Curran

Chrysanthemums: ah, then- flower of death, funerals, and respect to the deceased. Something like that (says the gaijin)? The split of the ko-kinko kozuka is unfortunate, but it evidences an earlier construction technique. I would guess early 1600s. The condition wear of the early works is very appealing to me. Especially Ko-Goto work. Sometimes Ko-Kinko have shakudo nearly as good. I have two Ko-Goto kozuka (one of wild boars, another of arrows in a quiver) with half their 1000 year life worn away... yet the shakudo has such a luster at this point- ---any time I think of selling either, I put them out for a few days--- then back into the tansu and say I will sell them in another 1,3, 7, or 15 years.

If possible, please show the "mouth crack" on the second kozuka. Personally, -I prefer it to the ikebana vase kozuka. My initial thoughts are that it is a nice pleasant "ko-kinko" kozuka from the late 1500s or early 1600s. The flowers are meant to be Chrysanthemums? Others feel free to verify. Chrysanthemums have significant meaning in Japan and Korea, especially at that time in history.

As far as I know, -there is no English translation. It is one of my favorite books outside of my primary interest in Owari and Higo tsuba. I own a few Kaga Goto pieces and hope to travel to that part of Japan in October 2025 or 2026.

Manuel, 'e veramente un piacere di vederla. It is a powerful work with conviction. I love the fine yasurimei on the front. The prayer along the mimi must have been very difficult?

Thanks. I learned something new today.

Anyone get this one: I'm hoping one of our members did. I've got other fish to fry at the moment, but I probably should have picked this one up for study. I understand why it went for so low, yet think it is probably a good tsuba. What some might see as defects might be something else.

And the Predators built the Ziggurats? Just so we are clear on the matter. The topic is more interesting to me. Then we can all mostly get along with terminology and parameters. (Just in case it isn't clear, I'm trying to make a joke. I know I would starve if my career were 'Comedian'.)

Might be an Akasaka book, but the rubbing and the text next to it do not give it to Akasaka. I won't mention their attribution, as I don't agree with it. @lonely panet Hamish is right--- it is not Akasaka. While I owned an Akasaka of similar waterwheel design, I don't think I have ever seen an Akasaka of this specific waterwheel and bridge design. I've seen A LOT of Akasaka. Too many. This design gets pegged as Kyo-Sukashi about 75% of the time. The other 25% depends on various things. I have seen it in a very Owari execution at a few times.

okay then! Having to delete a post or two. I'm going to leave Dan's last one up. I don't really agree with him, but do feel he is entitled to his opinion and I shouldn't edit the thread very much. It has not my favorite thread, as I find the topic very subjective over the last 25+ years. Please keep the disagreements civil as possible.

As reliable Mauro says: NTHK papers with the mark of the 4 judges. Don't ask me which. I don't read chops very well, though I was given one by my family in Japan. Those "noodle bowl" chops are beyond me to read at this time. This NTHK one does seem pertinent to the old discussion thread. Hagihara-san was part of one of the NTHK shinsa teams for a long time. Up to 2004 to 2006??? , the papers were solid. I papered a few items with them back then. Since then, I know little of their shinsa team. (edit) Papers look recent Reiwa era. Ie. They are relatively recent papers.

@ChrisW and @Rawa . Thank you both for this. Chris' explanations helped me on one or two things I was wonder, and Marcin's image posted will be helpful in remembering the new-to-me terminology. I now understand the leather cap on the top of the saya is missing, hence the patina shift between the covered and uncovered part. Yes to Chris's comment on what type of sword it maybe once carried. By the tsunagi and other measurements of the inside of the saya, I suspect it was made for an older sword. What?- we will probably never know.

Ah! I should have seen that. Interesting idea.

and

More pics.

Hi guys, I've been helping and learning mostly in the Tosogu section for the last 20 years. A while back I inherited this gunto koshirae and loved the leather condition right away--- but I have never bothered learning the terminology. On a whim, I listed it in the For Sale section with some photos and very little knowledge of what I was listing. I've received a few questions about it, and I really don't know how to answer some of them. Can you guys have a look and help me learn the terminology. What is good about it? What is bad about it? What is missing or married? My knowledge of koshirae has a dead stop before WWII. I'd like to learn. NOT interested in the monetary value. Attached should be some pics.

