Marius

Dear All, Perhaps some of you would like to share pictures (owned by you) of swords before and after polish. If possible, I would kindly ask for your consent to publish them on the website of the Polish To-Ken Society http://www.nihonto.org.pl Of course picture ownership woul be published as well. Thanks in advance

Dear Bruno, please accept my apologies

Bruno, sorry, but this is an object which does not even deserve the apellation "tanto" and the nakago is a joke. If you want an expensive kitchen knife, I would still recommend something else... e.g. a... kitchen knife? As a beginner, please start at the beginning. Buy a few books, read the basic stuff like this: http://www.jssus.org/nkp/fake_japanese_swords.html Do not buy a sword first. Read, read, learn, etc...

many thanks, Ian

Ian, I am a great YKB fan, I have three pieces from the same workshop that David's tsuba came from. Consequently I am also very interested in any YKB or derivative work. So your tsuba are interesting to me (and other participants in this thread, I presume). Comparison of several tsuba, one (in your case two) of which are only on pics is tricky, but a good picture helps. Of course, if you don't have any at hand, I would not ask you to spend your time taking new ones. Only if you feel like PS: I find it a good exercise to take macro pics of my tsuba. Interesting details become visible...

Ian, have you got more picture of these?

Chris, you won't dodge this, sir I am just a beginner, a student. I always want to listen to the more advanced. Besides, if I knew for sure, I would tell it

Christian, for the sake of education, would you please give us some details? I mean, an obvious fake has some characteristics. I cannot discern the quality of the iron in David's tsuba, but surely there must be other things which give it away as a fake? BTW, fake, but what period? Revival fake or one of those strange Momoyama fakes Okimoto talks about? :D

John, as you say, it is a copy. I have seen the tsuba, Steve has not. It is hardly any of the two Norisuke. The difference is in the iron.

Clive, Excellent thread Thank you for bringing out this highly interesting issue. Nakahara is thought-provoking. It is good to discuss his opinions. Controversy is good, it makes us challenge the "estabished truth".

Maxime, thanks for the pictures :-) 1. looks like a cut down katana. Definitely o-suriage. Hard to tell without a polish, but judging by the patina on the nakago, it might be shinto, at least it was shortened in this period. 2. For re-selling without a loss? No. Otherwise... depends on how much you value it. A good polisher is a must, no amateur polishing. A good polisher will advise you better what it is and if it is worth a polish. 3. Edo. Not the best, but not very bad, either. 4. But other NMB members will know :-) hope that helps a bit...

Typical answers would be: 1. the smith was not entirely satisfied with the work (doubtful) 2. It was the work of a deshi 3. It was presented to a shrine as offering 4. It was presented to a Samurai VIP I think I have run out of the common answers....

Chris, I am very grateful Thank you on behalf of my friend

No, I am not in a hurry, I am just in a place where I have no access to my library and a friend is asking for help....

Dear All, I have a request from a friend of mine, a signature by Yoshinori. Could I ask for a full translation? Thank you

for me, some avatars show, some not. And here the plot thickens again: I can see all avatars on my iPad (Safari, v. iOS 5.x), while I cannot see most on my iMac (Google Chrome v 16.0.912.77). But I can see it on the same iMac with Firefox v. 3.0.7 and Safari 5.1.3. This could a browser-specific issue, gentlemen :-)

Maxime, None of your pics has been viewed, and ImageShack asks me to register to see them. Maybe that is why you have received no answers to your questions?

Brian, I am not sure where this person sees rust issues? Could you or he elaborate? This is getting interesting :-)

Aww, and now it is gone But then again, the price was steep, no? $1,750... If it were ex-Sasano, that would have been a bargain... Funny how provenance matters. There is one Owari from Sasano's silver book on eBay for $8,500...

Just an observation... The outline of the 'new' seppadai intrudes on the kogai hitsu ana. This is an indication of age, as Muromachi tsuka had a smaller footprint than those used in the Edo period. I find the tsuba very enticing, I must say... Its mimi doew not really fit a Heianjo or Yoshiro tsuba... It might have been a katchushi tsuba originally, adorned with shinchu at some later time. The kozuka hitsu ana seems to be later as well.... Just my felings...

I meant what do you think about its condition... Is it corrosion that I see or was it designed this way?

What do you think? I must say I like it... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Heianjo-tsuba-s ... 4474wt_922

Cast Chinese fake. Sorry.

Jason, start here: http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/laminate.htm

Tim, many thanks for the correction. Indeed, regarding the Kanayama tsuba on the top of page 2 of this thread, you are right. It is not "Ho"- thanks for pointing out this mistake (which I have repeated after the KTK book). For "Ho" anybody interested, please look up Sasano's silver book (Japanese Sworguards Masterpieces from the Sasano collection), a quite similar Kanayama tsuba #140, page 171 - "the character meaning 'to preserve' (ho-no-ji). Pic attached.