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waljamada

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Everything posted by waljamada

  1. 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....
  2. 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.
  3. 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
  4. 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.
  5. Mark, almost right on the money. Looked it up and that oni bronze from bonhams sold for $35k after fees.
  6. 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!
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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!
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. Sunny, yeah, I almost left it alone too until I had a conversation with the seller and him having no reviews didn't help anything either. Ebay buyer protections emboldened me and wasn't convinced it was all legitimate until I got it in hand and took it out of shirasaya. I got a different story on how he acquired it so potentially Egbert got it at the auction and then sold it to him or it was just talk. Either way I'm happy with it and the price I paid as I really don't seem to run into signed katana length blades like this very often at all. I see more wakizashi with lacquer bohi which also don't seem that common and most lacquered bohi blades I've seen are Edo period. Wont lie, I'm a sucker for them and now have 2 katana and 1 wakizashi (wak has the exact same bohi designs as this katana). Dream acquisition would be a signed o-kissaki red lacquered naginata-hi katana with 27/28" nagasa. The double edged sword of these are it's a niche blade type and many collectors may be hesitant to buy one due to potential hidden flaws/aesthetics etc..
  16. I'm a huge fan of the urushi lacquered bohi on blades even in the face of the thought that they are sometimes done to hide defects. The potential shinto and religious/cultural aspect of doing it adds another dimension to a blade. The philosophy behind battle/war and even life/death/killing is another road of thought and interpretation in nihonto that is very interesting for me to learn/think about. I see a shimmer of philosophy in that urushi. So even if it was simply done to hide a flaw, for me, it still helps to inspire some other thoughts surrounding our hobby. Plus I just think they look real cool =|:^) Also hoping the mei looks authentic and from the one other comparative blade I've seen there is a shot. I attached the other papered blades mei below.
  17. Geraint, Thank you, short of emailing Egbert I tried to pull it up on the site but was unsuccessful. Adam
  18. Purchased this blade to match a wakizashi I have with the same red urushi bohis for a personal daisho side quest. Only history I was given from the previous owner about this sword was purchased from Egbert Menzinga of The Hague many years ago (maybe a known collector?) And the sword info he shared on the blade was from Japan sword art. I'll post the information below I was given on the blade itself which has no papers so authenticity is unverified and I'd love any opinions. Kunitsugu 1st generation Bunmei period 1469 to 1486 ca 1470 Mino province yamada seki group Teacher:Norizane Nagasa 65 cm Sori 2.05 Motohaba 2.84 Sakihaba 1.81 Kasane .81 Nakago 15.2 More details in photos below. Please let me know if any additional photos would be helpful.
  19. I know I'd pay a premium for a daisho even if not paired from their birth. Sourcing blades that fit (both size & mekugi wise/ aesthetically/historically etc..) with antique matching/paired koshirae is difficult and daisho koshirae also seem pretty rare. I'm putting together a pair of urushi red lacquered bohi blades but they would only be very loosely daisho....same bohi designs and red lacquer...one katana length one wakizashi...that's about it. Over time I will find suitable existing antique daisho koshirae (tall order) or have made (using antique fittings I will have to purchase) matching or a paired theme koshirae for them. They will be my personal daisho, nothing more. If someone did all that work for me I would have paid a premium. Also from what I've seen both dealers (Japanese & others) and collectors in the vast majority use the term daisho to include simply two blades in matching/paired koshirae. So it's very liberal meaning seems well and broadly used but still a "true daisho" is the epitome.
  20. The dream would be also do Hozon/Toku hozon where most blades/fittings will find themselves. Perhaps in a digital archive, along with their published materials, that they charge a subscription fee to access. I'd pay. Imagine having access to every papered "insert smith name/generation here" example. You could further peruse by age/school/hamon variations etc...would see accepted variations for a smith, entire papered body of work, more accurate idea of existing surviving works etc... Gets me excited just thinking about it....
  21. I totally understand why this doesn't happen, but I do very much wish they provided photos of the blades/signatures etc...as they pass through nbthk and nbthk for blades that pass shinsa. It would open up such a breadth of data and available knowledge of existing blades and so much more. They are the organizations best positioned to be able to do such a thing.
  22. I was tempted with this one and it went for a really affordable price. Should be a happy buyer.
  23. You are going to need to share more photos for people to properly assist you. Show details on the aspects of the blades and show the third blade out of its handle/sheath etc...if you need instructions on how to take the blade out there are tutorials.
  24. Mark, I definetly see what you mean. I think this sword just confuses me a bit which is why I want to ask about it. Something about it....
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