Bungo

we have had enough winking already !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! milt

I think you did a great job on the cleaning but personally i would avoid cleaning the brass/copper. milt

happy Kwanzaa and Hanukkah......oh, Merry Christmas. for all you Pagans out there, may you never run out of " fill in the blanks/choice " to sacrifice. And to end this annus horribulis ( spelling? it's a fu%$# confusing year anyway ), I present the big bang to welcome 2009.......... ( yes, i bought it on e-bay ) quoting Steve.... " oh, one more thing..... " Happy 1000 yr. birthday to our amorous hero Genji........may all playboys of the world be so " lucky ". milt

more close-ups of the earwig........ and a new present for myself... a small Nara school Tanto tsuba ( faded silver nunome on the tree and rocks )., surface treatment is quite interesting, seems to have extensive iron bones. milt

the menuki that comes with the tsuka...... milt

" one of those is a free download of "Legends in Japanese Art" by Joly. I would check that out for any mention of a rabbit and waves " there's no rabbit entry in Joly's....he listed it under " hare " milt

Shan ain't going anywhere, he just want people to repond to his messages without " belittle" his finds too harshly.......... milt

Felix, Check out Joly's Legendsin Japanese Art page 195. " It is said that the female conceives by running on the waves on the 18th day of the 8th moon, if the sky is clear, or by ...( some foreplay which I don't think the censor will appreciate, so i won't even try ). Or............. for those more " learned ", as pointed out by Nobody san, there's this totally dull entry that involved the Bonze of kencho-ji, Jikyu Zosu, visiting Chikubujima in Omi and had this moment..........alluding to some Chinese poem of old about tree, rabbit running on waves, holy lights and beginning of time and such. See Afu Quarterly ( Summer issue ) page 78-79. milt

take it with a lump of salt........ bunny jumping over waves is a fertility symbol. Urban sword myth ? milt

a must have........... ...........first documented that they played golf in Edo days in Japan. Must have been introduced through the scottish traders ala Jardins Huchinson. milt

May all your Pagan wishes come true( regardless of how deprived they may be )............... milt

I like 'em too...........nice. milt

under belly pic please............ just wondering where the peg is located with the right side one. milt

looks like wisteria design............ too bad they " spilled " the gold paint just kidding.......... other than the " spill ", it's quite nice. Late edo, waki-Goto school ? Doesn't look like Yokohama dock special to me............ milt

ummmmmmm, pushing aside the garlics. I think this could be a Hizen tsuba with namban influence ? not something i would actively seek out but it does have it's rustic charm( the dragon ). The reverse is ...... no comment ( can't think of anything positive to say and Mama said if you have nothing ........ ) I don't think this is early, most likely late mid to late edo. milt

that's because you buy from the wrong places............ milt

http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-Armor-Yoro ... 240%3A1318 still call it a maedate if it's behind ? no " hole " on the top, so the legend/urban myth about that being the escape route of the soul is ? milt

so old masters are machines ? milt

workmanship ? Taste ?...........lack of both is not a work by the master ? let's check out the bamboo done by a master.............. tiger is good, can't say the same about the weak looking bamboo. You can always agrue it's intentional then it's like the Picadilly Circle merry go around............ milt

hey, after spending majority of your life time " studying " " ART APPRECIATION ".......you gotta be able to put it down in high sounding philosophyical treatise. To be able to dress subjectivity into the guise of objectivity.........priceless. p.s. i still like the earwig my philosophy is very simple.............. whatever turn you on, it's cool. Won't get me an appointment to Harvard but i am happy, and that's good enough for me. peace............ milt

the tiger is charming ,have a Korean tiger painting look to it. Now i am not saying it's from korea.............. milt

it must have been hard work to make all those nanako rice balls, he bloody gave up on the other side !! the tsuba looks awfully thick, is that a casting seam on the mimi ? What happened to the kashira ? milt

Felix........... milt

Shan, CRAPS ( what you showed ) !! you should have aimed at least this level if you are into samurai theme............. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0138520589 milt

since you are in jersey.............. the closest one i can think of is BIG Mo, he's in new York and i have consigned things to him before and have no problem. milt