Ludolf Richter

Hi Dave,from the pics in Art and the Sword Vol.4 p.48 ,Yoshu to Zuroku YTZ 2 p.226 and two REI magazines (Shibata Mitsuo!) I fear it's Gimei.By the way Nagakuni was travelling around Japan and producing swords at different locations e.g.Akita,Edo,Kyoto and in his last years at Kumamoto.His blades were famous for their outstanding cutting edge.According to the above Art and the Sword his swords were favoured by the students of the great Miyamoto Musashi!Ludolf

Hi experts,I am going to buy a Tsuba with a Mei not to be found in my index books and my Tosogu Database.Maybe this is a different or old writing for the first Kanji,eg.the one with JI,SHI,toki,yori,yoshi?Ludolf

Hi,there is a lot of reference material in the books about Shume no Kami (title in 1721) Yasuyo (1680-1728,Hawley YAS 573),who also worked at Edo when he was summoned by the Shogun.Ludolf In my books I found Watson,Shinto Ogasawara,Japanese Swords,p.87 Suzuki,Tanto,p.239 Tokyo National Museum Art and the Sword,Vol.4 (1991),p.61/62 Token to Rekishi,TTR 611 and TTR 612 Yoshu to Zuroku,YTZ 2 Nr.119,p.234/235

Sorry for my pic from Rei:the text was correct but the sword on the right side belonged to the previous page.Here are the correct ones on the right side of my pic (on the left side "yours").Ludolf.

Hi,I found something about this swordsmith in REI-magazine (4/1997),but only in Japanese.Maybe somebody is helping you.Ludolf

Hi Joe,there is something to be found in REI magazine April 1999,which could be about your Kanenaga-KAN 1685.I scanned the page for you but you will need help from Nobody or our other Japanese experts to get the text.Ludolf

Hi Curran,here are some pics of the 3 guys from my database.Ludolf

Thanks Richard,very professional thoughts!I prefer the automatic mode through the Camera and not the manual one,which had to be used with a non-4/3 objective via an adaptor.Ludolf

Thanks Guido!Ludolf

Hi,for all who have a digital camera from Panasonic (Lumix-G1 or G2,I have the older G1),I want to share my experiences with a new Macro-objective.When I made detail-photos with the standard objective (i have the 14-42mm one,there is a second one on the market with 45-200mm),I was always a little bit disappointed of the sharpness and colour.Recently I heard of new objectives Panasonic has made (all for the "Micro Four Thirds Mount") and decided to buy the Leica DG Macro Elmarit with 45mm/F2.8 (with min.0.5 feet/15 cm;optical image stabilizer) for ca.Euro 720.The first results are overwhelming:extremly sharp in all details with true colours!I am going to make new pics of all my Tosogu-pieces,including details.If anybody has made similar experiences with Macro-objectives from other producers let us share!Ludolf

Hi John and Ford,as I had already stated,my Tsuba (without the inlays) is a typical Kaneie work,checked with a lot of my Japanese and other literature and with examples from my tosogu-database,and now you find out to be exactly "deckungsgleich" with a verified Kaneie-II-Tsuba from the books,is this not an additional proof about the authenticity?By the way,I am doing the Nihonto-business seriously for more than 25 years,starting much earlier.Ludolf

Hi John,my Tsuba without the inlays not only has a similar surface structure like Heckmann's (all pieces in his book "Tsuba" are displayed with the original size!) T59 ("Kaneie-II") but is also identical in shape and the size/placings of the Ana:if I lay my Tsuba on his pic,nothing of the pic is to be seen.Sorry,I could have described it easier,if I had known (because not to be found in my dictionary) the English term for "deckungsgleich".Ludolf

Besides Hiroshige's 8 views,shown by Nobody,here are Kunitora's.The inlays of mine and the other Tsuba are showing different motifs.Ludolf

Thanks!4 of the 8 (all 8 views of Lake Biwa) inlays of John's Tsuba seems to be identical with mine.That tells me,they were added to existing Tsuba (mine from Kaneie-II,exactly like Nr.T59 in Heckmannn,"Tsuba"),probably made by gold/silver-smith.Maybe because my Tsuba is relatively thin (0.25 mm) only 4 inlays were possible instead of 8.For me it's silver and not copper with silver.Ludolf

Hi,I have a typical Kaneie-II-Tsuba which has inlays in silver:4 of the famous 8 views of Lake Biwa.My believe is that these inlays probably had been added later (19th century?).What's your opinion?Ludolf

Hi,according to Shibata in REI 62/4 p.11 it could be made by Sumimiya Kanenori (KAN 1911,Kanbun-era),who sometimes omitted his name in the mei,e.g.only "Sumimiya".Ludolf

Hi,I do believe the Tsuba is real,but the signature was made by a Non-Japanese amateur.Ludolf

I believe,its quite difficult to check Shoshimei vs Gimei with the above Kozuka.From my 3 examples it is clearly to be seen that young Ichijo had not yet an unique Mei.It's much more easier to fake a softmetal Mei than an iron one or even a swordssmith Mei (number of strokes,depth,etc.).The workmanship seems to be quite good,but that is true for many tosogu artists of the 19th Century,which are not as famous as the later Goto Ichijo.If I had that piece,I was going to get the opinion from the NBTHK experts.Ludolf

By the way,Goto Ichijo changed his name from Mitsutaka to Mitsuyuki,when he was 20 (1811).In 1820 he took the new name Mitsuyo.Ludolf

Hi!Here are 3 shoshin-mei-pics from my database.Ludolf

I found Togu vs Motozane in my Tosogu-Mei-Database (more than 4.000 entries).Look at the pih.Ludolf

It must read "Kodogu".Sorry!Ludolf

Hi,there is a fine book in Japanese,English and German by Guenther Heckmann "Kodogo",264 pages,ISBN 3-931150-01-1 Ludolf

Hi,the Mei reads Sekijoken Taizan Togu. Haynes has recorded him with his alternate artist name ("Go") Motozane, H 06004,1741-1830,from Mito/Hitachi.Taizan is his family name.Ludolf

Hi Eric,besides the Mei/seal pic there is only one complete side shown on the auctioneer's homepage:look at the pic.Ludolf