waljamada

I'm also dealing with this where my Toku Hozon blade is almost impossible to get out of the shirasaya handle. I was hoping to figure out some kind of technique to help with this but haven't yet. Right now I have to put on gloves, wrap a microfiber towel around the blade and pull...hard....with the pointy and sharp bits kind of under my arm...makes me worried ill hurt it everytime I have to clean it. Mind sharing that video you found? I feel like I need a little wedge thingy to use as a fulcrum under the habaki but it's pure silver and I don't want to hurt that either...

I passed on the blade. Positive it's showato even with no other stamps or date but still was a cool blade with wonderful condition matching number mounts and 27 5" nagasa (seller's measurement). If anyone wants it the store name is Military Connections in South Milwaukee, WI.

Was just sent a sword a dealer received and wondering what I can find out about it before I get there. Don't have time for Google digging before meeting up with him so hoping someone sees this in time. Wondering about the hot stamp/maker (stamp means core wrapped like mantetsus?) and if these would likely be traditionally made if no stamps are present. These are all the photos I received and the maker the seller believes it is. Looks mill steel-ish to me.

Neil, love seeing the niche blades and learning the history behind them. A very interesting pocket of the Mantetsu blades and love that they have a unique look to signify their historical place/time.

https://www.artswords.com/one_of_the_rarest_imperial_japanese_late_type_44_gunto_090718.htm Hopefully not a repost but a Mantetsu blade with a stamp in interesting type 3 mounts I haven't seen before.

Honestly, one of the coolest looking blades I've seen and the story makes it even more amazing. Well done and congratulations Sir.

Personally, I love them. Have two katana and a Wakizashi with red urushi bohi. The first katana has a darker shade of red while the other two blades have the brighter red in the second katana. Always thought there had to be more to these than just covering a flaw.

John and Uwe, Thank you. Got these all on a tight budget and while I know they are lower end pieces but I like their grit. I just bought some nylon to attach the sode correctly and I also got some foam blocks and will use both the nylon and blocks to support the armor as best as possible. I will attach some pics with the results once completed. Hopefully it will be better set up for it's conservation whike displayed and look a bit more appropriate afterwards. Also, just for my own knowledge what are the potential aspects of this Dou that point to possibly being Momoyama? Never had anyone share what thier eyes see with it. As a bit of a side note, any solutions of home product mixtures that are best suggested for cleanings of the urushii portions or even the exposed metal parts? Wouldn't mind taking a bundle of qtips and cleaning each part if I can find the responsible way to do it to remove the collected dust. There's probably 30 year old plus dust on it. Also there's a couple parts of the lacquer that have come off that I have been able to place back but they aren't adhered...is there any recommended way to re-adhere them? Or like nihonto is it just best to leave them be? I did have a glue recommended to me once but it was so long ago I can't remember it and where opinions fell on whether or not to attempt such things.

John, here is a photo of the back. The Dou itself is slightly bent out of shape. I tried to overlap the back plate over the front but it's shape seems to fight that and I get worried about the way and what it hits. This Dou is kinda rough and I worry about its brittleness trying to force it to do anything. Also there is an extension plate on the side that also changed how the armor matches up on the other side. Not sure what to do....

Piers and Mark, I cannot actually find a way that the sode can connect to the Dou as it appears to be missing those kohaze knobs for it. I could connect them to the stand itself but a string or shoe lace would be showing. As-is gravity won't hold them if I move them much further off the stand. Simon, thanks. It's definetly got some frump and inconsistencies.

Mark, It's in a guest bedroom. Doesn't fit in my office because of the bookshelves/desks/statues/swords etc.., wife won't let me put it in the living room and it gets too much direct light anyways. The side in the guest bed is on my wife's side though. So my guests will have to determine who sleeps next to him....

After moving into the new old house the literal last thing I set up was my yoroi display. They've sat in boxes over a year except my menpo which I just had on top of my desk. I never saw them all together until now. I'm sure it's not perfectly set up on the stand and they are not a true matched set but this is what I've managed to figure out while keeping it all standing mostly as it should. Definetly a somewhat DIY approach. I still have no idea what that horizontal bar behind the menpo is used for. Over all I'm pleased and only wish it had a better space to go rather than the guest bedroom. At least it's up. Pieces are a possibly Momoyama era five piece Do with a bonus extender plate for a previous huskier wearer. Menpo with chain link tare, sode and zunari kabuto that are all late Edo I believe. The skull/snake carved wood maedate I believe is vintage rather than antique. None of these are true pairs and all seperate pieces I've collected.

