Curran

Everyone: To keep it simple... There is the Higo Hirata school and then there is the Hirata Donin school. Higo Hirata (Hikozo and his line) = no cloissone Hirata Donin (and those after him) = extremely skilled goldwork and cloissone, Don't confuse the two.

Trust yourself more. Even if the signature on the fuchi proves to be false, -that is not uncommon. Overall, it looks like a nice koshirae that has probably been stored a little too long. Extremely nice looking wrap.

@JohnTo Thank you. This is why I cross=post things that I initially posted elsewhere. Places like here and the National Gardening Forum sometimes dig up things (pun) that surprise me when I thought I knew most of what there was to know about a topic. 'So... Tadanori became a term like John Doe, Dine-n-Dasher, or Honkie Love that one. Is it in modern parlance at all? I'm curious if my host family would recognize it. They helped a lot in researching the two Taira Tadanori poems on the Goto kozuka in the photo, and sent me information from the Prefecture museum.

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Oh wow. Nice looking Owari rig. Very nice to see someone do up a koshirae that way. 13 or 14 years ago, I had a nice antique Owari rig with a kodai Yagyu on it. Sold the koshirae on to a NMB member, and I sometimes regret it. They were never commonplace, but you just don't see many Owari rigs anymore. Only among the more dedicated Iaido practicioners, (including John and Sachiko Prough: the friends, neighbors, and Iaido/naginata teachers that helped me really get into this nihonto hobby)

One of the Yagyu I showed didn't have modern NBTHK papers. I finally got around to sending it to shinsa, and got word that it papered to Hozon directly to Yagyu.

Afraid I agree with @ROKUJURO and @Dan tsuba on this one. I'm cautious to call a tsuba as cast, but that one is not at the same level as the one you shared to start this thread. I remember owning a partially burned tsuba in my second year collecting tsuba. I wasted a lot of time trying to improve that partially burned tsuba. Some things are just 'dead' and you should let them go as soon as possible.

Wow. Tsuba or a gong?

I went from not liking Hoan tsuba that much, to truly loving some of the early ones. The Hoan Juyo of the long eared rabbit has become a favorite. I'd probably have to sell off 10 tsuba to own it, but would do so.

background poem and depiction

I posted this elsewhere and think NMB would enjoy it too. Attached are 3 kozuka of same design -Taira Tadanori death waka on an arrow (under cherry tree)-. First to the right is Goto Tokujo. Middle one is his son Kenjo. The last one on the left in its own box is either later Goto main line or Goto sideline (my opinion). ----- Purpose of this is to see second photo where you can observe the design went from thinner but more intricate to progressively deeper larger relief and design. Some of the complexity lost…

ooffff.

As Jean said above. In addition to think Ko-tosho, Ko-kinko, and Ko-Katchushi, you rarely will see a honking large tachi tsuba that will clock in at 10mm. In all the years collecting, I have only owned one of those. I should have kept it.

95% on my end. Steve is probably higher.

The tsuba: signature on the left side of the seppa dai will read "Kane" and "Iye" The original Kaneiye is quite famous and later there would be a large body of artists that used the name to produce tsuba that were a reflection of his styling. This is not to say they are gimei (false signature), but rather that there are so many that it is hard to break them out by generation or personal name. Just more of a group name.

I don't remember seeing this one at Choshuya. Strong piece. Do we see twisted rope inlay any earlier than the 3rd gen in any of the earlier Higo schools? While I know the Kamiyoshi artists did this well, I cannot recall the earliest I have seen it in the older Higo schools. Just getting back from the NC mountains and catching up on a lot of posts that I have missed.

Nice clean little koshirae. Love the falling gold flecks in the lacquer.

@Charlie C that would be #4. Thank you for the consideration. Own 7 kozuka, and 4 are archery related.

@zanilu given the way it was lost from that one stroke, it is more likely inlaid than just lacquer filled and polished. Thank you for that image.

Hey- if you really want it.. let me know or PM me. I am not going to bid super high. These are not Pokemon. I don't need to catch all the archery ones. I already have 3 nice archery theme ones (two that you have seen, and a worn Ko-Goto one). I do like the Tadanori waka very much, but I will add that I do think this would be classified as Sideline Goto. I don't think Kaga Goto. @zanilu Thank you. I wasn't sure. I thought maybe lightly carved and then lacquer filled to be rubbed flat. Inlaying shakudo isn't that easy. However, the gold looked inlaid to me.

I am discovered.... I was going to bid on that kozuka. My feelings were Kyo-Goto (Waki-Goto). I didn't think Kaga Goto, but I could be wrong. My concern is the script is lacquer painted on, whereas the two mainline Goto ones I showed have it inlaid. I did archery a lot growing up. Not exactly Olympic level, but up there. Really loved it and am considering getting back into it. So- yeah, was going to try and pick this one up. Are you sure this is the same poem on this kozuka? The Goto ones are clearly Taira no Tadanori (or Tadahiro, is it?). I was less sure about this Waki-Goto one, as the script was hard for me to read and I had to dig up the Waka.

Well, we all start somewhere. My first tsuba about 33 years ago was a bit of a paperweight of a Choshu tsuba. I've also crossed the Rubicon into 5 figure USD$ tsuba. Yet recently I ebay bought a double lot and am keeping the item of greater value. The other tsuba in the lot turned out to be a surprisingly nice early Edo tosho (or katchushi, depending on how you look at it). Worth is probably only $100-150, and my intent was to turn around and sell it ASAP. Instead, I've had it a for a while now and am still enjoying it for its simple, clean, solid design beauty. I suspect I will keep it another month or two. It isn't a lifer, like Dan's collection, but it holds its place nicely at the back of the bus with the fancy dancy ones up front. It will probably 'leave the bus' sooner than the long haul heavies, but it is a kinda happy accident to own it for a while. Nice little guest that stumbled in from crap photos on ebay. Every one in a while, something decent does come off ebay. For me, it is only about 1 a year, but I still check ebay sometimes.

(1) A place to keep my magnets when not on the fridge (2) A balance point marker? 1 is not serious, and 2 is only slightly serious.

The menuki are very odd. Perhaps unique. Early on in my collecting, I took two menuki off a wakizashi. They were of gaijin clothed fellows somewhat drunk / passed out under cherry blossoms and street lamps. At the time, I had no idea they were unique. Sold them on eBay. While they were not high art, I wish I had kept the little unique buggers.

Ah yes, the famous fake "Dancing Skunk" tsuba that was mass produced and all over the market in the 0s...[2001-2009]. Milt Ong (RIP) really loved to have fun with these. Where'd you find this crapper? They are now increasingly rare.... like those Samurai Sword Letter Openers from the 1950s <-> 1970s.