Teimei

Hi Peter, maybe some kind of fire damage / corrosion problem in the past?

Hi Mark, that was actually my first "real" tsuba i ever bought.

Hi folks, after the regular semi-annual oiling session (of my nihonto), i decided to invest some time on my day off and revisit every piece of my collection. After observing them using different lightsources (sunlight, LED) i also tried to shoot some good pictures. Which went okay with the tsuba... and horrible with the blades. Especially the photographing part was interesting, because i was able to see a lot of activities in the blades and texture details of the tsuba. I learned a lot of new things about my own collection, even from pieces i owned for over 10 years and my passion for the hobby got quite a boost again. So the morale of the story is, take your time appreciating what interests you, even when life gets in the way a lot. Here are some of the pictures that came out okay:

Mist?

1. Gassan Sadakazu 2. Masamune 3. Koyama Munetsugu

My examples: 3rd generation would be my guess, with a book theme and a very nice executed mei both 1st or 2nd generation with quite worn mei

Hi Jean, in my opinion the cruder the mei, the older the piece. Also older pieces tend to have a coarse or grainy plate (could also be considered as surface damage over time). There were 2-3 generations, working from 1650-1750. regards,

Jurojin Menuki are sold!

So true. Some times they just guess.

Up

Hi Grev, as a librarian, those index card cabinets trigger me extremely. Very nice collection and good luck trying to find out how many are enough ! regards,

Maybe not worth much, but sooo kawaii 😁!

Seal script? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_script

Just a simple myochin piece, but with a certain feel to it.

Just had to reset my password, works fine now! 😎

My first myochin piece just arrived at my doorstep (lucky day! no taxes no custom fees ). dimensions: 8,2 x 8,0 x 0,4 cm regards,

Also received a tsuba today via EMS, that was shipped on the 2nd of july. regards,

I own the same pair of scissors, ridiculously sharp. regards,

Hi Roger, the theme of your tsuba is the Mon of the Honda family. I have a quite similar early owari piece. The condition of your tsuba is not the best, but i like the rendition of it!

Thats a great collection Joe! I am also a big fan of mokume, especialy from Sado and Kishu (Sankei) Sado Toshisada 7,5 x 7,4 x 0,4cm Kishu Sankei 2 tanto sized and a big one regards,

After 2 visits in person and a few angry phonecalls i could pick it up (after i paid the taxes of course). Took them 4 days. They told me it was checked by an "expert" of the ministry of culture, but the package was sealed and untouched . It probably never left the building. Long story short... stay calm and friendly and only talk directly with the chief of customs.