Jump to content

ggil

Members
  • Posts

    456
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    4

Everything posted by ggil

  1. I'd like more pictures please. Good luck on the translation request. Someone will come along to help in time.
  2. ggil

    Tsuba Oddities

    the eye patch one does it for me. Very funny! The menuki tie clasp is sad because the piece looks very nice.
  3. Gents, Thanks for the heads up Ken. Better pictures show how the upper nakago has been stripped bare to the metal, Geraint, probably for some nice gaijin pictures for translation (guess). I have put some oil on it but will refrain from any cleaning and enjoy it as is for now (what my friend did for 30 years). It is very enjoyable to try and find hada under the old patina (although last night I couldn't see anything clearly and Stephen's comment hit home: to really see hada the thing needs a polish, if not then what I'm seeing is speculative at best). I see the kanji fujiwara masanao, so it's possible the thing is the second smith Stephen listed which appears to have some good reviews. one side is clear enough to see the masame along the edge. Other than that the hada is elusive till polished.
  4. Whoa! make sure to go through the rest of the pictures! bizarre! personally not big on missing eyebrows though. EDIT: Google the film (not at work), and it is weird and seems to 'sell sex' quite a bit.
  5. Brian and John, I've always loved them but they are out of my price reach. This one was a bit of a pity sale i'm imagining, as I got it for pretty cheap. saw one yesterday from kimonjo: totally out of polish with grinding marks, and the balance/symmetry (this may be in my head as Stephen so aptly illustrates) was not quite as nice as mine either; for $1200! I told my pal that if he didn't sell me one id never get one, so maybe he took pity. It great to belong to a sword club! Many folks in the club have gotton great deals simply for the fact that the sellers (or remaining family members ) know the blades are more likely to be cared for as opposed to hastened to ruin. Polish will have to wait till house is paid off or something. Im imagining $1500+ Brian, as you are a hero of mine, you got it: though I don't imagine ever parting willingly with it!
  6. I get it: every piece of Japanese art I own I consider a "priceless treasure," but since I really have no basis for feeling this way because I haven't seen/studied too many juyo... I'm still a noob that sees more (or less) in the pieces than is there. All probably true! Edit: I can see through things, like x ray vision, I guess
  7. Thanks Stephen! And for the vote of confidence. Makes much more sense than 1620, especially since the lack of sharpening around the blade intersections make me think complete ubu (except nakago)
  8. Masa was one I do recall him saying. Your nihonto humor is way over my head Stephen.
  9. My newest and favorite piece. I'd appriciate anyone who's willing to translate the mei. The patina was stripped off the nakago where the mei is, but thank goodness the blade is fine. About the old patina: I feel it is too nice to mess with (have polished). The yari looks almost black in the right light, like some cursed blade out of a fantasy book. You can see the hada still even, but it is hard work. The smith seemed to forge itame or even mokume (on the spines of the long blade), while having masame at the edge (where hada is still visible on the edge of the long blade). I wonder how long the patina has developed for? It's been sitting unsheathed on a friend's wall for 30 years before I got it (I will be asking more info from the friend soon). The thing is pretty much flawless under the thin protective layer of dark patina, so I'm assuming good things about the well cut mei. The fact that the mei area was cleaned and the hada and Harmon (hamon is impossible to see I think) aren't visible pretty much preclude verifying the mei, but I'd like to try anyhow with what hada I see. A very quick look up of the mei by my friend came up with some bizen smith from 1620 or so, but I didn't write the name down (still in shock from acquiring the piece I guess). Hope you guys like it. If you all want I can try and photo the combination hada, but this is a chore as it is hard to see and harder to photo. Anyone else find a blade that has dark patina but is really nice under it?
  10. wow, what an a*%hole! The tsuba is definitely quite odd and unappealing, because the maker left out the 'dingleberries'. Seriously though, while not envious of the acquisition, I do admire Donny's sense of humor; and would like to hear more about his unique collection.
  11. seller just added (as he/she relisted after not selling first go-round) that this is one piece forged, just as I assumed at first.
  12. The less than stellar horimono makes me worried
  13. yes YOU are likely doing damage removing material, as YOU aren't trained to do the work. leave it or have it done by a pro. How are you going to apply a convincing patina to the fresh metal. what tools will you use to apply yasurime. How do you know what the nakago should look like.
  14. Informative may be putting it a bit too nicely, but thanks for the compliment. I'm just like you and trying to learn, but I don't know much at all. the Japanese were so very crafty that even tourist items can be VERY WELL DONE. Think about multiple industries being pretty much swept away and society changing too fast (sound familiar?). people had to make ends meet. it could be tourist stuff so keep it in mind we don't know for sure. Speculation is fun for me though. most folks want to know for sure when it comes to nihonto, probably a self preservation thing. its probably not so wide at the end because making/polishing it would be way harder, and most ken you see aren't SUPER wide (with extra facets/geometry) at the end as pictured in horimono (not in style/fashion of the times and all). There may be some out there that are super wide at the end, which would be awesome to see.
  15. Could be made for a shrine, and looted after the war, or a well made Meiji tourist item (but I doubt the latter). If the handle was forged I'd suspect temple item. The seller would know if the handle is forged I bet, or have a good guess at least. They seem to specialize in militaria, and the high price indicates they too believe the thing is VERY well made (as in a temple or priests item, not a tourist piece). To my eyes, it looks too good and is priced too high to be illegitimate. The seller has a no questions return policy, which reinforces my speculation here. As far as it's small size, I'm pretty sure these ritual daggers have almost always been just that: daggers or tanto/small wakizashi length. This one looks "normal" (contradiction in terms) for what I would expect one (with a live blade) to look like. If I was a smith or buyer wanting something like this: I'd specify/craft to these dimetions.
  16. A lot of cultural history packed into that koshirae. The kojiri is out of this world! Although the blade isn't the object here, I wonder how nice it is, especially when such a nice fitting set was made for it. It makes me think that you can't judge a book by its cover.
  17. the ends are finished in various fashions but the taper (below the ha-machi) is what is missing. Probably left this way because the metal is pretty hard there and no easy chore to remove (with hand tools), and it goes to show the worker's (who re-shaped the nakago) lack of care.
  18. Sorry should be more careful: It may not be forged to the handle. Someone who's wife didn't change their eBay password ought to ask the seller his opinion. It's got a week left after all.
  19. Although the horimono isn't spectacular, I wanted to share this as I've never seen anything quite like it. It just listed today for $6500. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Amazing-Old-Japanese-Samurai-Sword-Iron-Mounted-TEMPLE-KEN-w-Horimono-RARE-/201699907412?hash=item2ef6405754:g:cP8AAOSwB09YD756#ht_227wt_1362
  20. ggil

