Marius

Alex, for socks, eBay rocks

Stu, Was the Satsuma a hira zukuri? If yes, why do you think a shorter blade is somehow worse than a longer one? At least that is what I think has driven your purchase... Why do you think there are so many collectors appreciating tanto, hm?

Honestly, gentlemen, why are we discussing eBay at all? It is all about crap these days. Do you expect to buy anything but crap? I don't, unless some NMB member puts up his stuff on eBay, like this Higo tsuba: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-sword- ... 3a7f746469 But exceptions confirm the rule - eBay is good to buy/sell trash. I would suggest that we conclude this discussion. We are off topic, whch was a short question if sellers on eBay revert to tricks. The answer is: yes, they do. IMHO nothing more left to discuss, or we should now move to the Izakaya to dig in the smelly intensities of this auction service...

Stu, I dare say - excellent purchase. Yu have bought a fine wakizashi for a low price just because it is Bungo. If that were your first Japanese sword (although I think it is not) I would have to say that you are a genius :D Well done, sir

Alex, where is the English (or shall I say "British" for the sake of political correctness?) sense of sportsmanship? Ah, the world is going to the dogs

George, the only way to go, if you really find something interesting on eBay and you trust the seller - use a sniping service. You set your maximum price, the service puts in your bid in the last few seconds and you either win or lose, but you haven't allowed yourself to be drawn into a bidding frenzy (which might have been fuelled by shill bidding by the seller).

George, I have no idea how the privacy settings work, but I know that some eBay dealers set up fake eBay accounts to bid their stuff up. I don't use eBay these days, I don't even sell stuff as they have a limit how much I can sell per month and they may do me the favour to increase it once I have dicussed my "selling targets" with them

Shill bidding is pretty common on eBay. I don't say that it happened in this case. Sometimes people bid like crazy in the last minutes, or even seconds of the auction. But no one knows what goes on behind the scenes...

If you like genuine period koshirae, as opposed to all those sloppy Frankenstein jobs as seen on eBay (and elsewhere), look at the top three on Boris's site: http://www.yamabushiantiques.com/YBA2_KOSHIRAE.htm and another one here: http://www.yamabushiantiques.com/KOSHIRAE20.htm and here: http://www.yamabushiantiques.com/BM%20U ... hirae1.htm

Digging out this thread again... I have found another tsuba which bears some resemblance to Brian's. It is an Iyo Shoami, mid-Edo tsuba. See the difference in workmanship.

Denis, felt may contain diluted acids. I don't think it was abrasion.

Well equipped kitchen, Jussi

If it is nearly for free ($200 or so) you might take it. But it might have a fatal flaw which you won't see. No more polish in this blade, even if we ignore the cost. I'd say - let it be, save the money (this is a 100% sure saving, while any profit on this blade might be more or less illusory) and go for something polished. A polished and papered wakizashi (sue-Koto) can be bought for $1,200 or so... IT won't be a masterpiece and will have some flaws, but at least you will see the hada and nioiguchi :-)

Curtis, the nakago shows age, or so it seems (nothing is certain in nihonto ) I would say, this is a late Koto, a late Muromachi ubu wakizashi. Yes, the nakago shows many polishes, you have identified this absolutely correctly. If we could discern yasurime on the nakago, I would expect them to confirm that this is a sue-Seki blade...

Grey has summed up just about everything with this comment. Let me just add that this sword has been polished down heavily. Definitely a no-go.

I would say the hat and gourd sukashi could prove to be a quite decent ("decent" as opposed to "crappy") late Edo tsuba. But I would not expect any excellent forging here - such tsuba were made of "factory iron" plates: http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/tsuba/tsubajg.htm Not sure about the last tsuba - it must have undergone severe corrosion and subsequent cleaning. Hard to say if it was good before that. I am not a metallurgist, so I don't really know what you are up to - do you want to examine carbon contents?

No, it is not. Such remnants of good/important swords have been preserved just to admire the steel.

Grumpy on a Saturday morning , with loads of work for the weekend Sorry, I promise to revert to my default mode of cheerfulness BaZZa, no offence, OK? Please, please?

BaZZa, You admit that you have held in your hand a greatly shortened wakizashi/katana, and I may add that it is likely that the koshirae has been assembled (I doubt it was custom made). Of course we can call a greatly shortened sword a tanto (which, BTW is not a very old term) but it will not be on, at least not originally made as such. Someone find me an ubu blade with a nagasa of up to 30cm (heck, I'll be generous and go beyond the definition of tanto: let us make that 35 cm!) and I will gladly admit that I am wrong Of course the problem lies in the nomenclature. "Tanto" is a relatively new term. But even if we look at was was once called "koshigatana" - we are not very likely to find shinogi zukuri there.

Yes, it is interesting, isn't it. :-) BTW, I have noticed that all tsuba of this "mirror-inspired type" tend to be crude when compared to mirrors. When writing this I am looking at a Western Han TLV mirror (no, I haven't bought this online, heaven forbid ) and apart from the metal, which is exquisite, smooth bronze with awesome patina colours, the design is so detailed and precise that a Japanese "kagamishi" tsuba looks positively primitive in comparison. Having said that, in many examples of "kagamishi" tsuba this crudeness contributes to a feeling of strength and antiquity. Or at least that is what I think Sasano would say

Sorry, there were no tanto with a shinogi zukuri (honzukuri) shape. Also, a 14inch shinogi zukuri wakizashi would be very very untypical, to say the least.

Henry, what interests me is if these sukashi (including inome) were cast. On Brian'ts tsuba they look like they are cut.

I have found one intteresting tsuba in Tsuba Shusei. Please look - it is pretty obvious that never had seppa-dai. Both sides, each side is different. Very interesting piece, IMHO...

Just adding a few of similar tsuba, but from the Muromachi period (from Tsuba Kanshoki and Tsuba Shusei). Enjoy

Mauro, I am sorry, but a late Edo tosho tsuba has also "similarity" to a ko-tosho And a run of the mill late Edo sukashi is quite "similar" to an excellent Kanayama :D But to be honest, it is not so much about the quality of this piece vs. similar early tsuba. The composition and motives of the sukashi are just wrong for the purported period, those early tsuba had simple inome + flowers sukashi, no chidori or tomoe. Also, stamped crests. Another thing that seems to confirm Brian's tsuba's young age is the material. It is made of suaka, while in those old tsuba yamagane was used. Please browse Tsuba Kanshoki or Tsuba Shusei for examples. Here are two: http://www.yamabushiantiques.com/BM%20Aoi%20Tsuba.htm http://www.yamabushiantiques.com/BM%20M ... 0tsuba.htm