I've never used Jauce until giving it a spin yesterday. Why do you guys use it? I cannot see the logic. I used Buyee at one point, but went back to a mix of another deputy system and a friend who charges a certain commission. It kinda depended on the item. Currently I am not really buying from Japan unless something special. Reason? USA Tariff Tantrums. After Jesse's little stab yesterday, I'll probably take an extended vacation from the hobby for a few months or longer. Give it until my birthday, then consider a break. Careful with the Japan listings these days. If you dig through 1000 things, you might find 1 special. Otherwise, kinda a junkfest with a fair number of doctored up copies, etc. KMart Blue Light Specials, if you remember those.

I'd been thinking on this topic for a few days, since I'd started and contributed in the "Dancing Skunk Tsuba" discussion. There are waves of tsuba designs that will get bumper crop copied for a few years, then seem to disappear into the back corner of drawers. Then there are the increasing numbers of cast gold menuki that can be surprisingly convincing. They just seem to get better at deceiving from year to year. What I've been noticing more on Yahoo!Japan is.... quite a few of the iron copies from years and decades past are now popping up with rust that makes them look more convincing. sometimes the rust seems natural, and sometimes artificial, to make a viewer more likely it is authentic rather than a carefully rusted iron copy. There is a certain Ko-Akasaka design of an axe nature. The originals looked too fresh to fool most people. Fast forward 10 years, and now I am seeing more of them popping up with rust patterns to make that $100 tsuba into a $1000+ tsuba. Also, some Kanayama, Ono, and Owari of dubious origins. Supposed Yagyu too, though I find those easier to spot. Be careful with the Yahoo!Japan stuff. There are some dubious ones up at present.

Yes please. And a kinko example at that??? Send to...

Yeah.... I've always struggled with why people buy the one with the guy looking like a drunk Dionysus.

That is an insult to Salvador Dali. I wasn't the biggest fan of his paintings until I got to study them up close at the Prado in Spain during a General Strike. With the Museum Staff at half, they pretty much just left us alone to get within 6 inches of many of his paintings. The guy was total OCD. Up close, his paintings are masterful almost pointalistic brush strokes. No idea what his inspiration for designs might have been (never read up on his life), but the better works all had an incredible attention to detail. These tsuba: not so much. Kinda feel like what we would call "coconut doll artwork"

Very nice. The 4 crest waves have more of an Etruscan or ancient Greco-Roman feel to it. Think Pompeian mosaic https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pompeii_excavations,_Napoli,_Italy_07_-_waves_motive_mozaic_on_the_floor.JPG

It was very thin across the plate, yet felt like tank armor. The mimi was a high dote mimi, all one piece. Most of the sword cut (faux) or test cut, was into the mimi and left very little mark on the main body. I believe it was signed Unshu-Ju-Yoshihisa or similar, which doesn't quite match up in Haynes. I think last year I stumbled on something in researching Saotome, Haruta, and Myochin tsuba felt like a much better fit. Never completed my notes on it, and I sometimes wish I had the confidence in my earlier years to keep something that didn't quite line up peg for peg as my western books taught then.

I remember this stunner very well. Incredible inlay. The spindle I owned long ago was ex-Jim Gilbert, passed to Mr. Orr (I question my memory), and on to Bob Haynes. Lovely piece with one of those faux sword strikes across the tsuba in an impossible location. Sort of like those bullet tested "battle aged" armors.

A marred Tanaka is a marred Tanaka. Not of interest to me, so I understand the -hard pass- However, it is a good example of a Tanaka missing something that is normally a major kantei point for Tanaka school? Why stripped out??? We won't know, but the skeletal remains of the seppa dai shape and cut are educational. I'd learn from the photo and run.

Two decades now of "Dancing Skunks". Milt Ong would make fun of these. Now that Milt has passed, I cannot look at these without mixed feelings that they are still on the market after his passing. Convincing things that has probably scared a few collectors out of the hobby. They don't look that horrible in photos, but they are a real landmine for newer collectors. AVOID.