    Louie Vuitton ?

    the tsuba in question didn't sell: only $450 and nobody jumped.
  21. probably the only thing new is the yasurime and patina of the nakago. a lot of swords were broken, and during the war many of these were made into tantos. if one was broken close enough to the handle you could get a wakizashi out of it. oh and just because a sword broke doesn't mean it is poorly made. Your tanto is likely a relatively nice knife, and could be quite a bit older than you think. it is too bad the nakago was not better shaped to make it seem original. it seems to me the shape is like a really fat ugly bizen nakago, as this school seems to make a wide nakago Jiri (as far as I can tell). heres another way to think of it: the smith puts his best work near the end of the blade, so you get the best part of the word. Sugata would always be wanting a bit in these blades though, as other things if you were studying a particular school/smith. The steel looks pretty good there: no big openings and some showy hada.
  22. Spend some time "watching" on eBay. You see deals pop up time to time, but buying sight unseen is risky. Fortune favors the bold! I saw a really nice blade in koshirae the other day from a seller named koushuya, with amazingly consistent itame in the ji while having also consistent masame in the ha, and an impressive Hamon. This was priced $599 and it got snapped up fast (new owner please post pictures if you are reading this!) Daimyou54eb has a nice looking walk up now for $399 + shipping (these folks take non-flattering photos which is nice to see the blade looked worse in pictures than hand). Let me know if you don't see it: bright consistent itame with thick bright nioi and masame in the ha. Looks like a decent one to me, but o suriage. Good luck and wait till your gut says go, but it safer to keep low expectations from eBay. One will turn up here but I'm always broke from eBay spending. Sword shows have good deals, or a club is full of folks with blades that may give you a decent deal. It's amazing how cheap some of these blades are in the Japanese market, and the club folks may have access to this market. It may be asking a lot for a dealer to pick you up a $300 study piece, register/unregistered, blah blah, but what are friends for anyway?
  23. ggil

    New Koshirae

    Very nice! Easily befitting a King. May we see a picture of the blade out of the scabbard. Or is there a link? I'll look if so. Thanks
×
×
  • Create New...