Spartancrest

Apart from the Civets there is a small wild cat in Japan. The Tsushima leopard cat is an endangered wildcat inhabiting Tsushima islands, Nagasaki prefecture. It is regarded as a subspecies of the leopard cat and is thought to have arrived in Tsushima from the Asian continent about 100,000 years ago. - but the menuki don't look like cats at all and the Leopard cat does not have a thick bushy tail. I look forward to finding out what this mysterious animal is, as depicted on the menuki.

Look as I might I can't find Japanese squirrels with spots. Perhaps the design is borrowed from a legend of another animal from China? Japanese Weasels also have no spots and small ears - I think there is a lot of artistic license going on, designs are often difficult to pin down. I have seen squirrels on guards before but not with spots other than https://www.samuraimuseum.jp/shop/product/antique-tsuba-for-samurai-sword-with-nbthk-hozon-certificatet-219/ the one pictured by Thomas S. above. An old thread here. [being silly but your menuki could be a squirrel hit by a shotgun!]

They could represent Palm Civets, the scale against the fish size would be close? Depending on where they live they can have bushy or almost hairless tails. Also some have spots while others can have stripes, a very wide ranging animal found in many Asian countries.

Poor form? I think we all know who has shown poor form - ask the investors. They were expecting goods for their money. Ford is not a registered charity last time I looked. Nor is he beyond criticism.

They are positive resin impressions of various small fittings, known as Yanigata. like having a 3D reference of finished works. This site has many examples and good information. https://tsubakansho.com/ There are published examples that are clearly labeled with the names of the makers: If you want to know what work your ancestor did - better than a drawing or a description!

Piers you just beat me to it! It might depend on the decoration if any - does it make sense in any particular orientation. The problem still remains if the guard is un-decorated or symmetrically decorated. Has anyone seen a display board with the nakago-ana peg pointing down?

I am a disinterested party but even Stephen Hawking wrote or co-wrote 15 books - and I think he had more handicaps than Ford? Eight years is stretching the friendship a bit.

Two separate auctions [on the same night] by two sellers. What do you think? Daisho or not? https://www.jauce.com/auction/480050041 https://www.jauce.com/auction/x1043826445 Same shakudo 'wire' fukurin and sukashi pattern, but one above nakago-ana the other below?

The third one may be based on a guard by Yasuchika - a close design from the Marquis de Tressan collection [circa 1913].

https://tsubakansho.com/tag/catalogue/

Scott - that is one of the 'better' cast fakes [not saying much]. I was wondering is that a bit of junk on the right side of the seppa-dai or left over casting spill? Two minutes with a file could have fixed that. [but not increased it's value] https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/crane-sukashi-tsuba-Japanese-samurai-135685052 Same cast design, bigger chip under the head and blob lower right hitsu - grainy seppa-dai Plenty of them about. Real 'quality' piece https://www.jauce.com/auction/u1042220390 - 50,000yen !!!! [bloody awful]

I had no idea so many countries allow personalized postage stamps - this site lists a great number that were available up to 2016 and more may have been added since that time. So have a look to see if your country is listed. How many people can say their collection was printed on a postage stamp? [I look forward to seeing any designs] https://www.meterstampsociety.com/WorldPersPost.html

I don't know if this is the same 'Miboku Hamano' but an interesting site nonetheless - https://tosogu.cz/?p=1647 Also https://yuhindo.com/otsuryuken-miboku-soroikanagu/

Soren, Small is beautiful, I have a Katamenuki very similar [wish I had both] and what I take to be a tiepin? Also a tobacco pouch ornament only 2 cm high. They make modern copies but they are just not right. I have those Bonhams menuki as being sold the year before by Barnebys Auctions. "Tale of the travelling Tosogu."

I have managed to track down the 'tachi' stamps from Japan, from what I gather it is possible to order your own stamps to be printed in Japan just as I was able to do in Australia. Further to that, it may also be an option in France. This may come as a shock to the Japanese and French members of NMB but other countries may also have this opportunity but be unaware of it. Next time you visit a post office just ask if such a thing is available, it does not mean you can't produce your own stamps outside the field of tosogu of course. https://kunkun888.exblog.jp/15135430/ http://www.fabiennejouvin.com/blog/category/Correspondence-.-Stamps Totally non tosogu related - my first grandchild-

Old auction image -

http://thumb1.zeppy.io/d/l400/pict/144416322943/antique-1700-Japanese-Japan-samurai-sword-tsuba-iron-openwork-noren-guard-vtg Yours I presume. One in the Ashmolean Museum Oxford. http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/collection/7/10237/10365 EAX.10776 A variant found here. -- https://www.agsa.sa.gov.au/collection-publications/collection/works/tsuba-doorway-curtain-design/36454/ Another - https://www.earmi.it/armi/tsuba/tsuba.htm [picture quality not so great.] One up for auction now with papers - https://www.jauce.com/auction/r1039267825 Perhaps someone can translate them?

We can't see the ura view very well but there are no obvious signs that it has been mounted. No tagane-ato marks. Perhaps a presentation gift?

What about a 'Hit list' - like notches on a gun - I don't care how crazy you look, no one needs a tsuba THAT BIG!

The two squares remind me of a Kabuki actors woodblock.

Colour in your own fake! I can't see a lot of skill in the paint job of this numerous copy. https://www.jauce.com/auction/o1044108364

Chris, I just had a thought - [I try to limit them to one a day!] - Even though I was bidding through Jauce, the tsuba may have been listed on Buyee or Yahoo or even some other linked site that follow different rules, so perhaps not the great mystery I was thinking it was? Even though I got it by default I am looking forward to seeing just how it was constructed, struck me yesterday that if you were putting parrying bars on a guard why put them next to the weakened area near the hitsu? Why have hitsu to start with and as Eric pointed out, why round hitsu?

I can't track down who may have that specific guard now, some sites here with other Funada Ikkin tsuba. https://yuhindo.com/funada-ikkin-tsuba/ https://www.aoijapan.com/tsubafunada-ikkinkao/ https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/19295/lot/5/ good luck in your search.

Chris you are right, I think ebay has something similar. However in order for me to even put in a bid on Jauce, I need to have the money already in my Jauce account. Unlike ebay who take the risk if you won't pay - Jauce takes no risk, they want your money up front. They have just started 'giving credit' to long term clients, setting a limit depending on your buyer history. The credit is only good for 24 hrs whereby you must deposit the funds - also the 'credit' only works if your account has some funds still in it, even if only a few dollars/yen. Perhaps the other buyer was working on credit and had second thoughts or couldn't get to his bank? I don't know but there may be different rules for Japanese buyers?

Back to being STRANGE - The person who 'won' the original pronged guard apparently forfeited the bid and as the second highest bidder I got it! Strange because the auction house doesn't let you pull out of a bid once it is made - so how did the 'winner' manage it?