Dojikiri

Although I purchased this tanto a while ago I have only just got it (don't ask) and now that I have all becomes clear, I had not seen it either so I was surprised to find that the blade had been swapped, but fairly well done and probably in Japan, If the koshirae was made for the blade it could not have been before 1700 as the tang was well rusted so looking at the koshirae in isolation now am sure it is a Momoyama work as everything fits for that period. It can be viewed on Bonhams site which has brilliant images of it (the only thing Bonhams does well) www.bonhams.com/auctions/25425/lot/394 the mon is still a mystery though.

Sorry about lack of image, see below.

Hi all, I've recently acquired this tanto and am trying to date the koshirae, the saya is aogai with 3 silver bands spiralling up it. This was unfashionable in the 19th century and I was wondering how late it could date. The tanto has gold nanako fittings with large grain Daimyo-jima nanako and shakudo mon (I posted an image of the mon on the list about a month ago hoping for it to be identified). I'm sorry about the size of the image but I don't have the tanto to hand to send a better one. I would be grateful for any help. Alan

Hi Guys, I recently purchased a tanto with all the mounts decorated with this mon which I cant' identify, it is not in Strohl and I can't find my Hawley's Mon. I don't normally bother with mon but the koshirae is of very high quality and it could be possible to narrow it down to a single family, any help would be appreciated Alan

The Tagane look like those of the Tosa Miochin

I believe that the Oeder collection is now in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg having been looted by the Russians after WW2.

Hi Guys, With regard to a seppa-dai with an irregular surface, it is best not to be too dogmatic. A few years ago I purchased a tsuba with a seppa-dai like that, it had large snail motif, and was clearly never intended for mounting, it had subsequently had hitsuana (Ugh!) cut and then been mounted. It had clearly been made for an exhibition but had obviously caught the eye of a samurai who acquired it. It is high quality work signed 'Gassan', I think it is probably the genuine work of Matsuo Gassan. Alan

Now a 50% discount off listed prices on GBP500 spent on books. japaneseswordbooks.com Alan Bale

Hi All, As I have recently been buying some expensive swords I am having a Book Sale with 35% off all books new & used. www.japaneseswordbooks.com Dojikiri

Curran, Re my doubts about the tsuba, over the years I have seen several convincing copies of early tsuba and I had my doubts about the mon at 4 o'clock on this one, it appeared to be a mitsutomoe with the tomoe heads in the large 19th century style, now I have seen the tsuba face on I can see I was wrong and they are not tomoe,

How old is this tsuba? I think it is a lot later than it looks. Alan

Hi, Yes is the AoiArt tachi, luckily, by chance I found it in their online archive before the sale, it is listed there at 4.2m yen, Pete's page has it at 3.2m and 'HOLD' so Aoi dropped a million yen! The koshirae is certainly late and may be Meiji. Also very luckily Del Mar only discovered the Kageyori was a juto on the morning of the sale, too late to tell anybody. I haven't posted any images as I can't better AoiArt's. In the same sale I bought a Gassan Sadakatsu, also originally from Aoi, see below: https://www.aoijapan.net/katana-osaka-junin-gassan-sadakatsu-kin-hori-dosaku/ Alan

Hi All, I recently bought a silver mounted itomaki tachi (Bizen Kageyori), the silver mounts are all blaclened and resemble shakudo, I would have thought that shakudo would have given a better and more durable colour as well a being cheaper, any thoughts?

Years ago I owned a sword with a one piece shakudo nanako habaki, the nanako in a sunken panel with a gold yotsume mon in the centre, fabulous!

It is traditionally said to be a Horai school design.