Frank B

Yes, I agree, TH is not a far reach for these menuki, they have a lot going for them.

Steven, I can take a photo of the reverse tonight. Yes, they did take caution in just saying Yamagawa. In the future when I send to TH I hope they narrow it down to an artist.

Thank you Jeremiah.

Yes, solid gold.

As promised, here are the new photos. They are getting better, but they still arent perfect. Will try natural light when I get the chance.

The feeling is mutual Curran,it was great working with you. If anyone has kirin menuki Id love to see them and compare to mine.

I will try to take high res. photos tonight(many minute details).

Thank you Jeremiah

Thank you for the kind words Steven, the pictures dont do them justice.

Hozon papers/size comparison to my snake menuki

I recently got a new pair of menuki from Curran. He was a pleasure to deal with(could not recommend him enough) and the menuki look much better in hand than in the photos. The theme is of galloping Kirin, the material is solid gold, and the school is Yamagawa(with no specified artist). Accompanying them are Hozon papers, a very similar pair is located in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Overall, Curran was amazing to work with and I am very lucky that he reached out to me about these menuki. If anyone has other menuki of the kirin theme I'd love to see them and compare to mine. Thank you https://www.mfa.org/collections/object/pair-of-menuki-in-the-form-of-galloping-kirin-9760

Most things that are too good to be true are in fact just that.

The silver fittings are nice, but not nice enough to cover that price tag imho.

If I had to choose, it would be Mr. Hallam's new work.

You can see before pics on tok. hozon papers.

True, would not be fair to discuss without permission.

Contacted the seller, they are sold. Still great to even have seen Ford's great restoration.

For my sake, I hope not!

not sure if still for sale, but pm sent

Pm sent

Thank you Mauro! Much appreciated

Thank you for the kind thoughts Luis, your input is always appreciated.

Thank you! I agree they are definitely "better" than the average menuki.

I agree, I will likely try Chicago this year.

Yes, however I and others think the Showa reference is when Dr. Sato wrote the hakogaki, not the menuki age.