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shan

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  • Location:
    South West of England
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    Tanto
    Kogatana
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  1. Hi Carlo, I am blessed with living on a 300 acre farm in the middle of deepest (Darkest) Devon. I am approx an hour from the nearest City (there is a village shop 2 mile away)and i am always many many hours from any arms Fairs ,clubs,societies,museums and dare i say just about anything related to my hobbies. I am probably one of 2-3 Known, who have any interest in this field in the entire Devon/Cornwall county. I am sure it would be very useful to have a study group that could communicate with each other in remote areas by say email or perhaps phone..................But then thats exactly what the forum is for isn`t it?Lots of people of different levels of collecting from all over the place. Geographical position does not matter so much. I still fail to see why people get so exasperated when i ask about something,I have tried to glean as much as possible but in some areas i am happy to allow others to judge quality.(I am learning though) 99% of what is talked about on this forum is someone asking about something.(even the more advanced collectors ask about items) This is a knowledge base for people like me and anything below or above my desired level of collecting. Why pretend it is anything else? :| Maybe i just dont understand, but i have seen posts from single individuals that ask question after question about things just like me. They do not profess to have depth of any knowledge,they just ask because they think that is what the forum is for,to help them to understand what they have......am i wrong in thinking this is the required role of the forum in most peoples minds? To join heads and evaluate and educate. My advice is that if it pains people to answer the "same old questions"..then please don`t. I will not be offended by silence. But if this is a personality thing, then just ignore mine if i "rub you up the wrong way" if not you may need to ignore all posts. shan
  2. Apoligies,here is the Boshi and some hamon. I am very busy at the moment so my apologies about the rushed images,but i will endevour to take better images of the boshi if they are needed (which i guess they always are) I had taken my usual catologue images but they were sadly lacking as i just hadn`t got round to doing them properly yet. Regards shan
  3. Superb, thanks very much guys, I was hoping for something of a revelation like Oda Nobunaga shopping list ,but what you say makes complete sense Thankyou Both
  4. Here as requested is an image of the Nakago. Regards Shan
  5. Hi Piers, What kind of hair is it? I get where your coming from...short thick and wiry...I don`t care about the weld.... I definatly don`t want it Now..
  6. shan

    Quality or Quantity?

