Bugyotsuji

Yes, that is the date of publishing. The artist's name is probably that one in the white cartouche, bottom left, (Pic 3).　Once you get the first Kanji, the name should be traceable.

The Japanese call them "Supuringu-to" which describes old car leaf springs which could be and often were beaten out into swords. http://www.google.co.jp/search?q=leaf+s ... 24&bih=579

Very nice find, Eric and getting the same Kamon and coloring/colouring makes it very special!

Had a chat with our Kantei teacher today. He recognized the name immediately, and knows of three Juyo Kunifusa off-hand. One belongs to a member of our group who lives on an island south of here, and there is a Kunifusa Wakizashi displayed in a sword shop near here, so you are not alone!!!.

Cheers for that, Eric.

Good luck Thomas, and I am sure we all look forward to seeing your pictures and hearing how it goes. If you are free next month (October) on the 2nd, 8th or 9th we will be doing displays in the Chugoku area of Western Japan, and again on the 13th November, combining with local festivals. There are regular cheap flights between Seoul and Okayama. Other companies will I am sure be doing events in other areas of Japan throughout the year which may be more convenient for you.

Vlad 1, the writing on the left of that paperwork tells you most of what you want to know. The sword was made by Kunifusa in the Genna/Genwa Period, ie 1615-1623. It looks good! If that is correct there is a long description from the bottom left of page 289 in the Nihonto Meikan where he is listed as a Shinto smith serving Date Hidemasa.

Hi Eric. No, and I am surprised by how the Japanese themselves do not seem to value lacquer boxes in general. Perhaps they have no room in the house as they often say...I love them. With this particular box on Sunday there were a lot of puzzled faces, but I was sure it was something special. I told my J friend it was really old, but he half didn't believe me. Just been thinking about the heart shape windows. They are described in the auction (English = red peach) as peach shapes. We know them as 'inome' or boars' eyes. The Momoyama age is said to have been named after the Momoyama area of Kyoto where Hideyoshi had his castle at Fushimi. One explanation says peach trees were planted where his castle stood. I wonder if this shape became particularly popular around that time. The Ikeda family started to use an open butterfly with these heart/peach/boars'eyes cutouts in the wings. The latest 'in' design feature? Look at the waved edge and heart shapes in the wings... http://x181.secure.ne.jp/~x181007/kamon/shop/26007.html

Searching online and just found another one. This must have been in an auction in Hong Kong? Similar, but has Maki-e on lid. Listed as "Azuchi Momoyama 16th-17th C" http://www.est-ouest.co.jp/1105lot1361.html

Vlad, if no-one says anything, then it is a good bet that no feels able to say anything, other than that as said above, there was a line of Kunifusa in Iyo. My gut feeling is that such Shikoku swords rarely come up for kantei, so less is known about them. What books do you have? I have looked at Kunifusa in Fujishiro, but nothing comparable there. There are 32 in the Nihonto Mikan, of which 6 or 7 were associated with Iyo and Uwajima. Can you give us some more information, such as what the seller told you? He must have said something... Can you get a readable close-up of the paper?

Those prices are closer to the dealers' auction prices in Japan. The customer would pay considerably more.

A court lady's vanity case? The plain one I picked up on Sunday. The more colorful/colourful one needs professional restoration but is still useful for my bits and pieces.

On Sunday morning at about 6:45 am I was wandering an antiques fair and spotted a dealer carrying an old dusty Tebako 手箱 lacquer box to his pitch. It was full of stuff, and as he dropped it heavily onto the bench I asked him how much the box was. Several other people had also rushed forward and crowded round, so when he told me over his shoulder the price for the box itself, before he could open it, I shouted with maximum restraint: KATTA... Now I just happened to have another box like it at home but covered in gold and silver Maki-e, which I bought perhaps six or seven years ago and I remember the date for that style as Muromachi or Momoyama, or early Edo. The one I bought on Sunday is plain and very slightly smaller, but still about the size of a hatbox. Sadly when I looked at it later one of the ring fittings was missing, but otherwise it was in pretty good nick, and a little spit & polish later, despite the wear of the years it now really looks good. The dealer said I would soon find another ring fitment, but I know I won't, having searched for such previously. A quick search on the internet turned up this 「角赤」 http://www.pref.ishikawa.lg.jp/kyoiku/b ... hin/3.html which is very similar. The description says that there was a fashion from the Momoyama Period of binding these Tebako in cloth and impregnating the cloth with red lacquer and leaving part of the surface in this rough cloth effect.

