Curran

I refrained from comment, as I didn't have anything of value to add here. Thanks to Brian for letting the thread go its way, as several people added educational commentary.

Curtis, David Stiles had a thread comparing several tsuba of this design.

Don't do anything at this stage. Get a beater tsuba or two w/ a bit of rust off ebay and buy some ivory sticks (usually busted up piano keys). Google and pull up "Jim Gilbert tsuba" website on cleaning rust off iron. Then practice on the beater tsuba. I wouldn't bother with waxing like Jim Gilbert mentions. Definitely definitely definitely remember: LESS is MORE You have some rust spots that needed attended eventually, but _aren't_ a crushing priority. Wait until you have a better feel for such work. You have what looks to be a very nice original koshirae. Better to slightly under-do care on it than over do it. Ensuite dragonfly koshirae are *not* that common, and it is sad that Sachiko Yamauchi Prough passed away last year: http://www.ny-naginata.org/yamauchi/ She was a good friend and great martial artist known as "The Tombo" (dragonfly) She would really have liked your koshirae. Please take good care of it.

Kamakura tsuba can come in many forms. This NBTHK papered one went to someone in the other forum years back. We more often see the landscape ones or the water dragon ones.

There is such a wide range of quality in this carving. The Somin book (Grey has a copy last I checked) is very good at illustrating this. You will see a piece that looks very expert fine by itself, and the book will compare it side by side to a masterwork. Suddenly the fine piece looks like what an English friend calls, "as different as chalk and cheese".

I saw that auction and mistakenly thought it yours at the time.

Page 1. Keep your toupee on and admit you didn't read. (1) Do that and acknowledge the initial rudeness that you did to us who owe you absolutely nothing, and I'll call it settled with newbie. Fundamentally I care enough for the hobby that I come back again and again answering the same newbie questions again and again, with a decade in here on NMB from its early formats through the current version Brian shepherds so well. Hopefully each newbie we help it is someone serious and with potential like Junichi. Often it is not. (2) Or you can go thermonuclear tempest in a teacup flamewar, which I won't engage.

I think I am channeling Reinhardt today , but at this point I think you deserve this: (1) ~How many times in one thread must we say "Markus Sesko"? (2) ~~Just type it in at Lulu.com or Amazon.com. (3) ~~~Or just search on his name here. He is a contributor. (4) ~~~~Come meet him at the Tampa show and get a signed copy. (5) ~~~~~Here is a photo of our favorite Austrian, looking quite a bit like Darcy w/ glasses: http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=Aj0 ... =yfp-t-701

Gilbert's site remains a defacto go to site after being one of the first and most complete. However, it hasn't updated in 7 or 8 years. Since then, the translations by Markus Sesko and other works have outdated Jim's list a bit. "The Japanese toso-kinko schools" and his "Genealoigies" books. Get one of the Lulu.com -30% coupons at some point. Also: "Tsuba, An Aesthetic Study", by Kazutaro Torigoye and Robert Haynes, from the "Tsuba Geijutsu-Ko" of Kazutaro Torigoye, 300 pages. at http://ncjsc.org/ncjsc_publications.htm For $100 to $150 bucks.... best start.

That one is private property now. Ricecracker.com should take down the image. Yes, the Shimizu-Jingo group were fond of their dragon designs.

I see what Michael is saying, but I am not convinced. I'll look at it in Tampa and see if I can agree. Thing is that there were quite a number of capable dilettants producing Higo level work, but playing with their own designs or designs of other schools. As I read through those sections of the books, I often see things that look partially Higo and partially not. I don't know what this tsuba is at present. Not really Jingo in my eyes, and not Kamakura. I've seen and even owned a very atypical Kamakura tsuba, so I won't rule out that this is just atypical Kamakura bori work.

(Harumitsu ?) ___ Yasu (hide?) Any matches in Haynes?

I'm not convinced either. The Jingo boys did love em their rain dragons... Even seeing it in person in Tampa, I don't know that I could make a call on one like this.

Michael, I know what you're getting at, as this one didn't strike me as Kamakura. I also see the Jingo hints in the mimi- but am not sure I agree. This tsuba could use a mild clean-up. Far be it from me to challenge you on the Shimizu-Jingo guys. I haven't got any Higo books here other than the Hayashi one, so I look forward to your follow-up. David, can you provide any angled photos of it? __________________________________________> Edit: cripes.... the more I look at it, the more I think Michael is eagle eyed. I wouldn't have picked up on it. Dave, as the main body of the plate moves into the mimi, it the slight curve very convex domed? Wish I could draw what I mean here on the screen.... I'm gonna feel stupid if this is actually a Jingo experimentation piece.

David, Always enjoy watching your work. Very glad you are attending. I purchased the (Buck?) book and read it this summer. I also was slowly translating the tsukamaki section in the new Owari-Yagyu Koshirae book. The book is really 40% about tsukamaki and there are quite a few things I cannot translate, though the deconstruction in reverse order of some of the wraps is fascinating photojournal work. I will have an original Owari-Yagyu koshirae with me, with nice old wrap and am hoping to have a nice Higo koshirae returned to me after nearly 10 years on loan.

Morita-san, ~domo arigato gozaimashita~. Jack- definitely *not* Uchikoshi school work, but Morita-san's translation makes that moot. So I was very wrong. I suspected it was not, since it looked like a shibuichi or similar silver like back. To date, I have never seen Uchikoshi work in shibuichi or silver.

If you have an image of the front, I can confirm or strike Uchikoshi school (branch Mito school). My feeling is the character is the one character is 'Hiro' and Hirotoshi (aka. Hironaga) and the ten or more students of the school all used that 'Hiro' character. If not Uchikoshi school, then maybe one of the more fluent readers will save us from our stumbling.

You sure that isn't an: Ichijosai Hiro____ ? One of the Uchikoshi school? Can't tell myself, as not very skilled at reading handwriting of this sort.

Yep: thinking the thin and uber hard variety. Sort of halfway between Saotome and the later Tempo stuff.

38 C ? Crikey. $80. Double Crikey. Tempo can range from the uber hard Saotome type iron that does have almost a shiny mineral luster to it, to the softer greyer carbon clay multiple stamped variety. First look at yours, I thought it was of the more Saotome variety- but realize it might be flash. If not of the flash, but rather of the more Saotome uber hard iron... really a good deal. Like those more. Hope the patina works out. Sounds like you have some Florida summer weather at present. My *most sincere* sympathy.

Concur. Iron even looks a bit more towards the Saotome end of the spectrum. Bet it is hard as tank armor when it shows up. No long knives here, unless you have steak on the grill. You have steak on the grill, don't you.....

I cringe a bit every time people refer to that old Hahn Bin Song chart.

Mike, Maybe I have something up my sleeve too, besides a 5th Ace. Pretty sure I'd loose a game of tsuba Po-ke-mon with you, but do have one or two that might surprise you. Must confess I like the first tsuba a lot. I sold my one good Tanaka example years ago, but this one certainly beats it.

Tanaka-ke (or shi, or ippa?) So going to be thiner. 3 to 4 mm? Measurements certainly in the books. Peter: Just say the Misumi comment. Confess I really like some of his stuff.

It is a Kao. It would be a lot of work to match it up with the artist, unless you see a name elsewhere. Still, it is possible if you have the Haynes Index. Just.... a lot of work. Koshirae looks nice, from what I can see. Don't lose those nice seppa.