Curran

Markus, Very much looking forward to this. Thank you.

http://www.choshuya.co.jp/sale/new_gene ... w_gene.htm Eric- I was about to say that was a particularly nice one. Then I saw the caption of Myoju. It would have just been an echo after that. There is also the Great Book of Horimono. I am surprised no one here has mentioned it. About 3.5cm thick book on everything you want to know about horimono and how certain ones are kantei points.

The blade is a nice simple Echizen Shimosaka Yoroi-doshi. Over 1cm thick, but otherwise nothing special. The spring mechanism has a pin locking system inside the little box carriage. It locks and unlocks as smooth as clockwork.

Not sure the picture will fit. You've probably seen it before. Piece is understated, but matching down to the shibuichi habaki. TH papers at present.

Poke poke. One tsuka looks modern. The one in the book does not. Earthquake Catfish? I don't know the mythology, but Earthquake Catfish are popular Higo design. Personally I like the ones with the nearsighted catfish that falls in love with a gourd or eggplant fallen into the water...

The saya alone is a beautiful example of Owari style lacquerwork. I've seen one of these damaged and deconstructed. The style is quite a bit of work. Don't let the saya get dinged. If you collapse one of those ridges, they are a devil to restore. Really a very complete koshirae. I regard these as very rare now outside of Japan. Even in Japan a piece is often missing and cannot be replaced tastefully. I have one (only one) complete original koshirae that has been a favorite of my collection for 8 or 9 years now. Beautiful koshirae. Got to do a complete photography catalog of it at some point. A serious of short tracking videos and a few still pictures. Or an Richard K. George hemiscope of it.

What Peter said: You can take 5 pokerchips and spin them frisby style as far as possible into the Tampa Main Room. At least 4 of the pokerchips will land on items better than these menuki. The 5th chip will probably peg someone in the eye or smack into a forehead. Make multiple passes around the room. Be polite in asking to handle things, and most people will talk to you. Don't feel a need to buy, though my increasing opinion is that US sword show is the best place to do so nowadays. Just talk to people and learn as much as possible. Try to assimilate it. Volunteer for a half day at the Shinsa if you think you have time. That was an excellent though exhausting experience for me in 2002 and 2006.

Eric, I thought the same. I did not confirm with books.

Petersan or Rich T can correct me on this, since I know myself to be a bit imprecise with terms. Mito does not mean Mito Shoami. There are many many outstanding artisans in the Mito school and many branches that are their own subschool of very distinct work. I have one signed piece that I would stack up next to any Yoshioka, Ishiguro, or even later mainline Goto work in terms of quality of shakudo and workmanship. Mito Shoami term is used a bit more negative zone in the Venn Diagram of Mito, and can often be dismissed as such due to cheap gold/silver gild over copper insert, usually in a very mediocre iron plate. It is like saying Kyoto work vs Kyo Kanegushi (thought I confess I really like some of the Kyo kanegushi stuff). Your tsuba feels more on the Mito side of the pool, though shinsa brains might still chalk it up to Aizu Shoami. Sometimes they can be knee jerk reflex based on design, and these things can't tell us the true answer. __________________________________________________ We can't know for sure. I recently saw a signed an papered Omori f/k that I would never have guessed was Omori work were it not for the signature. I would have sworn it was Goto or Kaga Goto.

Genuine. Mito Shoami work. Squarely 1800s work. Mito Shoami has some decent pieces, but school really debased its reputation with mass production work in later years.

Looks so much more fun than dayjob. Cathartic.

Please show us the tsuba, unmounted, if you have the time.

Awesome undertaking. I looked at some of your smelting process photos recently (FIB or NMB ?) and hope that some day I will follow in the same footsteps.

It was at Tokugawa Art. It sold. Theme is said to be sukashi face of a cheery chubby cheeked girl. Mark, I believe one of the artisans on FollowingtheIronBrush made a nice gendai copy of it. I don't recall who, but I have seen a gendai copy. I liked this tsuba and considered making a trade+cash offer for it, but it sold before I ever did.

Thank you in return. We lost Sachiko Prough recently, and I am still gobsmacked by her sudden passing. To many passing and too few entering.

Lorenzo, Yes, I told him this already via PM. His is either a late Edo copy. Let us say "Kodai Higo", or it is a fake. It has none of the feel of the originals, which a very advanced collector was kind enough to loan me a half dozen of these Kanshiro softmetal ones for a while. I prefer to think it is Kodai Higo, but patina looks jacked up. Correct repair of a kodai Higo would be expensive and perhaps foolish in this case. but it doesn't really go with the koshirae this guy has for it. It looks sort of a frankenstein. Probably a money pit to repair a koshirae that is already not much to look at. If he wants a koshirae for the nice sword it has, he probably should learn the process of having a decent one built.

