Bugyotsuji

Apologies for the sparse nature of the Corner recently. My fault entirely. Luckily there are other interesting threads ongoing for the readers, so no time for boredom! Several objects have indeed fluttered or cluttered their way into my grubby hands and/or camera memory card of late, so I promise to add fuel to the embers, very soon. Lost Netsuke, Ojime, Ukiyo-e, Ko-go-ire, compasses, lacquer boxes, what shall it be? One update is that the Bizen/Satsuma pistol has had a replacement pin with silver head made for it. Should be collecting this evening. Unfortunately a good friend who is also an avid collector has his eye on it... Also we are on for Maizuru this weekend where I should be meeting the ex-Prime Minister of Japan, Mr Hosokawa and his wife. Nowadays he throws pots in Nagoya, it is said. He would be the present Daimyo of Kumamoto. As you know his family were once based in Maizuru, Tanabe Castle, (Tokugawa Eastern army) I believe, where we are doing a full-armour/armor matchlock display. Last time we were there, five years ago, they asked me to step forward and fire the Rei-sha 礼射 opening ceremonial shot. (My long gun is an armory matchlock from Kumamoto Castle, dated, signed and variously marked, so they thought this would be fitting.) http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%94%B0% ... 6%E3%81%84

Yes, I have seen modern repros but there is something about them that does not attract. Is the rust too smooth and too consistent, even through the blade, and as Ron suggests, are the nakago edges too well defined? So far I have managed to avoid buying a fake, but they are out there, although not really in vast quantities. I suppose real ones come up so few and far between that over-eager people snap up the fakes when they show their heads. There are many new versions of the big beautiful cut-outs too, but new or old, they are prohibitively expensive. I'll take some new shots and add mine to this thread with comments. I know the provenance of some of them. A good opportunity to update the records. (Still stunned by the quality and variety above. )

Not so sure about the superstition, but those little flechettes in full polish are intensely beautiful to look at.

Thanks Ron, That is some Mei for an arrowhead! (Did you get it professionally polished?)

Don't pretend to know what went into that, (probably lots of what Barry says above) but excellent achievement! I hope this gives a challenge to the Japanese shokunin!

Some pretty arrowheads (arrowroots?) there. Ron, can you read the Mei on yours?

Many thanks for doing that. Food for further thought, always welcome! I was also thinking Christian for the Ojime/Rosary bead. (The large central canal tells me Ojime, though perhaps a Japanese Kakure object which could have two equally plausible functions in a tight corner.) Please also send my thanks to your ethnographic dealer friend, Malcolm. And Ron, I haven't rejected Tibetan. It's all in the pot!

This thread has given me a flash of understanding. I have had a puzzling unsigned print for a couple of years which must be by Chikanobu. Many hours have I spent looking at it. The whole style, setting and feeling is close to your print, Roy, and his rendering of the sea is unmistakeable.

Thank you for the consideration, Ron. The Ojime I bought in Himeji, and the handle from a dealer in Kyoto who said he bought it from a dealer in Nagoya. The fact that they are both in Japan and one is an Ojime does suggest a Japanese archipelago provenance, and the Ainu possibility has to be considered.

Malcolm, I am using the word cloisonne fairly loosely as I cannot think of a better word for the moment. The design fields are defined in twisted metal (brass?) wire and instead of enamel they are filled with what looks like lacquer. The underlying material is bone or more likely stag antler in both cases.

Malcolm, here is the page where I posted the question, post#863: http://netsuke.websitetoolbox.com/post/ ... ?trail=870 There is also a link to an Ojime seemingly made by the same process/person. (?)

Hi Malcolm, thanks for the links. Over on the Netsuke site someone suggested "a parasol handle", which people collect, and which just about fits the bill.

This antler section is 10.5 cm long and has a circular recess of 3 cm in one end. Found in a good quality antique stall in Japan. Could it be a Netsuke, or the handle of a knife or tool, possibly Ainu? Curved, it fits well into the palm of the hand. PS Screw simply for depth reference. Walls of cavity smooth.

Maxime, thanks for showing the Jingasa. It's in pretty good condition. The Mon is a Kanji written in Kaku-Ji style (square-block) so you can see that without being able to read this Kanji, it could be one of thousands.　Have a look here: http://minagi.p-kit.com/page135514.html

It's a very good question. I have a handful, perhaps ten or twelve Yajiri/Yanone, in varying states of preservation. Here in Japan the mood seems to be 'Don't bother'. Some of mine are covered in lacquer 'nuri' so they can be left alone. Some with bad rust spots I have attempted to clean up myself using a variety of materials. (Subsequently asked to lend them for a museum display so they cannot have been too bad.) I guess if you have a) very nice examples, b) the kind of money that a willing Togishi might want, c) time and patience, and d) if you can guarantee that the same rusting will never repeat (ordering of mini saya etc.) then... why not? :lol:

Carl, the Abe family had two main Mon, one the Mochi circle and the other the crossed Taka-no-ha. The 白河 Shiraga branch in late Edo had feathers that crossed left over right as yours does. As Ian says, we need to see whether there is another Mon on the other side though.

Ron's opinion seconded, and even the repros which occasionally come up are very expensive.

Ken, after you guys left I got bored... :lol:

Malcolm, well, I did get a faint sort of whoosh... :| Keith, now that is a very useful chart!

Excellent reply, Malcolm, thank you... oh, and I just tried the Whooosh outside! :lol: PS Close inspection shows it to be a resin or plastic saya, as you say, and not the urushi nuri that I had thought...

Just for fun I put these two on a katana-kake to make a Daisho. The rough and ready 'wakizashi/tanto' I bought a few months ago. This looks like a short contact weapon. The rather fine 'katana' with boubi and kissaki in black urushi saya was given to me about a year or two ago, but I cannot imagine it being used to strike anything directly, having much less 'kasane'. (Quote: "It used to belong to a Sensei up north")

Nothing wrong with your eyes!

Well, I had only heard rumors/rumours of such things until now, so I was pleased to handle one made by the smith himself. Thanks gentlemen for the background information! "Ryusei-To", "Intetsu-To"... from J Wiki. http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B5%81% ... F%E5%88%80

PS Today I was allowed to handle a sword made from 'inseki', meteorite. I asked the smith if you can tell that it has meteorite mixed in and he said yes, from the 'uneri'. He said it would be difficult to make it all from meteorite, which is why it is mixed. Tachi. Suguha. Togi half complete.

There are large signs asking visitors not to take photos of the exhibits. Despite that I got a further underhand shot for you Eric today. We had to escort ten members of the Kinki "Nikkoken", Armor/Armour Society around the Prefectural Museum, the castle and the sword museum. Being the start of Golden Week, it was quite crowded in there so I felt extra guilty. The sign says roughly: One Monme = 3.75 gm. A Monme is a unit under the old Shakkan-Ho weights system. You will hear talk about 10-Monme zutsu (guns) or 100-Monme zutsu (guns), but this comes from the distinction in the weight of the ball fired from the Hinawa-Ju matchlock. The 100 Monme ball on the right thus weighs 375 gm.