Curran

And ON HOLD via Facebook about 15 minutes after I posted it.

Kyo Sukashi tsuba : Willow Tree $950 + shipping from USA c.1650-1725 78.3 x 77.0 x 5.6 (5.1 mimi) Very fine condition. Custom Fitted box. See Sasano Gold book for similar Kyo sukashi #28 and Nishigaki #208 examples. ---------------------------------------------------------- I was very, very, very fortunate to buy a Jinbei Shimizu of Pine Tree design yesterday. Policy is 1 out for 1 in, and a Tree design for Tree design has logic to it. Thank you for your consideration.

The first one was mine long ago, before papered and sold it. I believe the second one belongs to a forum member, but I think he is busy & relatively off-line for the next few months.

No, the acid etching is quite something else. Those are more muted, like this: https://www.choshuya.co.jp/senrigan/松樹騎馬菊水図鍔（鐔）　銘　法安/鍔/法安 [Ignore the price, as it several of us have spoken and think it is one of Choshuya's crazy overshoots. Sometimes Choshuya crazy undershoots too. Hence why I still follow them.]

Yes. Likely a wedding chest. Lined with old korean silk, possibly repurposed from the sleeves of a woman's traditional wedding dress. Specifically: korean woman of the korean aristocractic (Yangban) class during the Joseon period.

Korean chest. Nice. Please be sure to care for the wood. Is the lock original? Some people collect those the same way we collect tsuba. Nice tsuba too. I like the file lines across the manji. As to the bad press on this ancient symbol used both in Asia and by American Indians, yes the Nazi party "Culturally Appropriated" it. Take it up with the Nazis, be they Illinois Nazis or just oldschool European Facists.

I just checked his website. It is now listed as sold. https://soryu.pl/col...h-nbthk-hozon-tosogu He may be a member here. I am not sure.

Sex, Klo, Geld. (I didn't know Klo. Had to look that one up). Part of the reason why I got off my butt and listed a few things is because I bought a second Yagyu before Christmas. Nice folds in the mimi, eh?

Hey! a real tsuba. Nice to see one. First pass at a read "Mori Kazuyoshi" or "Mori Kazutoshi"? Perhaps best to expand that signature and put it in the translation section for the fluent readers.

They might. Today I had the weird experience of coming across two other things I had sold before. 2 different dealers, but both had marked up the items +350%. --Perhaps a sign of my age.

SOLD on another venue. It had a mini pricewar there with 4 people. Nary a nibble there? That is 4 of the last 5 things I sold going via a venue that I thought inferior to NMB. While I understand and respect the divide of For Sales section, splitting up the Fittings into fittings might be hurting NMB more than helping???

TSUBA on HOLD 01/03/2024 Update: SOLD

Time to let a few things go after a nice recent purchase. A few more listings should follow in the next 48 hours. Just cleaning house after some 2023 purchases. Sale #2 Painfully Cute fuchi-kashira -Not sure how to date these. -Nice waves with little silver dots. Shibuichi is always hard for me to photograph. Nice depth of color. These are a bit petite for katana. I would say they are sized for an Edo wak, or large tanto. I haven't measured them and may add measurements later. $175 + shipping. Shipping can be combined with anything else I list. Got questions? Ask them. Curran

Time to let a few things go after a nice recent purchase. A few more listings should follow in the next 48 hours. Sale #1 Large Owari Tsuba 8.29cm x 8.22 cm x 5.3mm (taper to 4.6 at mimi) -Mid Edo -Excellent Patina (very deep, better than pics) The subtle thing about this is that the mimi is only 4.6mm, whereas the lightly carved paulownia leaves are about 5.3mm. Visually it pops a little bit, though hard to capture in 2-D photos. $200 + shipping. Shipping can be combined with anything else I list. Got questions? Ask them. Curran

Yeah, I belatedly realized this one has been up before. The addition of the book and other formatting are new. There are similar ones up for sale on Yahoo!Japan and a dealers site, priced in the 130,000 to papered one at 185,000 range. His BIN is a bit ambitious. A European seller is also now offering out one that I previously tried to buy. My interest has waned.

Wow. Quite the retro thread. Weird to read things I wrote 11 years ago. This thread also made me realize that I only have 1 tsuba with a moon on it. This surprised me, because I like moon themes. Nice thread.

Yagyu?

@uwe Wow, I think you nailed it in one shot. The place name also matches too with MASAKUNI Haynes Index 04149.0 and there are 4 reference signatures on page 308 of Wakayama Vol. 1. There are several generations, and it matches fairly well with the kuni character style of the 4th example. They supposedly moved from Karatsu to Odawara (Edo) in the 1650-1700 time period. To some degree, that explains the mismatch of fine cloisonne and what I consider Edo area iron. Thank you @uwe and @ROKUJURO

It is not exactly an exact science. I bought a Japanese red oak 3 sword kake that I guestimated at 1825-1860. I was off by near 1 century. The bottom is dated June 1754.

Please see the pictures. I broke the camera on my phone, so these old-school Canon macro ones are the best I can do for now. Signature is hard for me to discern. It looks like (?) (?) ju Masa (kuni?) From the basketweave iron pattern and cloissone workmanship, I think it is an Edo area maker. I question the kuni reading, because inside the box of the kanji all the strikes are little atari strikes pointing at each other like a bursting firecracker (bang!) . See the last picture for best image of that kanji. Is this just an easy way of doing the Kuni character, or can anyone else suggest an alternate reading? If I can figure out the place name, I can at least narrow down the # of possible [Masa______] readings. Thank you for any help.

I concur with John and others. It looks legit, but probably shinshinto.

I stumbled across that one somehow while looking at tosogu. The gassan style hada on a large ken did catch my attention. I liked the blade, habaki, and shirasaya, - but what is up with the nakago? Repatinated? Attempt to make it look older? Signature removed? No idea. Nakago looks off. Tosogu is more my thing. This was a curiosity. I wanted to ask someone about the nakago, but figured it didn't matter that much since there was only a 0.1% chance I would bid on it.

Yes, as Tom said. Hakogaki and the tsuba do not match.

There have been a few for sale in Japan recently. They are popping up more. Tokugawa Dealer in Nagoya has two, and several have been up on Yahoo!Japan. ~I'd considered finally owning one, but it is outside my main interests.

Wow. Time to get out the glencairn and raise a special glass to Dr. Stein. Lots of thoughts and feeling the mortality, with almost 25 years under the bridge since I first corresponded with him.