Curran

-Positive envy-. It took me time to develop a full appreciation for mainline goto menuki. Part of it is the small size, depth, and attention to detail all coming together when you see them in real life. On a table with multiple examples of other menuki, they really pop. In one of my minimalist fits, I sold a set of ko-goto fishermen menuki to a member here living in the UK. I'd learned most of what I wanted to from them, but the small simple looking menuki had so much complexity to their workmanship could have easily made for a 30-45 minute lecture on technique and stage planning as complex as any Caravaggio or Rembrandt chiaoscuro oil painting.

Yes- mistreated. A shame, as it is a nice little design. In its current state, it isn't coming back on its own without a ----very---- long time of care. For these mortally wounded ones, I'm okay with someone professional repatinating it. This one may not be worth the expense. "Shoeblack" might be a better option. Lord knows some of the sellers from Yahoo!Japan use such tricks. One of them is notorious for it.

Very good eye. I missed that at least three times before noticing what Stephen was referencing. Thanks for the explanation John.

Hi Peter, Museum of Japanese Sword Fittings Sale ==> The name sort of supports the idea some fittings were sold. I was teasing. I have the books and results here on the shelves. I have not looked at them in a long time. I believe I placed a few bids. Your lists represent only a portion of the sale.

Hi Peter, I don't think that is a complete listing. I remember the sale quite well. Lots of nice fittings in that sale. Wish i could track one or two of them down. There was a Juyo tsuba I would very much like to have owned.

Lol- You put up good stuff at good prices.

If looking for something in particular, post in the Wanted section. I no longer deal and have almost nothing left I want to sell unless it is 1 out for 1 in. Still- several of us more veteran collectors have shared 'wish lists' and look out for what our friends collect. Though sometimes our own friends beat us out (grumble, grumble, shodai kinko kanshiro.... some day that one shall be mine Buddy!).

lol.

lol. I found that painting on eBay back in 1998 or 1999. It came in a paper bag crudely taped shut and had to be cleaned by a friend who works in restorations. Most people never notice that painting among the others in the house, but it is one of my favorite ones. Most visitors to the house comment on the European paintings, though the American, Chinese, and Japanese are the best we have. As we become more 'spartan' in our living style, I'll probably sell off the European ones. They're shlock.

Piers, There is a great love for these, just not so much in Japan. There are premium shops in San Fran and NYC importing them and selling them. Some people collect the highest one ones depending upon their purpose and little features like whether they have original iron wheels. While not as deep a topic as Nihonto or Netsuke, it certainly has its appreciation. Until we settle down in a major city, wife has restricted me to 2. I also have 3 antique kake. I only have photos of this one, which is dated on the bottom with the shop of manufacture and the date 1753.

+1 to this. Fishing pole, tennis racket, rapier with the right grip and play, etc...

Jose, I must disagree. After Brexit sunk the GBP in June 2016, England has been the source of some of the best buys for the Euro, USD, Loonie, or yen. Even the Japanese are buying from there. Thinking of 2 Japanese dealers, a significant number of pieces came from England. A few bargains pop up in the USA or Canada sometimes. Meanwhile Yahoo!Japan seems a bit overrun these days with prices on many pieces going a bit high. In bookkeeping, of the tsuba I sold over the past 5 years, about 10% sold to Japan, maybe 30% within North America, over 50% to Europe, with the rest elsewhere. To be fair, it is mostly higher priced items that go International.

There have been two exceptional Koto sword deals on NMB recently. (1) The TH Shikkake that Daso currently has up (2) A very nice H Bizen Kiyomitsu offered by a gent in Alaska. If I were still collecting swords, instead of limiting myself to fittings, I would have gone with one of these. If you tend to swing these at anything- then it is a no-go. You might as well finish a car, then drive it into the nearest wall. Turn what has been elevated to Art, back into Scrap or Salvage.

If I must mark them, it is usually with a label-maker label on the underside. Most of the boxes are custom fitted, so it helps identify which box for which tsuba in those rare instances when they need to be in a box.

These days the majority of tsuba on eBay "out of Japan" seem to be copied from other websites. When I do searches, they are now often Distance from my Location. That seems to cut down on the 'arbitrages' and chinese tsuba very much. That way I'd drastically cut down on having to wade through the sea of junk. I've actually picked up 3 very nice tsuba over the last year. One of them was only 50 miles away, and cost about 1/5th of what a near identical tsuba cost in Japan at the DTI. Cost me a little to paper it, but what a bargain.

Pete: Good sleuthing. Yes, the price is exceptional- but Ray's point is correct. I don't know if the one we called "The Ninja" is still active in California. When I saw this auction, I first thought of him. Given the other items the seller has up- he might simply be a pawn shop or such.

PM sent. I'm still working on this topic, but had to set it aside for now.

