Curran

This has been an interesting stroll across several languages. John Stuart, glad to see someone keeping up with the Latin. As for the Romans- the older I get, the more interesting I find them. It is unnerving how many of their structures still stand in Italy, and in Spain to a lesser extent.

Ludolph, Thank you for the reply. I was under the impression there was a modern guide to price or value, similar to those books available for swords (and coins, etc...). I do not have access to many auction catalogs. For instance, I have no idea what value to assign the 6th Gen Yasuchika tsuba I posted.

I should amend my statement about the "dating" in the barcode. A polisher I respect told me that he did this, and demondstrated with several swords of one of his clients. The client confirmed that the polisher was correct. Maybe it was an April Fool's day joke on me, but I believed it. It does not follow that ALL polishers who use the "barcode" do that, and I should not have implied it. I have also seen the wood burl marks of that Ted mentioned. I'd forgotten about that.

Ludolph? Do you know of a Japanese valuation/price guide to the various kodogu makers? One of our former fellow NMB list members had such a guide, but he is now long since gone. Mr. Nobody (Moriyama-san), may I please ask what are your schools of interests within collecting swords? I've been interested in mostly Oei period blades of the Yamashiro and Bizen tradition, but occassionally strayed into Soshu tanto and O-tanto.

To claim they are a sign of quality might be a stretch or half truth. Think of it more as a bar code. The polisher responsible can read it and some have a system to their code by which they can read when they polished it. I have seen polish jobs where the polisher was so (proud?) of his work that he also burnishes in a very small mark or kao over the lines or in some other semi-secret spot. I've seen this a few times now. The first time was on a Juyo blade of the Rai school. The owner didn't even know the mark was there. The polish was extremely beautiful and gentle, but I was mildly surprised a polisher would do that (it was hid in the horimono under or near the habaki). I do not think this is common, but when I come across a blade with a higher end nice recent polish... I like to see if I can find these 'polisher kao'. Searching for it also yields a nice overall study of the blade.

That is an interesing tsuba. Given the style of workmanship, I was surprised by the signature. Given the name, I would have thought something more along the Hamano style. I've attached photos of what I believe is an authentic Yasuchika 6th. I have not papered it yet. Just been told by one of the shinsa judges that it is correct. Still need to see if the other judges agree! It is dated to 1853 (or 1856- I forget). I believe Mr. Nobody helped me translate it as commissioned by or for a Mr. Tamiya. Ludolf or Mr. Nobody, what guide or text do you use for the "ranking" of kodogu makers. I purchased several tsuba from estates/small-museums in the past few. Some of them have been bigger names. I have no idea how to value them for insurance. For instance, what is an unsigned Otsuki school tsuba worth? Several have been papered in Japan. I will paper the rest next year.

Martin's tsuba was a good example of the "reverse swastika" keyfrett design. Today I came across another example: http://www.soulofthesamurai.com/home/de ... 4-339A.jpg I have never dealt with this seller before, or at least not that I can recall. He occassionally produces one or two of note.

Nigel, Today accelerated on me, so I've been busy until now. I did look at Tokugawa. On "Tuba" page two they do have a shakudo one with the lightening & thunder keyfrett. Not the Man (reverse swastika) pattern I was trying to find. I remember it being part of a complete koshirae with the Man all over. O well. Cannot find it now. Thank you for the comments on my tsuba. It was a lucky find purchased from a bad photo. It is very nice, but extremely dense and heavy. I've enjoyed having it. To think I almost passed on purchasing from the original photo sent me! My only complaint is someone "numbered" it in the upper left part of the seppa dai (look closely at the photo). While looking at Tokugawa today, I noticed another nice tsuba up at a very fair price. I need to visit the websites more often.

Nigel, Yes, that tsuba is one of mine. I haven't bothered to paper it yet, so the statement "Owari Kinko" is only my opinion after being pointed in the right direction by Alan Bale a while back. Peter K over in Miami loaned me a book on it. It may even be an unsigned 'Norisuke' (that is a whole other kettle of worms...) but Norisuke I and Norisuke II mostly worked in iron. As always, Rich T's links are very good. I like the one iron Edo Higo tsuba he showed you. Price was good too.... hmmmm! Parusing one of his links also led me to another tsuba I am interested in, so the Edo Higo tsuba is probably safe from me. Work has had me too busy to visit many of the Japanese sites in a while. Seems I'm missing out. I'll need to find the time somehow! I believe Tokugawa Art had a good example of 'Sayagata' but it may have sold or my memory may be faulty. I'll go looking for it after work finishes today.

