Eric H

John L., very watchful, thanks for the tip. Ford, Reinhard, Tsuba replacement : the sky's the limit. Now, there is a small book with the memories of a merchant of Paris, PHILIPPE SICHEL, who visited together with a friend Japan from march 1874 till september 1874 with the only aim to buy up Japanese objects of art of all kinds. The 3 pics refer to things we like to collect. "J'aurais pu..." I COULD HAVE MADE IN THE LONG STREEET OF OSAKA, WHERE FABRICS WERE SOLD, A RICH YIELD OF TSUBA'S, BECAUSE CERTAIN ARMORER'S OFFERED ME FULL BOXES, BUT I LOOKED FOR COMPLETE SWORDS, CONSIDERING THE TSUBA'S TO BE A FRAGMENT, I WASN'T INTERESTED. "Pas un..." NOBODY, DURING MY STAY, NOR MERCHANT, OFFICER, NOBLE MAN OF HIGH ORIGIN, COULD GIVE ME AN INFORMATION ON A PAINTER, AN ENGRAVER, A FAMOUS LACQUERER, EVEN LESS A CERTAIN ERA NOR A ACCURATE DATE. "Conclusions" NOW WE ARE IN FRANCE SINCE A MONTH, OVER 450 BOXES ARE HERE IN PARIS, CONTAINING MORE THAN 5000 OBJECTS. Well, this is a thinkable possibility how the sword came to Paris. Eric

Reinhard, I accept your arguments with reservation. Without loosing me in details, I don't believe that the Tsuba was changed in earlier or later times, it's well adapted to the other parts of the Koshirae and in harmonious accordance. As already mentioned the sword comes from an important collection sold in 1897 in Paris. If someone of the board (French members perhaps) is in possession of the catalogue, the description of Lot 768 would bring it to light. Next are 2 pics. The second one shows a cutout, written by the former owner, a very competent connoisseur of Japanese art, referring to the complete sword. Here is the translation : "a piece of absolute first quality, belonged to the collection of Edmont de Goncourt, see his catalogue No. 768, valued in 1897 at fr. 340.--" However, I appreciate this sword highly also because of the outstanding quality of the blade. Eric

John L., Regrettably I don't have further information on the Klefisch-Tsuba. But your hypothesis as for the signing Daisho-Tsuba's is interesting and chances are that someone else of the board knows more. Best regards Eric

Reinhard, The montage shows the very close relationship, only, my Tsuba is 7mm smaller in length. Instead of to ride on the Seppa-Dai have a close look to the Nakago-Hitsuana's. In one of your earlier comments you saw this as a significant sign for Tsuba's made for export. Well, fact is that the Nakago-Hitsuana fits perfectly with the sword's Nakago, there was even no need to insert Seki-Gane. This could one lead to think it's custom made for THIS sword. Of course this is pure speculation. In summary can be said all fittings are from the 19th c. The Kozuka is by Akichika. PS the pics do not show the rich dark brown shibuichi. Eric

John L., Thank you for the tip regarding the Yasukuni in the Baur-Book, unfortunately there is no picture. However, I appreciate very much your judgement about the overall quality of the fittings. Best regards Eric

Why "buddhist" spirit ? Eric

John L., First of all, thank you for the detailed reply, it's much appreciated. As you mentioned there is a possibility of Mito or Hamano school. Now, the Tsuba is part of a Ko-Wakizashi-Koshirae and its size is half of what you see on the monitor (Dragonfly !). I like to add some more pics mainly because the Fuchi-Kashira are made by Kaneyuki who belongs to the Hamano school. The Koshirae is 100% original and dates from the Shinshinto period, this sword comes from the collection of Edmond de Goncourt. In my personal sense it imparts a strong feeling of buddhist spirit. Additionally the last pic shows a very similar Tsuba signed Kiunsai Yasukuni from an auction held in 1988 at Klefisch, Köln. I have no idea who this man is, my resource for fittings are 3 books : Joly's List, Sammlung Georg Oeder, Baur Collection. Many thanks also to everybody who gave his opinion to this topic. Regards Eric

Hi All, Can anyone give me more information on this Tsuba (6.2 cm x 5.6 cm), school, artist ? Thank you in advance Eric

08/15 is a saying in german : something ordinary, average, nothing in particular. Eric

Futatokoromono "rain dragon" by Chikushisai Umi no Kami Nagateru Eric

Very interesting articles, thank you Guido. Eric

The diagram is accurate. Darcy's hint is due to a mistake in writing. Eric

I am deeply grateful to you all for your help ! Much appreciation Eric

Hi All, I wonder to what school these Kogai and Kozuka belong and identification of the signature on the Kogai. Thank you for any comments and opinions. Eric

Minamoto-no-Kiyomaro, Wakizashi 48.78 cm Eric

Peter, You are right. The tanto was offered for $ 94'500.-- by AOI. Eric

Tanto Kiyomaro, 28.0 cm, NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon Eric

Rai Kunimitsu Tanto, 27.0 cm, Juyo Token Eric

An article by Jere Cunningham Eric

Hereby some pics Best Eric

Guido, Thank you for the translation. I'm just back from hospital stay. The pic shows the accompanying book to the exposition, 261 pages, german. Best Eric

Hi Uwe, this is my friend's feedback ! Am Sonntag war ich in Speyer die Samurai-Ausstellung anschauen. Natürlich war die Ausstellung, wie ich es vermutet habe für das allgemeine Publikum die noch überhaupt keine Ahnung haben. Und dementsprechend werden die Gegenstände sehr spartanisch beschrieben. Jedoch nichts desto trotz ist es eine aufwendinge und sehr Schöne. So wie es aussieht werde ich am Donnerstag nochmals hingehen um mir den Vortrag anzuhören und hoffe diesmal ohne Kindergeschrei im Hintergrund… Das war eben auch noch so ne Sache. Weil ich am Sonntag hingegangen bin, waren da sehr viele Leute und nicht wenige Familien mit Kindern. Ich hoffe Du hast Dir nicht schon das Begleitbuch von dieser Austellung bestellt?! Ich hab schon eins für Dich als kleines Mitbringsel J Compliments and regards Eric

Hi John I found this in my archive under the name "Juho Token Kenkyu", maybe it helps you. Eric

Brian, Here it is http://world.choshuya.co.jp/engrave/index.htm Eric

Sanko tsuka tuki ken ranma sukashi hori bonji soe-hi On a tanto by Tairyusai Sokan Eric