    Hi Rich this Menuki was bought to go with another very similar one of a Tachi and Kobuto. I think it will go well.IMHO Barry, I don’t disagree with anything that you have said and perish the thought that you perhaps thought i might. I am as always very gratful for the help in understanding that we all get from most people in the posts. It is important to sometimes question a reply to better understand how it was decided. I am always grateful for replies because they sometimes can sent thoughts down new directions.(and a healthy debate never heart anyone) None of us are infallible and we all get it wrong from time to time.(me a lot but then i like what i collect and i am happy at my level) Its a cringe able thing to be told your item that you thought was nice is not so good but then, as i said before, i always buy what i like anyway. I agree that life would be easier for the people who do offer Kantei and translation on this forum, if we did not bother to ask in the first place because we all knew what we had(because the "papers" tell us exactly what it is) But to be frank..Wheres the fun in that? You yourself have said that you bought a sword based on what another had told you about it and pointed out. I have papered swords and i barely look at them because there is nothing new to learn from them, they are.... what they are. This is sadly my level of collecting, to have a sword that is in need of a desperate polish and restoration and to see what emerges from the wreckage like a butterfly from its chrysalis is exactly what i love about swords, to me every sword is worth preservation. I understand that people continue to suggest Books Books and more books but this is only showing me the failings in the items i am likely to come across everyday at a budget i am comfortable with.I have many books and they are directed at top end stuff. Yes i would love to find a blade that turned out to be by a master, hats also part of the fun. I think you will find that a great many of us sit in this middle ground of collecting. Without the experts to help us we would have no forum and equally without the questions raised by novices....... Regards Shan
  7. Sorry mark, I only have what i have shown you. I did look at ths item as possibly buying it but i had to knock it back based on the nakago and the "iodine" patination and the heavy Varnished area. It was sold as 100% OK and this to me was not OK. The seller stated that the machiokuri was done in Japan. I had to ask why it was done..the reply was to fit into a 2nd hand Shirasaya.....I returned the item. Machiokuri ,Badly done mekugi ana and evidence of rust being blown off by heat perhaps,Bad "earth" signs to the blade itself (shown in one image), Faked patination and a heavy coating of darkest Brown varnish to a certain area made me think of welding an different nakago on,shinogij into nakago supports this i believe. The explaination was somewhat lacking in credability to me.(just call me "old cynical") thats all i have. Blade was nice though. shan
  8. Hi again, I would love some feedback on this nakago please. I thought it had been welded and machiokuri and a new mekugi ana placed. Then its been painted with some thick brown varnish (can see the hair in it) and some paint into the machiokuri. Would it affect value and collectability? Many thanks shan
  9. Here is a blade that i thought you might like to see. This is from my own collection. It would be interesting if i could get some feedback on quality based on my very poor images. I am thinking of having it polished. Again good or bad is fine. If its junk then please do say so,I will not be offended with directness. I hope i have not put people off responding in a constructive and helpful manner.
  10. Very apt and quite right, Or so you may think… It seems there are many levels of collectors and each in there own way, enjoy what they have as much had it cost £50 or £50,000. It’s also to a lesser degree the difference between someone who just enjoys varied levels of skill and craftsmanship and someone who can only see skill and beauty in the most expensive, Papered and/or purest forms of the artists works.” The discerning eye.” That I sadly do not have. Where as, we may all aspire to own such wonderful masterpieces, it is in fact this desire to possess “that which is intrinsically beyond us” and our own abilities, that fuels these desires in the first place. It is the desire to covet, that “to collect” is first inspired. We see something we like and we want to posses something similar. Our Pockets to some extent limit our ability to buy items “beyond” our means and our levels of skill in recognizing what is to us beautiful and wonderful to our own eyes are better than any persons opinion could ever be. It would be nice to just have something that as you say some people would say Wow..I like that well done! Or more importantly to me,It is the desire to know roughly when it was made and perhaps by whom.We try to research for ourselves but sometimes we must ask and then question to learn. If my brother (who lives a short distance away)had bought a book costing £300 and I went and bought the same book would that not be a waste of £300? If it is stated that it is not what we think then an explanation in brief will help us to understand why it was Not what we hoped. Then next time we go loaded with that information and make less mistakes. Then when we look to these items in future, we can then see that although not a masterpiece, it is what it is and looks like it looks, because it was made this way by this person. for the levels that this forum mostly caters for, is why the forum exists in the first place (or so I thought)? Not surely a load of experts measuring the length of there Katana is it? “Pah..Look at that Twat,he has only got an Ikkanshi Tadatsuna wakizashi…But I have an Ichimonji Tachi…..Thinks hes a collector…Ha Ha Ha…Lightwight” Or is it just a place to allow more advanced collectors to feel superior because they have deeper pockets and a more advanced collection and knowledge? The forum is a great educational tool for a great many collectors of all levels and is fantastic when people are treated with a certain amount of respect. Sometimes this can be lacking. If we all collected Masterpieces with papers or blades at Juyo what would we need to ask? Are my NBTHK papers Genuine? Will this scratch come out? If you do not like the item, then please don’t respond to a post, but please don’t get arrogant or cryptic like you can do at times, as it demeans the questioner in more ways than you know.(probably the intention) Opinions aside and we all want them positive or negative… We ask because we would dearly like you would help us, not look down at us and Sneer. Or perhaps its just me.In which case i am sorry i can bring the worst out in most.
  11. Cheers guys,I thought the carving was quite good of the subject matter. But i see what you are saying. thanks again shan
  12. shan

    What is this then?

