Marius

Gentlemen, All is paid to Brian, thank you 😊 I will do my best to ship your books tomorrow.

Tsuba is SOLD, thanks. Brian, thank you very much for your kind endorsement. This means a lot to me

3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12 reserved. Thank you, gentlemen. You know the drill, payment to Brian Shipping addresses via PM, please Thanks!

11. Sotheby's catalogue: Highly Important Japanese Swords... 1979 thin book, sorry will have to check... 12. The Red Guards of the Ii Family: Arms and Armor of the Hikone fief 102 pages, but chock-a-block with great photos in colour!

9. 刀工大鑑 – An encyclopedia of sword smiths (aka Tokuno Taikan) 784 pages ======================================================= 10. Samurai Dandyism in Japan

7. 刀剣価格事典 – Swords price list 322 pages 8. 新々刀入門 – An introduction to shinshinto ~200 pages

5. 百剣百話 – Hundred swords, hundred stories 230 pages ========================================================== 6. 日本刀発掘アルバム – Enjoying various nihonto 222 pages

3. 鐔入門 – An introduction to tsuba 192 pages ============================================== 4. 刀装入門 – An introduction to fittings 192 pages

1. 日本刀入門 – An introduction to nihoto 135 pages ============================================================== 2. 脇差の魅力 – A fascination for wakizashi 235 pages

Gentlemen, Rules of this sale are simple: 1. If you buy a book (or books), make payment directly to Brian. 2. Buy up to three books - shipping cost is on me (free for you) 3. More than three books - from $30 (price depends on weight), payable to me, Paypal or bank transfer, your choice. I will ship once a week, so bear with me. Brian will send me confirmations of the paid prices. And here is the first batch of books, the Japanese titles translated by the ever so kind and generous Moriyama san (thank you! ) Prices: 1 , 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8: $20 each 9: $40 10: $30 11: $10 12: $30 Titles: 1. 日本刀入門 – An introduction to nihoto <Subtitle> 選び方、買い方 – how to choose, how to buy <Author> 柴田光男 – Shibata Mitsuo <Publisher> 光芸出版 – Kogei-shuppan 2. 脇差の魅力 – A fascination for wakizashi <Author> 柴田光男 – Shibata Mitsuo <Publisher> 光芸出版 – Kogei-shuppan 3. 鐔入門 – An introduction to tsuba <Author> 柴田光男 – Shibata Mitsuo <Publisher> 光芸出版 – Kogei-shuppan 4. 刀装入門 – An introduction to fittings <Subtitle> 拵と小道具 – Koshirae and kodogu <Author> 柴田光男 – Shibata Mitsuo <Publisher> 光芸出版 – Kogei-shuppan 5. 百剣百話 – Hundred swords, hundred stories <Subtitle> わが愛刀に悔なし – No regret in my favorite swords <Author> 飯田一雄 – Iida Kazuo <Publisher> 光芸出版 – Kogei-shuppan 6. 日本刀発掘アルバム – Enjoying various nihonto <Author> 三田光剣 – Mita Koken <Publisher> 光芸出版 – Kogei-shuppan 7. 刀剣価格事典 – Swords price list <Note> Tsuba, kodogu price list included. <Publisher> 光芸出版 – Kogei-shuppan 8. 新々刀入門 – An introduction to shinshinto <Subtitle> 幕末・維新の日本刀 – Nihonto in the last days of Tokugawa shogunate and the Meiji Restoration <Author> 柴田光男 – Shibata Mitsuo <Publisher> 光芸出版 – Kogei-shuppan 9. 刀工大鑑 – An encyclopedia of sword smiths <Subtitle> 決定版 – Definitive edition <Author> 得能一男 – Tokuno Kazuo <Publisher> 光芸出版 – Kogei-shuppan 10. Samurai Dandyism in Japan Nigensha Publishing Co. Tokyo Metropolita Museum of Photography 11. Sotheby's catalogue: Highly Important Japanese Swords... 1979 Sotheby's 12. The Red Guards of the Ii Family: Arms and Armor of the Hikone fief Hikone Castle Museum I will post photos of each book below, so this doesn't get to unwieldy.

