Nikanoru

That one, Grey, is called kawaragane (uragawara) and it's to the right of sagurigane on the pic, below the menuki.

Google gives only one example, right Jean? ))

Kaerizuno... no, it's not. It's sagurigane. Apart from this, the set is a bomb! Omori menuki are super rare. I'm sure it will go far above 500k.

It's Goto Ichijo, his later work, he signed similar to this after age 70 - Kiju'o Ichijo horu (喜壽翁・一乗彫). Shape is also screaming - Ichijo-shiki-mokko-gata, Ichijo's favorite. Hope you didn't sell it cheap

For general “multibrand” tosogu reference I would suggest:- Toso Soran by Torigoye - Toso Kodogu Koza by Wakayama - Toso Kodogu Meihin Shu by Wakayama - Anything by Shigeo Fukushi As to menuki stand-alone I would recommend: - Shumi no Menuki by Wakayama and Takenouchi - Tosogu no Bi, Menuki vol.1&2 by Saruta Be prepared those books will cost more than the items they describe. Japanese books auctions is the right place to save some cash. Of course you can go for different auction and museum catalogues, but here I’m talking about serious academic approach.

That’s the major problem with tosogu - always hard to take good pictures, everytime something’s wrong with color reproduction. And we have to explain how great it looks on our fingers As I said, vague, practically any Kyoto based group, when it’s not signed and doesn’t have clear attributional factors like Goto, for example, we are talking about menuki. I wouldn’t rule out ko-kinko because of the stem but the details of the boar suggest some much later work. It’s hard to define precisely the school unless someone has seen similar item already attributed by someone. I judge from what I have in the collection and trust my intuition based on the residue in my memory of hundreds of pictures from different reference material I go through on everyday basis. I saw similar boar details in early Yasuchika works but I doubt it’s Tsuchiya line or any of the other two big Nara houses. So just another opinion

Nice one. I would suggest something vague, like kyo-kinko, maybe something earlier judging from the kon, stem. Price is ok, they have potential, if cleaned, repatinated.

Good to hear that, Jean. Frederic is a really nice guy, modest, no greed, with his own glitches of course but we all have issues. I will look forward to hear from him again on ebay and yahoo.auctions.

Frederic went back home to France, a fellow dealer from Osaka said that he promised to be back... someday

Thanks to a board member we have one happy couple Looking pretty nice together

Up and down!) USD 1800

Super rare Fuchi H38mm, W21.5mm Kashira H34, W17.9mm Nakago-ana H26.6mm, W8mm Sizes are outside Attributed to Masatsugu(father)/Okitsugu(son) but could be also Masaoki (student of Masatsugu) or Harumasa, no papers (shinsa will be possible only in October-November when NBTHK moves completely, price will be different) Price: $2000 Cheers,

Thanks, Gents! Much appreciated! Though the old man won't like it Cheers,

Hi Gents! I'm addressing to all the Gurus on the board! Can anyone tell something specific re the attached tsuba? Besides the evident things like iron, sukashi, two hitsu-ana, udenuki-ana, kin fukurin, otafuku-gata. Does it look like a sunset on a lake, clouds above, water below, setting sun in the middle, or it's just my sick imagination? What is this comma-shaped thing then, Fuji-san outlines above everything? It's my friend's. He is too old to use computers and said he always wanted to learn more about this one. Thanks in advance! Cheers,

... and few more 7. Miboku fuchi 8. Just another sea fuchi Thanks,

Hi guys, Here are some orphan fuchi and kashira looking for their twin brothers/sisters. 1. Hosono1 fuchi 2. Hosono2 fuchi 3. Jochin fuchi 4. Soten daisho kashira 5. Goto fuchi 6. Tou fuchi Let me know if you see something familiar. Cheers,