John, Very well said. I begrudged myself learning Goto for many reasons and came to it late in studies. Even now with many of the Goto books and a few years, I have barely memorized an outline and a few kantei points. On more than one occasion I have asked John to help me understand a particular side school signature. The one area where I have bit the head off the chocolate Easter Bunny is with Kaga Goto. While there is much Kaga kinko, the Kaga goto is usually rather limited and only a few pages even in the Kaga Kinko Taikan. ~~ The quickest takeaway regarding Kaga Goto ____ and this is my opinion more than anything written up in the books ___ is that it is usually meticulous and designed to be viewed from the perspective of a person at least a few feet away than the perspective of a person up close. Ie. It is designed more with proportions and angles to be viewed by an audience vs by an owner that purchases and wears the items. Zoom into the item and you will find no fault with the workmanship. Actual Kaga Goto tsuba of quality seem very rare. Not crazy about the one on Choshuya, as I thought that one more in Kyo Kinko camp. Usually you only get to see the Mitokoromono Kaga sets, and even those seem rare if not broken up.

The Kurgan. ah yes. Where have all the good villains gone?

Point taken on the response to my surgeon comment. Best analogy I could make, as I am not sure I would have bet on the "before" patient. By profession, I don't lose bets very often. Chris Bowen's point about the incandescent lightbulb viewed down length of the blade is a good physics test I like using, given to some variability. While I am fairly certain David has polished at least one Juyo blade, the comment that blades are Juyo.... not polishes.... should be carefully considered. Short version is he didn't muck it up, yet the very very nice sword got Juyo. Not the polish. It says something, but it is not conclusive. As Guido said, "dear Lord, not this thread again" or "Great Buddha, not this thread again", yet here I am contributing to it despite trying to resist. Dave, hope to meet you at the club next weekend. This has been an interesting restoration, though the polisher debate is However, there are a few flecks of gold buried in it.

These tend to be classified as Aizu Shoami. Or at least that is how they tend to paper. With the mimi and other variations, I certainly understand David's call. It does display more of a Mito feel. Attached in a word doc should be an Aizu Shoami Yanone tsubaimage of one I think I sold via Christies London in 2008. AIZU SHOAMI Yanone Tsuba.doc

John and Jean are already helping, so you are in good hands and I'd be distant third chair on this one. That CD from RogerShaw is also worth its weight in gold. (brilliant rec Jean) I only minimal interest in Hizen swords, but his book is too good. No matter how my library space may shrink, it will snow in the Florida Keys before I sell that one. <>

Dave, I am much more of a fittings collector who has owned a few good nihonto over the years. There will be club members there that can give you much better advice than me. Izuka-san (Kunio) will probably be your first stop in the room. Club info: http://www.ny-tokenkai.org/www.ny-token ... tings.html Usually 12 to whenever. January is usually the big meeting where we all go out to a big lunch-dinner. Sadly, John Prough's wife has suddenly passed away Jan 5th. He is General Secretary and long time co-leader of the group. His wife was an internationally respected and much beloved Japanese naginata sensei. One of the world's best and a woman who put the Art in martial artist. We might be a large and gloomy bunch on Jan 22nd. That said, you should come. They may or may not charge you a $5 visitor fee, but you will get a bucketload of information and someone may take a rubbing of your nakago to do further research. That is bittersweet, as it was Sachiko Prough who gave us a lecture on how to do oshigata only 2 months ago. PM me if you need any more info.

Dave, Please remember protocol to add your first name to posts. It may help some of us forgetful types if you also add at least initial of last name to posts. There are many "Dave" in my family, including both first and second husband of my aunt. Stories can get confusing. I too confess surprise at how well the polish turned out. Like being a surgeon, it is a tough call to make. Your patient turned out very well. I did not know you were in New York City. Has no one directed you to the New York Metro Sword Club? The next meeting is Jan 22nd at the Times Square location. I don't like the idea of a naked freshly polished blade wandering around the city... asking for trouble or damage. Yet club members will give you good insight into it. To protect the blade surface for short periods of travel, you can cover it lengthwise in Syran Wrap or Cling Wrap. Be sure to clean afterwards. If you are remotely near FiDi, then PM me and we can consider meeting up Sunday or Monday. We are staying a few blocks north of Wall Street. Most of my books focus on fittings and koto Bizen, but I do have some other texts here. Curran

Pleasant tsuba. later Edo revival piece without a kozuka or kogai ana, but uses several sukashi designs together well. Also, the habaki is beaten up but was once something personal. I cannot comment on the blade, but some of the fittings point towards a personal regard for the sword as more than just a tool.

Piers, Thank you. My tastes have gotten simpler with age, though I sometimes go 180 and love something Tour de Force over the top. The shape and line of this kake appeals to me. A family friend is a professional woodworker and made me 2 exceptional long tsuba kake out of hollywood. Your sword kake might find itself recreated in smaller form and hollywood for a favorite toppei koshirae and its original tanto. Good inspiration.