Ludolf Richter

Hi experts,I am interested in a Tsuba from an auction to come signed Joi.The Mei plus the seal are shown on the right side of my pic.On the left side are 2 examples of real Joi pieces with the seal "Nagaharu",which he normally added.The left part of these seals is missing in "my" Tsuba.How do you read this seal?Ludolf

Hi,there are 5 Iyetada from Kaga in Hawley's index (IYE 304-308).Only IYE 304 is above average:Darini School,died 1655,active as Iyetada ca.1615-24,later with his new Go Shoran (SHO 12),Mei-pics in Fujishiro-Shinto hen,Tokuno and Token To Rekishi TTR 616.IYE 307 was his successor (Nidai).There is something written about his style of work in TTR 616 with an English translation.Ludolf

Hi all,I have a nice Kozuka signed Funada Ikkin Yoshinaga with Kao.The Mei looks real by comparism with pics from the literature.But there are 2 slightly different Mei,probably master (1812-1863) and Ikkin II.He is said to have had 3 sons and 3 daughters.Some authors make Shosuke (Ikkin II) one of his sons,while other believe that Ikkin II was his daughter.Does anyone of You have information on the question son or daughter?Ludolf

Hi Robert.I din't find any Tosogu-artist Masayoshi,who signed with Bishu ju,but there are some members of the Ito-Family at Edo who signed with Bushu ju.Please check the first Kanji.Ludolf

Maybe our moderator Guido Schiller knows something about the Yasuyuki case.See his discussion with Craig Bird in the Swordforum.This is your 2nd attempt to gain some info after your 1st at Jul 20 2009.Ludolf http://www.swordforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30533

Hi Karl,there is some confusion in the books about the honory titles of Shodai (YAS 772) and Nidai Yasuyuki (YAS 773)!There are Mei-examples from both of them with "Noto no Kami" and "Sagami no Kami".One theory is that the Shodai changed from Noto to Sagami no Kami (i.e.he "bought" the more attractive Sagami title!),because there is a dated Mei from his working time with Sagami no Kami.At the Klefisch-Auction 38a (Nov.1988) there was an item 349 from one of the Yasuyuki,papered by the NBTHK.I have no further information about this item.Cox speculates that there may have been a different Shodai Sagami no Kami Yasuyuki other then the Nota no Kami.There is something written in Shibata's REI Showa 53 no.5 in connextion with 2 Oshigata of a Yasuyuki Wakizashi (part of a Daisho ,where the Katana was made by Munenaga).Ludolf

Hi,I found a pic of Nidai Nobusada (NOB 425),where the sword was made by him and Nidai Tsuguhiro (TSU 182) together.The Mei reads: (1) Omi no Kami Fujiwara Tsuguhiro (2) Mutsu no Kami Fujiwara Nobusada Dated on a lucky day of August 1690 Above the Mei there is a mysterious inscription:Senjuin juichi-dai,meaning 11th generation (may be Shimosaka group,because both are 2nd generation?).Source:REI-magazine January Showa 61.Ludolf

Hi Keith,from my Sosho-dictionary I believe it's Tsuguhira.He was a swordsmith of Musashi Province who worked in the last quarter of the 18th Century.There are some Tsuba in the books made by him,mostly with normal Kanji-writing.I found a pic where he he made the 1st Kanji in Sosho-writing like your 1st K.:look at mei pic.Ludolf

Hi,I have 13 examples of Takase Eiju's Mei,but only one with "Your" 1st Kanji (= Joly's drawn Mei at Y87 as "Yeijiu").I have added your Mei to my pic.Ludolf

Hi,as John has already stated,the Mei (in fact both Mei!) reads Takase Eiju-Haynes H 00436 (with a different 1st Kanji!).He came fom Mito and went to Edo to become a student/member of the Takase school.He was active around 1775-1800.B.W.Robinson reads him Hidetoshi (The Baur Collection...) while Joly makes it Yeijiu (Takase/Furiuken) (Joly's List of Names,Kakihan,Y 87) and shows 2 Kao.What makes the name-thing still more confusing is the fact,that the artist himself used at least (according to pics in my database) 3 different characters (or variations?) for the 1st Kanji of his artname.Ludolf

