Bugyotsuji

Is this Sendai, Jan?

Opening at Bizen Osafune Sword Museum from this weekend. 45 swords on display until changeover March 4, apparently, second half going until 27 March.

We like Togo Heihachiro!

Regarding the Bizen Swords exhibition mentioned by Michel above, it does not end forever on the 24th of January, but continues on down to Bizen Osafune Sword Museum for another good chunk of time.

閣下　Kakka

The old Japanese gun literature tends to call them kayaku-dameshi, and so do the dealers at the military antiques auctions. As to absolute proof, I suspect that none exists, meaning that your question Brian, is an excellent one. Oh, and the prevailing theory is that the powder master tested in the time-honoured way by hand, judging the flash, the bang, the recoil and the smoke, much as we check the colour of our toast.

Yup, dems da plans!

Just fishfood for thought. If these are all described as kayaku-dameshi gunpowder testers, I wonder if and when a break was made from old-type testers to mini cannon style. Possibly after cannon foundry techniques improved into the Bakumatsu at the end of Edo? The cannon is signed 三明作 underneath. I have found no records in the gunsmith lists, but one unclickable reference online to a one-time bronze foundry in Bitchu Tahashi called Sanmei, but whether it still exists or whether there is a connection or not is a multi-question for a rainy day.

Nice object to have.

Very crude, but I guess someone saw a daikon in the marble stone! Length, 11cm.

Agreed. I found a Daikon Netsuke the other day. Not high art, but completely guileless. The stag antler material is starting to turn semi-translucent with age. Love it, but probably not worth much in the west. I have noticed how even rich people here can offer each other ordinary fruit or vegetables such as a cabbage as a simple but joyful gift.

Thank you Dirk. Yes, the descriptions concerning each of the 73 swords are also translated into English. Essays. There were originally four essays but that was cut down to three when one of the contributors failed to meet the deadline. They then ran out of time for two of the translations, so only Taeko Watanabe San's introductory essay was eventually translated into English. Still plenty of detailed information for the non-Japanese reader, though.

Unusual to get black and white like that! (Stevie Wonder, ebony & Ivory?) I find such bean pods to be very satisfactory.

To me it looks like a Netsuke, to be strung round its 'waist' on the hyotan principle, though establishing its age might be difficult.

Well, if that is what it is, Neil Davey records a Yugyoku 遊玉 signature on the figure of a skeleton.

Does it say 進玉 on the skull? (The most important kanji is blurred.)

Something to keep in your "younger" drawer or to wear without fear on certain occasions.

Steven, I think you have two Netsuke tied together, or one Netsuke and one small Okimono.

Quote, Ed: "Looked through some files and found photos of two of my Netsuke. Both Shishi, the first standing on fore legs with hornbill & red coral eyes was described to me as a contemporary piece by Kinsui. The second, no information on this one." The contemporary name should be read "Kansui". The 'yellow' shishi with ball looks really much better in that new shot, thanks, although I still cannot decide what material it is. Ivory is likely, however. For what it is worth the name in reserve says "Kangyoku". Take it along to a local Netsuke meeting and get a hands-on evaluation. Always assume it is a modern attempt to look old, and there will be no disappointment.

Ed. The Shishi looks too heavily stained and too yellow, possibly hiding something underneath? Not Schreger lines there in its back, but just possibly in the front right leg. (?) Anyway, proving it might be made of ivory would not really add anything to the equation, if it turns out to be modern; on the contrary, ivory would be a definite drawback.

Can't really see the wood one bottom right, but I would agree on the standing figures. The answer would surely lie in a better quality shot, though! PS Steven, love that bamboo shoot.

Ed, and others, just enjoy Guido's Netsuke for a while more. They have been offered for us to look and learn. They don't get much better, unless you have serious resources. I have nothing of that quality.

Steven, a sweet lacquer Hyotan. Personally I like gourds, but no-one has shown much interest in the ones I have posted elsewhere! Not popular in the West? (Having invited Chad to go and get shot at over on the INS site, Guido said "Don't bother", without giving a reason. This could potentially make me look stupid in front of all. Not a problem as I am fairly stupid. My advice would be to avoid the politics and group dynamics there, and like Rudyard Kipling's cat, walk your own path at all times.)

The closest I can find to the Mon is a Gunbai "Kara Uchiwa in a thick circle". 太輪に唐団扇 The uchiwa came from China and became a battlefield pointer for generals such as Takeda Shingen. According to various references, the most famous families who used variants of this were the Kodama, early on, and the Naito Murakami and the Okudaira. Also Yashima and Yoshino. You would need to consider which families were still active at the early half of the 19th century.

Clever joke and interesting insight. Many thanks. Japan is so often found in the accumulation of tiny detail. Not dollars but yen. Not yen, but sen. Not sen but rin. Not potatoes but grains of rice. Then throw in thought, concentration, sense and artistry... Love it.