Pitch is often added to the back of the menuki to fill them out, be they soft and thin or thick and solid. I've seen it on the thinnest gold menuki, and I've seen it on iron menuki over which you could drive a truck with no damage. A similar set of menuki was just published in the 2nd Annual KTK Convention Catalog, as part of Ron Hartman's collection. Ron's are exceptionally nice, and signed. I would say that every time I have seen this pitch and removed it hoping to find a signature- I never have found a signature. In one case, I damaged the back of the menuki... so I don't recommend removal of the pitch. The pitch is sometimes as hard as a diamond. Leave the menuki as they are. Curran

Nigel, aka. Keyfrett design. I cannot add much. As your post notes, it often comes up around the repeating pattern of the Buddhist "reverse swastika". It could also be based upon the Japanese design rendering of lighting & thunder. You see it used alot set in shakudo. Often in kaga kinko, and sometimes in the more rare Owari kinko. There are some Akasaka tsuba that use it as their design through softer iron. I've attached an image of what I believe to be an Owari kinko tsuba with keyfrett. It is made of shakudo with gold wire insert. You are welcome to visit us in Sarasota when you feel like it. Weather is finally nice over here. If possible, could you post a photo of the tsuba that is on this koshirae of yours?

Mr. Nobody, Thank you. I was just curious if it could be read the other way. We often feel Japanese leaves much to inference. I did not know if this could be true even of " ichi gatsu". I wish it were possible to more actively study Japanese where I live now- but it is very difficult to find a teacher here. Learning from books without human interaction allows for too much 'interpretation error'.

Mr. Nobody, Any chance this could also be translated: "the first month of the Genji Era"? First month = February ? This is probably a wrong idea, but I am just wondering.

John- I'd have to agree on Nobody's expert reading of the 1st and 4th character. I think he is probably right on the 3rd character, but not sure what to make of the 2nd character. I looked up 'Motoaki' (and other variations) in Haynes and didn't get a match. I think we will hafta wait until you receive it and post a better image. Then we will help as best as we can. Let me know when you have a better picture.

John, If possible, provide a better image. We will translate it, try and confirm the signature as authentic (or not?), and give you some history on the guy. Curran

Hamon: Ultimately, it is your call. On pre-1500s stuff, if it runs near or touches the edge, but is of true artistic merit... very few Japanese seem to mind. Even if it looks like it is at the very edge of the blade in a few spots, a good polisher can still do wonders. I have seen many a thin to microscope thin hamon on many a nice old Yamato, Yamashiro, and Bizen piece. I have seen Juyo and even a Toku Juyo with small areas (1.5 inches or less) of what I would call 'no hamon'. I don't fully understand it, as some of the blades' artistic appeal escaped me. Then, one of the nicest blades I have ever had the chance to study for a while was a nice Bizen blade where the hamon got very thin in one or two small spots. It bothered me for the first few days I got to look at, but the more I studied and held it and considered it both as art & a weapon; I thought it had lost nothing and was one of the most elegantly balanced (in art and function) Nihonto I'd gotten to study. Those fingernail wide areas thin hamon points were quickly eclipsed in my mind. Retemper: Extremely complex issue. Mizu-kage on both sides of the blade with loss of activity is a sign of the retemper have spoken about. But there are other signs that some call retemper. The one I most often mention is when something (usually pre-Edo blades that were probably used in the warring states period) and had the hamachi moved up- it has been shown to me how it was often done with a heated copper block to soften the metal structure in the edge and not split/hagire when cutting the new hamachi. Creates a bit of what looks like mizukage on one side, but doesn't seem to have much other affect on the blade. I DO NOT consider this a retemper. I've seen dealers claim these blades are 'retempers' to get a seller down, then try and buy and paper them. I'm thinking of a nice Bizen blade where the owner decided not to believe one of our self proclaimed "foremost experts"- and it papered very well. Absolutely beautiful blade. The sort of retemper you mention is very hard to do well. It leaves lots of clues, and if those clues are inconsistent with the school from which the blade originates- then you do (highly likely) have a retemper different from its original form and now mostly a weapon- not so much a piece of original form artwork. But then sometimes these clues are misleading. I know of 4 blades, all Oei period Bizen or Yamashiro-Bizen that were called retempers by many experts because of "the clues". All of these 4 blades (2 swords and 2 O-tanto) now have Tokubetsu Hozon papers. One of the O-tanto belongs to me. That one won't leave me until I am in my coffin. But yes, a true retemper puts a lot of stress on a blade already under stress. It changes the shape and creates havoc in some areas leaving 'clues'- especially along the mune in those I've been able to study. The retemper issue can be a very complex one.