Oooo, a naganita-hi....one of my favorites. Love the look of it and I can already see the smiles when it finally arrives in your hands. Well bought and enjoy! Adam

Got the statue and it's a cool little thing. The swords even got a hamon! Took a short video of it on my cellphone to show some detail.

Mark, almost right on the money. Looked it up and that oni bronze from bonhams sold for $35k after fees.

Mark, thanks for the examples. I now want that second 5 to 10k range bronze. It looks buttery smooth. Found what I think is a higher end oni bronze okimono from a bonhams auction I will post below and I can tell the difference. That statue I've lovingly dubbed Turd Wizard was a bronze from a small artist in the 80s and from a run of 500. Makes me think some smaller independent artists don't have the time/work force to finely finish/chase their runs. I also now realize why certain bronzes can command such large values with the work involved and what aspects to look for in high quality bronzes. Thank you Alex, yeah wish I knew more as well as I also would love a high end bronze example. Sellers ask such high prices in most cases too which makes it hard to discern true accurate values and most works appear to be in the lower to mid range at best in the 4k and under range. I will look into replacing the base depending on how it's attached. The description from the seller did say the wood base was added later. Brian, when I get the statue I will inspect the toes and see how they did!

Mark, I love Rodin and visited his museum in Philly. Have a few Rodin bronzes but nothing of extreme quality. I would love to have a better eye on casting quality as I can only tell by "sculpt" quality and if I like it or not. Beyond that I have no real heavy knowledgeable eye for bronzes. Have a little collection but it's all more consumer end pieces and some smaller independent artist's castings. The favorite bronze of mine is a "Darwin's Thinker" of an ape holding a skull in thinking pose from the 1920/30's. Small sample attached.

Brian, ha! I dub this statue Oshikuru or Brian for short. Baka Gaijin (nice name btw) it does look like those masks and the transformation aspect could match what this statue could be about. I'll take close up pictures once I have the statue in hand. That base and that wood piece his foot rests on could have been added later.

Stephen, I get it, not for everyone. For me however depict some historical mythology and I'm all about it. Hoping I can find out if this does depict some known tale of an oni or possessed samurai perhaps. Brian, thanks, that helps as I honestly have no comparison for quality and values. I can see what sellers are asking for things but not what people are actually paying. I got it for less than $600 so maybe did fine if I ever did need to sell it. Just didn't want to largely over pay.

I thank you for sharing. Those who take on some of the pains and ills of the world carry a heavy burden. When one opens thier heart and purposefully acknowledge what is within those ills walk the precipices of it being too much to bear. The most courageous walk that line, see the edge and, because it's truly there, take some of it onto themselves spurring action. I also thank you for having such a heart that spurred into action. That feeling of fighting a cruel tide and the ills pushing back in an unjust world can be physically/existentially defeating and lonely: but you are not alone. A loving empathetic heart is one of the most beautiful and truly noble things in the world; but they hurt the most. Again, just thank you.

Rextar, sure. I haven't brought it in to dry cleaners yet as truthfully I'm a little scared to do so. But for the sake of science and community I'll give it a go sometime this month!

Was wondering if I could get opinions on this piece. Perhaps there is a fable/character this possibly portrays? How does the quality of work appear for those with trained eyes on such things? Where would a signature usually be on these or does that just depend on artist? Is wood and bronze integration something traditionally done by Japanese artists or could it be a later addition? Also wonder if anyone has seen this statue before? Lastly, hate to ask, but what is a potential fair value range for Meiji Bronze such as this (assume it is unsigned)? Have an ebay offer on this, love it's look but have truly no idea on these bronze markets.

Jussi, thank you, give or take thirty more Kunitsugu to go! I have a feeling ill just have to settle for a likely age range.

Steve, thanks for correcting me. That was the only mei I could find under under "1st generation Kunitsugu" and other such searches. I most likely will not be able to determine the correct Kunitsugu and the degradation of the mei make it even more difficult but I will give a good try.