In light of what Jean says I think the best we can do with an object like that is to study what was in fashion and from when. Mon can be and often were added later, at a price. The degree of lacquer fade can only be an indication of presence or absence of age, (ie brand new or not) but it will not be accurate. Lacquerware stored in a box may keep a much darker color/colour, whereas something like a Katana-tate may have been exposed to light over the years. Even a very black lacquer will appear brown under a flashlight/torch beam if it is old. New lacquer will appear black even under strong light. I have two manuscript boxes that I believe were made in the Muromachi period. The defining factor is the style as much as or more than the state of the lacquer. Pictures of these should be appearing in This Week's Edo Corner.

Looks great. I am sure it enhances your wife's reputation and looks too! (Tell her...oh, and that it will guard the house...) Are the lights as bright as that all day through? You may get fade in the lacquer and in the cloth/string colors/colours.

Much better pics. Thanks. Not an expert by a long chalk, but that sword seems to ring all the right bells for me.

By "Hiroi", and it may be a series, as the subtitle on that one says says (Gijutsu to Ryu-ha) http://books.rakuten.co.jp/rb/%E5%88%80 ... em/149807/

Well, this gift I was given is a mighty rare object. Since I would never look a gift horse in the mouth, I will own it in good faith. In the same good faith I will be happy when I give it to someone down the line. :lol:

Thanks. I was not familiar with the style of this organization (NTHK) and how they write 正真 to mean that they certify it as genuine. So their reputation now hangs on the blade being what the box says it is.

Not getting any information from those pics. (PC is shot) What does the middle line on the paper say?

Having read Chris's reply in which he suggested we do our homework, it struck me what a useful thing it would be to have a cheatsheet to hand. Rather like a wine diary giving the best vintage years by region, or when buying a car an awareness of the period of years when Jaguar motors had in place weaker quality control, would it not be nice to have on one page for example in color gradations the relatively stronger years and weaker years for the reputations for each paper-issuing body?

PS What is written against the name is that Gen-no-Shin Kunihide (however you read his personal name) is progeny of, or descended from Gen-no-Shin, who was the first of a line of Kunitomo smiths using this family name. (Ogasawara and Yasuda, Zenkoku Teppo Kaji...) Further, according to the researcher Uribe, in Nihon no Teppo Kaji, p.38, Gen-no-Shin Kunihide(?), (manufacturer of a 4.5 Monme gun presently in the possession of the Nagahama Historical Museum) descended from Gen-no-Shin, who descended from Gentaro, who may have descended from Gentao, who descended from the founder of Kunitomo Group 3, Kunitomo Zenbei (sp?) who was patronized by the Oda family and has an associated date of Keicho 15 (1610). PPS The mark of the locksmith seems to read Haru, 春　and the surround could be a design incorporating eight, 八 but sadly I could not find such a name in Uribe's Kunitomo locksmith list.

Pat, be prepared for anything. The fact that no-one has replied to this thread tells us something. The main thing is that you have the name on record. There is nothing to translate as it is a place and name and kao mark. How this particular gunsmith liked to read it will only ever be a secondary factor, and it may be that no-one alive today will be able to tell you. Perhaps the best thing for you is to memorize the characters and decide on a personal preference on how to read them, until someone comes along with a more convincing reason to correct you! (For example if you referred to him as "Go-Shu, Kunitomo, Gen-no-Shin, Kunihide", just for your own records, how many people would be able to correct you?) :lol:

Just got back to the place with the books! Your smith is listed in three sources, but unfortunately no 'correct' reading is given for those characters. Next step is to ask 'learned' people here for suggestions as to how 江州国友「源之進　珍英」 may have been read, ...from out of the several possibilities. The alphabetical order within the lists suggests the compilers wanted to read the first part starting with 源 as Gen... as in Gen no Shin, or Gen no Michi, rather than Minamoto no Shin or Moto no Michi/Yuki, etc.

Any pictures of you wearing them, Eric? PS Now back in the Land of Wa and perhaps more able to contribute here once more.