Alex A

Some useful info http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/tachi,katana.html

Briefly looked through the book today, excellent value for money, surprised at the number of tsuba at the museum!. I'm sure to use the book for reference in the future, so many examples. Well done Grev.

It made me think about the number of mumei blades we see, busy forge and two man job. Might seem a minor issue to us, but I can see signing mei back in the day being a real pain in the ass. Two or three swords a year like in the program then no bother. Just thinking out loud.

Good that, interesting that he used another smith when it came to signing the mei, makes me wonder.

A tsuba that some of you may find interesting, an old venerable tsuba with some history, a fighting mans tsuba. Iron plate, 2mm thickness at the nakago-ana and 8.5 cm diameter, possibly larger when first made, Circa 1400 The tsuba started off with a typical sized blade but then the nakago-ana was opened up to house a different kind of weapon, possibly an armour smashing type of weapon. Later on it again housed a typical sized blade Around1600, the Kogai-ana, shakudo rim and inlay of clouds and dragons was added, possibly gold, good to know someone thought it worth keeping and decorating. Not in the best of condition, but my favourite, still plenty of old remnant lacquer. Edit, pics gone super massive, so condition looks worse than it really is, so tried another

Right again Pete, id never realised that Muromachi Kinko tsuba could be that thin, one here at 2mm, learn something new every day http://home.earthlink.net/~jggilbert/irogane2.htm

You might be right Pete, looks to be room for a thin iron plate tsuba.

A couple from those impartial Samurai that didn't get into disputes

Even if it does reach their ears (and im sure it has), i doubt nothing will change. The answer is simple, they dont need to.

Nothing gets missed here, even know whos taken the pictures

Thanks for the heads up Ps, swords can be much older than 700 years

Interesting thread, personally, I'm drawn to Ko-Kinko manhole covers

Repeating whats been said before here, but there was a fashion for putting small tsuba on katana at the end of the Muromachi period. Seen a few small late Muromachi tsuba with Katana sized Nakago-ana over the last few years.

Hi Javier, nice Koshirae. The first thing that sprung to mind is the old saying, if it aint broke, don't fix it. I say this because even small variations in tsuba dimensions can have you messing around with seppa/habaki/tsuba (really shouldn't with a good one) to make it all fit good. Difficult to see, but appears your sword has no need for a tsuba with hitsu-ana, so in that case, I would look for a tsuba with no hitsua-ana. That way, looks less cobbled together, in my humble opinion. I like the tsuba you have picked out, just find something along the same lines, without hitsua-ana or plugged hitsu-ana. Does not necessarily need to be waves, lots of options. Just my thoughts, hope that helps Best

Found this on a search, says Antique Japanese dessert fork, ebay listing that cant be viewed now. No idea how old, bad picture

As it looks like a fork, il say fork

Welcome to Ebay.

Haha, chop sticks Thanks for the correction Jean, Live and learn.....http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/grooves.html

From a non-John. John, I can see why you think the tanto is not so old and I can see why you lean towards Bizen, Futasuji-bi (still look deep in pic) and Kuri-jiri also being factors. Is the mei a Bizen biggy?, if so, possible "Kuwana" http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/kuwana.html maybe........... You did say open to speculate, and I like speculating.

Its a good question Jean. When I first started collecting I was impulsive and that did lead to one or two regrets. I'm at a stage now where I find buying swords difficult and look for reasons not to. Ive looked at hundreds of swords over the last few years and always found a reason not to buy. I suppose the triggering factor for me now is finding the "keeper" that you guys seem to go on about. Funnily enough, one sword came very very close yesterday, but I'm a slow mover when it comes to buying

Hi Hilik. I can only offer a rough opinion as to age, i get the impression your tsuba was made in the 1800,s, but made to look older. Mine is just an opinion from a guy with not a great knowledge of tsuba, sometimes such opinions get corrected, rustle a few feathers at the top of the tsuba tree , which is good. I don't mind being wrong, that way we all get to pick up more knowledge. I will be honest, i was in two minds whether it was cast or not , but think the latter. (i think) Best.

I once bought some Ko Kinko menuki (papered) to finish off a koshirae project, in the end I just couldn't do it. As mentioned above, it can be money wasted when you come to sell. Ive said on many occasions I'm going to keep stuff, then sold it when something else as caught my eye. If I truly had a keeper, then I would buy good fittings, not too bothered whether papered or not.

Hi Ken, curious, whats an idea of nakago ana size for the tsuba on these kind of weapons?

Tsuba dont look too old, mid-late 1800,s maybe, crisp edges around Hitsu-ana, general look of the iron. My eyesights not brilliant, but get the impression its not inlay (so to speak) but gold and silver colour surface decoration added at a later date, to spice up a plain tsuba . Hopefully someone with more knowledge will chime in with a better answer, you did say "anyone" ? Best

Oh, my mix up, sorry.