And it’s tentatively on HOLD again

Offer runs until Sunday midnight. After that tsuba returns to the drawer

AVAILABLE AGAIN... Measurements are: 8.4 x 8.5 x 0.5 cm at rim, 0.5 cm at seppa dai. Plate is convex, so is thinner closer to rim.

39.5 x 39.5 cm - a wonderful plate with two dragons, male and female. Absolutely lovely, an great decoration of any Japanese room or man cave or even a living room. Made of cast iron... Wait, no! This plate is made of something ceramic. I didn't dare examine it further (I wouldn't like to drill through, mind you). Anyway, it is made to look like cast iron, and you can really be deceived, until you take it in your hands (it is lighter than cast iron). Scratch on the backside where you can see the white material this was made of. Gypsum, I over a wood base, I suppose. Comes in a battered old box, with some inscription inside, part obscured by black ink (most likely owner's name). $400 (EUR 370) this time shipping is extra. Bank transfer only, please. I presume shipping would be around $30-35 Please note - I'd rather ship without box, as I cannot ship it in the box - there is no possibility to wrap it and put in the box, which is to small for that. And I want it to arrive safely, so I would have to wrap box and plate separately.

Tentatively on hold. Might be released again.

Gentlemen, I believe this is the real thing in terms of simple iron tsuba mounted on samurai swords during the long Sengoku period. I have seen a few old swords in simple field koshirae, with very similar - albeit smaller - tsuba and with saya wrapped in thin leader and (alongside all kodogu) covered in a matt black coating. Poor man's urushi someone called it, Richard Turner I believe. This kind of coating differs dramatically from the urushi you have on some more ornate tsuba. It must have been cheap and quick to apply. This example is big (like 8+cm big), is convex and thick and massive in hand. With such a fat body no tsuba expert will call this guard a ko-katchushi as ko-katchushi must be anorectic Never mind, I don't take those 'schools' seriously, though they may be useful as neat names for cataloguing stuff. Anyway, a workhorse tsuba and the lacquer (as I believe it is lacquer) is cool. Some corrosion at rim, as you ca see in the third picture. As to the measurements - the last pic shows it next to a 7.3 x 7.1 tsuba. $250 (EUR 230) incl. shipping to US and EU

Brian, I am looking forward to this sale

I declare that I will do the same. I may not have as many books, but I trust enough to raise some funds for Brian. I will be able to take pics of the books on Friday... Brain, will you kindly email me with instructions?

Old and corroded, but still usable and cheap. Momoyama to early Edo. A little bit of cleaning and it can be mounted on a long wakizashi or even short katana. Wabi sabi aesthetics. 7.3 x 7.1 x 0.4cm at rim, 0.25 at seppa dai $60 (€55) incl. shipping to EU/US

SOLD, thank you Alex 😊

Thanks Alex I agree on the price, that is why the offer ends Sunday - I just like this tsuba As to how it was mounted, I have some thoughts... Given the size of the sekigane, one can imagine that the nakago ana is pretty big. My take is that was first mounted on a wakizashi, and after that (with the sekigane) on a tanto. Was it a yoroi doshi? Perhaps, but it must have been long, as a tsuba of this size would look disproportionately large on a blade of 20-24cm. Anyway, I guarantee that the buyer will be satisfied

Two photos that reflect the iron quality well (I hope). This is really an old and nice tsuba. i will be equally happy selling or keeping it

An interesting thing - I have just now realised that the sukashi motif is a stylised dragonfly. I must have been blind This offer runs until Sunday 24:00 GMT+1. After that this tsuba returns to my collection. Feel free to make me an offer in the meantime. Thanks for looking

This one is a small guard, 6.7 x 6.7 x 0.2 cm. Again, I failed at photographing it, it looks much better in hand. Muromachi period, possibly worn on a short uchigatana (today called wakizashi) or sunnobi tanto. One flaw: the hitsu ana wall (which I think was added later) has a hairline crack in the lower part, where it is thinnest and meets the seppa dai. The price should offset this, however. Very nice iron, there are tiny little protruding spots of iron (the largest has the size of a pinhead) where the patina is off and bare iron shines through. I would leave it alone, just saying, so there are no surprises. These are visible in the last two pics. $250 (EUR230) incl. shipping to EU and US.

PM re 1 sent