Bugyotsuji

Oops... Nobody, many thanks.

The three letters 奉奇進 can be read Hokishin, (きしんたてまつる meaning celebrate a gift to a shrine). The rest is an address with a name, and the age of a child. (Unless there is something missing from your shots.) Hope this gets the ball rolling!

Yes, 玉山, but 'carved' (probably dremeled) in a modern Chinese workshop to look like Japanese Gyokuzan. Little market value, but fun to roll around in your hand or actually wear as no worries about damage.

豆洲　Zu Shu (Izu) 慶応　元年 Gan-nen, 1st yr of Keio, 仲秋　mid autumn?

Having said that, the thing has no mimi (handles) per se. In the pics available, they all do seem to have mimi, possibly making the carrying of water more easy. It does have an external rim, though, to aid grip? So 耳無し耳盥 Mimi-nashi mimi-darai? :D There is a Mingei Museum not far from here that has a set of Ohaguro utensils on display. They have the Mon of the Lord of this area. The largest bowl is similar, but whether it has mimi or not, I will have to go and check. Will I have to eat humble or even crow pie? Watch this space! :lol: Incidentally, in the ginacolliasuzuki link above the story of Ohaguro ends with the Meiji Empress getting the populace to give up the habit by appearing herself in public with white teeth. Apparently this did not actually work as the practice was deeply ingrained. What the article does not mention is that she then ordered that women in prison should have their teeth blackened, so that it became effectively a stigma. From then on, it worked like magic, they say.

Is that saying ?

If you want to mix up some for your wife/girlfriend, Ron: http://scent-lab.blogspot.jp/2009/05/bl ... aguro.html Many thanks for the kind comments. Now I almost wish I hadn't given away the black rectangular box set I once had with the brass tray, all the square lacquer and brass bowls, utensils, feather brushes etc, still inside it. The person who owned this tarai, 'mimidarai' used to keep Katana-bukuro inside. Enough bonbons for a huge party... There was a scrap of paper there too, saying 本多家, but I am not convinced.

Is it brand new, or has someone has polished all the age-patina off it!?! Henk-Jan, no longer can you deny it, it is time for you to join the Hinawa-Ju Club. :lol: Just had another peek and it looks old, but someone has polished the brasswork all over and varnished the stock. Quite a small caliber/bore at 3 Monme, but an unusually lovely decorative piece. Malcolm takes the bonbon today. http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%95% ... c-1815.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohaguro Morning ablutions and (o)haguro https://www.google.com/search?q=Japanes ... 5#imgdii=_ Mimidarai "The large round container, half of which is visible on the right-hand side of the composition above, is called a mimidarai, and sitting on top of that container is a thin tray, or watashigane. On top of the tray is the kanewan, the bowl in which the dye is mixed. On the ground to the left of the mimidarai, the brush which has been used to apply the dye to the young woman's teeth is resting atop a porcelain bowl, and to the left of the bowl is a small box of fushi powder." http://www.ginacolliasuzuki.com/author/ ... miles.html Notice the right split in the standing Aoi Mon.

Thanks for venturing first Ron. Nice try. I was told it was for rice, but that was wrong.

Mr Sugawa wrote at least three books on Hinawa-Ju, two of them in Japanese, the first of which was also roughly translated into English. Here is something different. 28 cm high and 34 cm across, larger than it looks in the shots. Any guesses?

Kunitaro San すごい！Nobody San すごい！

Nice puzzle. Good thread!　

There is a Ryugo type called 立つ字 Ryugo which is also close.

So far I think I can see 備中庭場(瀬?)城主三村　守　親重六代孫 I know that the Mimura clan were a big Daimyo family controlling Bitchu, and Niwase Castle was one of their important properties at one time. 庭瀬城 (Another version says 撫川城？）had another name 芝揚城. (こうげじょう Kogejo) Edited to make more sense...

Enjoyed all of them for one reason or another. Thanks for posting.

Ken, many thanks for the fascinating links. Quite an eye-opener. I like the way the writer says that although it is probably Kyo Kinko gold and silver Hira zogan, Kaga also used the same technique, suggesting to him/her that there was interplay/interlap between the two groups. I also agree that the creature on the back could be one of those weird long small-headed grasshoppers that you find in Japan.　(ショウリョウバッタ Shoryo Batta) As Peter has quite properly restored the thread to the original discussion, I will now back out.

As the paperwork says, Mantis under the Moon: 月下蟷螂 On the subject of missing mantis heads, I remembered a badly rusted wakizashi tsuba of mine that has a missing head. Well, it might be buried in the rust, but I do not dare take off any more. I am guessing this is Kaga-style zogan. (Not wishing to disturb the thread, the auction, or whatever, but just for reference.)

Hi there M.Lee, It is called a Kaiken in Japanese nowadays. The old Romanized pronunciation of older Japanese from Victorian times was "kwaiken". There are other examples of this. The Yotsuya Kaidan ghost story used to be called Yotsuya 'Kwaidan'.

Ed, if you give up try

:lol: The old man saw his whole world go down the plughole before his eyes, historically, culturally and technologically. 300 years of matchlock know-how and refinement blown to the winds. Surrounded by decorative Kinko metalworkers in the same position, out of an immediately necessary and useful job. So the man puts everything he knows into one masterpiece, to record an age that he remembers clearly, but that is never to be seen again. It will be the finest matchlock ever built, with the optional upgrade to Raika pill percussion, crafted in minute detail with no regard to cost. The zogan 100 times better than the best and flashiest Settsu/Osaka merchant's gun. This gun once belonged to a friend here and he let me handle it. Later it appeared on Nandemo Kantei Dan, the Japanese equivalent of the Antiques Roadshow. Bling it certainly is, OTT in every respect, a beautifully and somewhat sadly-crafted anachronism. Definitely a one-off. Why? Why not?

Well done John. The cake shop is selling themed candles to go on cakes to be ordered for Children's (=Boys') Day on 5 May. Another candle was the figure of MomoTaro, a local legend around here. My friend has a grandson, so I bought one to hand to the mother for her son. PS The hint was in the photo caption, KB55, = Kabuto for 5/5...

Mark, you are right. There were all kinds of styles of foreign and domestically uprated guns circulating in Japan in those last years of the Tokugawa Era, but most native gunsmiths were still producing traditional Tanegashima-style matchlocks at that time, in fact some as late as the 1870s. Apart from the ramrod, yours is a lovely example of a Samurai gun Shizutsu 士筒, very similar to one from the armoury at Himeji Castle that my friend owns and shoots.

Love your motto, Mauro.

I did not want to say this, but...

That's a splendid looking thing. Congratulations!