Hi,I just found your Kozuka artist in the Haynes Index:H 10124 Kanasugi Tomotoshi.He is said to be from the Kanasugi family of Satsuma and went to Edo to become a student of the Yanagawa school under Kato Naotsune,who was a student of the school founder Naomasa.He worked around the beginning of the Meiji Era.There is a Tsuba pic with that Mei and Kao in the "Baur Collection":D1303.I could not find a pic with "Yanagawa Tomotoshi" (or Tomohisa).I don't know,why Joly read his Mei as Tomohisa.Ludolf

Hi,the 1st Mei reads Kanasugi Tomohisa.I checked Haynes and other books and found him only in "Joly's List of Names,Kakihan":T204 with the same Kao.The Mei on the knife blade reads Echizen (no) Kami Sukehiro.There are 5 swordsmiths from Settsu Province with the honory tile of Echizen no Kami:Hawley SUK 129,130,133-135.Ludolf

Hi Ian,there is no Yanagawa Naomasa with "your" Masa-Kanji in the books: a not yet recorded artist or a student or Gimei!?Ludolf

Hi,Koichi Moriyama is right and Hawley is wrong!Hawley made these 2 Kanji read "Tamba".There are at least 3 Gifu swordsmiths with these 2 Kanji,e.g.Niwa Shuji Kanenobu.They all used only the Niwa-part of the name in their Mei.I could not find the 2nd part of Kanehisa's name in the books.Ludolf

Hi,it reads Tamba Kanehisa saku:Hawley KAN 997,a Showa swordsmith from Gifu.Ludolf

The Aoi-Art pics are not longer on the web.They claim that this Kuniyoshi was born in 1904 somewhere in Akita Pref. and that he was Rikugun Jumei Tosho.i.e.he worked for the army.He is probably not recorded in Hawley's index.KUN 1880 was active around 1969-1970.The pic I have is from a sword dated 1969.If it is from the same man,he would be 65 years old.Father and son?!Ludolf

Hi Jon,in 1868 Dewa was divided in 2 provinces:Uzen and Ugo.Ugo is now part of the Pref.Akita.Therefore the sword is from 1868 or later.If you have a pic of the Mei and the 2nd Kanji is the rare Yoshi-Kanji 慶 then it's the post-WWII-swordsmith Kuniyoshi from Akita:Hawley KUN 1880.He normally signed with "Ugo Honshu ju Kuniyoshi" or with "... Suzuki Kuniyoshi".Ludolf

Hi Jon,why do you need info and oshigata of that sword?!Walter A.Compton had one,made by the same swordsmith:Juyo Token 6879 (1980):look at Compton part 2 No.215 or at "One Hundred Masterpieces" from 1992 (No.32).Ludolf

Hi James,there seems to be only one possibility,although no pics to be found in my database and all the various books:H 12466,working around 1800.Haynes refers to a Kozuka from the Baur Collection,which is only described in the catalogue (Mei with only Yukitada plus Kao).You have a very rare piece!Ludolf

Hi Austin,here are 3 pieces made by Somin I.Ludolf

Hi all,there is a Shingen-Tsuba on Ebay.de,signed Kofu ju Nobuharu.I remember to have read,that there are no known ones with a signature.By the way the famous Takeda Shingen was also known as Nobuharu.Is that Ebay-piece Gimei or what else,when there were no signed ones from the old days to be faked?Ludolf

Hi Henry,although it's a nice and well-made Kozuka,I believe it's not made by "Big" Shozui:student or Gimei?Here comes a pic with 2 Kozuka with the vertical waves (?) design similar to your piece:Ludolf

Hi,I do believe,it's Gimei.Here are some examples of his work.Ludolf

Hi Eric,besides the Kanetsuji with the above Mei and Oshigata,there is a second one,who can be excluded: Hawley's KAN 2729,Tenmon Era.In Shibata's magazine "REI" Showa 62,February,there are pics with a different Mei.Ludolf

Hi Dave,Nagatsune (Haynes-index H 06539,1722-1787.family-name Ichinomiya) was born somewhere in the Echizen province and later moved to Kyoto.He became a student of the Tsuba artist Yasui Takanaga.He also studied painting under Ishida Yutai.In 1770 he received the honory title Echizen (no) Daijo and was granted to use the honary clan-name of Minamoto.Later he received (the highest) title of Echizen (no) Kami. He is considered to be one of the 3 greatest Tsuba artists of the 18th century.There are many forgeries on the market.Ludolf