70's . I have a few Sothebys catalogues from this era and a lot of the pieces auctioned last night are in them. Lot 317 is in one of the Sotheby's catalogues and it gives the maker of your piece as Umetada Chikashige . The seal on the back is his according to Shosankenshu . The other interesting information is that according to the catalogue this piece was in the Seymour Trower collection . My quick look at the Trower sale catalogue didn't pick it up but with a little more time I hope that you do. Ian Brooks

HI Mark , meeting Barry Thomas was the first big step . Regards Ian

I doubt that this is Japanese Ian Brooks

HI Bob , 1969 Regards Ian

Hi Bob , I came across your Ikkin tsuba in the Fahrenhorst collection book and thought you would like to see it Ian Brooks

Here are a couple of mine Dan . The " hook " fitting is more typical of Army belts but I am sure it is just a choice of the manufacturer . Ian Brooks

I have a sword that a previous owner loved so much that he took it to bed with him ! Guess he fell out of love . Ian Brooks

I hope I didn't give the wrong impression . These are not pieces that I am wanting to buy . The owner asked for an opinion on values which I gave him . I posted here so he would get alternative views. Ian Brooks

Thank you all for your opinions . It is interesting to see the range of views from 2500AU to 6000 US . There is a comparable piece on Jauce at the moment for 800,000 yen ( g1116642310 ). Of course it may sit there unsold for ages at that price . I said to the owner that if it was my sword I would be pretty disappointed if I couldn't get 5000 $AU for it and pretty happy if I got $7000 AU for it

Yes Bazza , you may be right but what say you, as an occasional cataloguer, about its value . The blade itself has some real quality about it and I think you would like it . Ian