Hi Ford, I'll PM or email later. I have one of the tsuba here and can photograph later. I also have some links to online examples of father and son work. All non-kodogu examples. One is in one of your British Museums. At first glance, I would have attributed their work as Hamano but somehow decidedly 20th century. It has some sort of subtle 20th century indicator, which could be western perspective. You would know better than I. Sort of early Tiffany's vase meets Japan rendering of rabbits and such. For various reasons, I'd considered sending this tsuba to you- but hadn't quite gotten there yet. I think this team is an exception- not the norm. With the son born in 1910, the timing worked out for them "just so". Otherwise, I think your theory largely holds. From a biologist point of view dealing with a significant impact event on an ecosystem, ultimately your math is the way of mother nature. Curran

Hi Ford, Interesting timing, in that I have recently been traveling down part of this country road myself. I stumbled into a few things I wasn't expecting. I've been dealing with an artist that was born around 1910. His father and extended relatives had made sword fittings, then switching to inro, vases, and other such areas over the years. I've scoured for their fittings, but found few though they are all listed in Haynes Index. Mostly other examples of vases, plaques, other works have come up. They enjoyed commercial success. Then with the military revivalism of the 1930s, the artist seems to have been commissioned to make copies of some of the great tsuba of Japan- 100 of them, with the descriptions and number in the series inside the presentation boxes. The skill is very high. There is considerable evidence that they had access to the originals, as the mimi not seen in photos is copied correctly down to the last imperfection or tekkotsu. The mimi is also marked such that they cannot be passed off as the originals to anyone that gives them inspection. Though I think it obvious they (circa 1930s) lacked the 300+ years of age compared to the originals. The father wrote an Art related book of which I am trying to get a copy, publication in the year before his death of pneumonia in the hospital. He passed in December 1940, leaving his son in charge of the foundry. Then WW2. I know he survived the War, but not much else at present. I doubt he was involved with fittings. The skill existed into the 1930s, and survived the War. This may just be a rare exception, but there was a short lived return to fittings making for these artists in the 1930s. Even if simply regarded as copyists, they were very good.

Beautiful evolution in your work. Also, if there was ever a shinsakuto tsuba meant for Jim Gilbert, this would be it. I do not have a link to his photography website. Many here already know his other passion besides tsuba.

Ko- Myochin: The tsuba is already sold, so no images of the Hozon papers. http://www.tsubanomiyako.jp/SHOP/TS-330.html There was another labeled ko-Myochin sold via Choshuya.com a while back. Ko-Mino: It was easiest to link to the TH one Fred W. had up for sale, but it seems gone now. I can scan in one of mine, if necessary. Ko-Goto: well, the Goto supposedly didn't make tsuba until Gen 5 (Tokujo), so I don't think you will see 'Ko-Goto' on tsuba papers. That might explain Mauro's not having come across any. However, ko-goto as an NBTHK attribution is rather common enough on other fittings. Here is an easy example: http://www.seiyudo.com/me-020314.htm Ko-Umetada: I don't know of any up for sale at the moment. I think the last papered one I saw was on Choshuya. Ko-Nara: I don't think I've seen such papers. Ko-Hagi or Hagi I think is just shorthand or misnomer for tsuba supposedly early Choshu. I think that is from Torigoye-Haynes, but may be from Watson's translation of Nihonto Koza. [Mauro is clearly right about the 小透 with the ko meaning 'small'. Not the 古 meaning 'old'.] Other than 'ko-akasaka' most any tsuba we see with an NBTHK attribution of 古 before the name is going to generally mean Momoyama or earlier. No?

Darcy's post made me miss my Freshman Logic class. When it comes to fittings, I entirely concur. In particular we have Wakayama put together in the 1960s and 1970s in the fashion that Darcy supports. Given over 12,000 artists- there had to be some limit to the signatures published. Nowadays.... some of those signatures are the only versions accepted for papers. Thinking of certain Nara artists, I've come to feel that is wrong. It is fortunate that the economics of fittings do not as beneficially support the removal of signatures to --> mumei as it does for swords. People are not as likely to remove a Joi signature to get a 'Nara' attribution.

To add to the mix: "Proto-Akasaka" exist, where they scream Akasaka, but date earlier and often show a heavier influence of Owari and/or Kyo-sukashi influence. Reluctantly I sold my "proto" in my minimalist pursuit to only own 12 keeper tsuba [can never seem to get below lucky 13, and have 15 at present]. The NBTHK just said "Ko-Akasaka" on that one. I would date it to somewhere between 1601 and 1625. To add to Grev's list, I've seen "Ko-Myochin" NBTHK Hozon papers before. Terms like "Ko-Hagi" or "Hagi" tsuba often preempt certain periods, meaning you are unlikely to find the term "Ko-Choshu" on NBTHK papers. But it may exist. To date, I've only seen one NBTHK Hozon attribution to "Ainu"- but they exist. Rarer than hen's teeth. "Ko-Choshu" might exist out there somewhere?

I stumbled on that tsuba a few months back and found the design extremely pleasing. Given it had papers, I tried to look up the artist and had no clean luck. I recruited another collector who is very good at tracking down artists. He had no luck either. We thought it might be a variant signature of a few possible artists. If someone figures this one out, I'll be glad to learn. It stumped me. Beautiful tsuba with nice simple design with very clean workmanship.

It is what we once called a Hong Kong can opener. It looks like what we would find in the "antique" markets back in Stanley Market circa 1990s. With the 21st Century Renaissance of Hong Kong, I don't know that you will find these there anymore.