Moses has good stuff. Over the years, there are probably only 3 or 4 swords in memory that I kick myself for not having bought. 2 of them were ones Moses offered up. He has a good eye and brings some good blades "out of the woodwork". He also is selective in what he allows to be ~consigned~ and is negotiable. Highly recommend him as being better and easier to deal with than even the majority of Japanese dealers.

John, I do not think I could add anything. What more sort of information where you seeking? I assume you have been through Nagayama, Malcom Cox's book and through the Mino Taikan.

If it were, this would be a fair bargain. They are not Tanaka school. I sold a nice Tanaka school tsuba last year for $3000 without papers. I owned it for all of 6 days. Within 24 hours of posting it, it was gone. The signature was certainly authentic, but the tsuba had some small damage- so I priced. it accordingly. With Hozon papers, it swould have been closer to $4500 USD. The other two I knew about went for between $5000 and $6500 via Bob Benson. They both went fairly fast out there, and one fellow has shared with me that he collects them. ex: http://www.cgfinearts.com/gallery_outpu ... alleryID=2 I am a wee bit surprised the one on Colin's website has not gone at $3850. The ones up for auction look more like Aizu Shoami / Mito. See the tsuba that Colin has next to the Tanaka school one for an example. Aizu Shoami certainly gets a bad rap for some decent work. I believe to paraphrase the wording in the Nihon to Koza, "they produced diamonds and duds", so their diamonds suffer the valuation of the duds. To say "Probably Tanaka-school" is quite a wink and nudge from an auctioneer.

I took a scanner version too. It has come out a little discolored, but you get the idea. Mr. Nobody- thank you very much for the Translation help

This is a 6th Gen Yasuchika. It is signed on the back, though I don't have a photo of the back yet. I'm hoping the photo will upload. This tsuba is hard to capture. Even with a light hood on, it was highly reflective (as John stated). It is not the best shakudo I have ever seen, but in the 9 out of 10 range. Jim Gilbert had one which reminded me of gas floating on black-blue water. It does make most people pause who see it in hand. Anyway, I like the tsuba. In a moment of absentmindedness- I thought it came in the box that started this thread...

Of course, -you are right Milt. It was very late and I was not thinking correctly. This box came with a different tsuba- but that tsuba was iron and it is not signed. So I think this box has long since lost its original tsuba. The tsuba that came with the box is currently in Japan for papers, and I have been keeping the Yasuchika in this box. My very bad mistake. I will post the Yasuchika tonight, so perhaps I can get a correct read on the signature. Curran

Thank you very much. That would describe the tsuba inside very well. I must learn the kanji for the various metals. I will upload a photo tomorrow. The tsuba has some of the best shakudo I have seen, but is very highly reflective. It is a nice Yasuchika tsuba dated 1853 and commissioned for a Mr. ??? Curran

Darcy, If Peter couldn't direct you to a more detailed materia, I doubt that I can add much. Your best bet may be Harry's Nihon To Koza- Kodogu translation looking up the Sano Ke. It is just a verbal flowrecord of how the various late Edo schools formed. There is also further mention of Naoyoshi on page 398 (or so), when discussing the height/depth factor of quality in some of the better/best late Edo kinko workers. I'll try finding something in the Haynes Catalogs later, as there he wrote many a paragraph on various kinko schools. It would be useful if someone cataloged all the names relative to volume & page, as I am surprised the Haynes Index did not refer back to this his own work. The Haynes having been commercial in nature are not infalable- but Mr. Haynes work is far and away some of the best stuff published in English. Ah, if there were more time- I would gladly cross index the Catalogs. Anyone know of this already having been done? Some Volumes have an index in the back. Some don't.

Could someone help translate the gaki on the tsuba box pictured below. The box itself is interesting. I have never seen a tsuba box constructed this way, and the box seems very old. Perhaps the oldest non lacquer tsuba box I have ever seen. Constructed with many little wooden pegs, so despite its age it is still fairly airtight.