    For Reinhard,because If we must compare a master to a possible student... then here is another masterworks but the same smith.Tadatora or maybe Tadamune.Different design but sukashi cut in a similar way.Perhaps this design could have been refined more? Please note,I am not trying to compare my Tsuba to a Master,Just showing that anyone can produce a masterpiece and call all else garbage. Yet there will be average pieces by the same hand. (Image was found on the internet and used as an example only.) regards shan
  13. Hi Guys, I could do with some help with this item. I am not entirely sure of its quality but thought it very good. The Little samurai? has a wonderful expression and you can just about see the ribbed saya in one image. I think the tree is well done as well as the Nanako. I cant see any overspill of the gold and very much think the Tree and the persons face is silver. Perhaps someone more familiar with quality can tell me if this is of any skill? Thankyou shan
  14. shan

    What is this then?

    Hi Martin, Thanks for your responses and I think you misunderstood my comments (always hard with the written word) "I did not want to imply, that your Tsuba could be a 3rd Master piece" I was not suggesting you were. I was just saying that placing it next to such a fantastic piece only heightens the fact that it is a poor work by comparison.(if it were me i would say Poor copy or fake straight away) Don’t get me wrong Mine, its Nice enough...Just nothing i would have "written home about". I have been made well aware by any number of experts and novices alike that it is not a great piece and barely worthy of much (if any) consideration or discussion. The story was as i said at first... I saw something similar and approached the owner of this and they said theres was Akasaka and probably Tadatoki maybe 5th-6th gen. I thought i had best research mine (although it was IMHO not as nice as the other) to be sure. I contacted several Big Names and they in turn suggested Bigger names and so on and so on ...and the "general" consensus was that it was most likely Akasaka and could be (opinions differ here) anything from 4th gen to 6th gen+.Not a masterpiece but nice enough. Worse case it was probably possibly maybe perhaps definatly going to get "Akasaka School" at shinsa. Then i contacted another specialist site of Mike Yamasaki and Cyrus Chan, (Mike did say possibly rejected if the panel were in a bad mood due to patination) They did not like the colour and thought it a Later "school" piece that may have been partly or completely repatinated. They showed as you have examples from masterpieces which told me what I already knew and that was that it is No masterpiece.(I have also googled Akasaka) This along with Fords dislike and suggestion of young age, made me cease in any trades and ask the forum what they felt. None of these specialists or experts had until this forum (and ford) Even suggested that it was a modern item. (I cannot tell you if they thought this though) so it has gone from Definatly akasaka and will shinsa to the school at least IMHO...to .....Made last year to sell on Ebay. ............... this is one giant leap from defiantly sending it to shinsa and it being a "safe bet" ...to "don`t wast your money its a Mug/cup coaster". I am just trying now to find out how it can elicit so many near identical opinions from different sources to such widely varying opinions from others. I have asked you all…and it is these opinions that will help me and perhaps everyone to understand the fundamental issues that make an item “right” or Just plain “wrong”. It’s the subtle things I believe that can differentiate a great works from a masterpiece,But this subtlety can also help in other ways… Please do keep spitballing and brainstorming guys its all useful stuff.
  15. shan

    What is this then?

    Guys, Thanks for the comparison. This is a road i have already travelled with Mike Yamasaki and Cyrus Chan. I have and so have they said it is not a masterworks by any stretch. It is pointless comparing mine to the 3rd master and probably one of The best smiths that ever came out of that school and one of his masterworks at that.Thats a beautiful Tsuba Martin,withiut doubt.If i had that i would be happy indeed. But...You may as well compare every blade asked about on this forum , to a Heian Nagamitsu,because it compares badly declare as modern or exceptionally poor quality. It is an established "assumption" that it is not by him or any of the Great ones in any way shape or form and not by any of the masters as early as that.It was the timeline that i was trying to establish. As a way of determining if an item is by a master or specific artist ,this method works well,but pointless when the item in question is so far from anything done by any of them. I have already said it is a very poor works and most agree to this ...unless this was by design. I have never and nor have any others thought this a great Tsuba.But they did think it an genuine piece and from around th 4th 5th or 6th gen It is poorly executed and is nothing like the example (or indeed the ones given me by all the experts)but as the school moved with the times the designs became more abstract at times. What i am at this point trying to establish is why at least 2 people thought it a modern Item made for Ebay sales.(which is not where i got it from sadly ) Beautiful Tsuba though martin. there are others by this smith that are not as good as this and are more abstract as with all others.It depends on what they were trying to achieve. shan
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