GRC

Dale, I has the exact same experience with having to contact one of the "Japanese ebay seller crew" to let him know that the tsuba he had listed was already in my possession. The best part was he had made me a private offer with a "reduced price". I said "thanks and told him he'd have a hard time selling me something I already owned" and sent him a picture of the tsuba on top of that day's newspaper. Couldn't resist It really feels like there's some sort of organized consortium of tsuba peddlers using the "three price strategy" on ebay. It really is frustrating...

Thanks Ken, that answers that question. I suspected as much because of the potential for liability issues, and the potential for creating some heated battles if the person being named is a member of the forum. There's also the potential for abuse and misuse of shame list... Oh well, c'est la vie.

Hey Dale, are we allowed to "name and shame" on here? Thankfully I had a great experience with another seller who voluntarily sent me a refund for overpaying for shipping! The preset shipping cost on the listing was too high. Coincidentally, the shipping fee from Japan ended up being $20USD... not $115 Fulfilled my hopes that there are still some good people out there.

speaking of liars... has anyone else had this experience: I won an owari sukashi tsuba on ebay that was also cross-listed on Yahoo-J. I sent the payment with the specified shipping and was super excited to get this tsuba... but then this: The seller contacts me saying he couldn't use regular postal service to ship the tsuba to Canada due to COVID, so would have no choice but to cancel the auction. oh really? I had literally just received a tsuba from Japanese mail service that day. I started to suspect he was disappointed with the final sale price because this style tsuba usually sells for more. So I sent a pic of the Japan mail shipping label I got that day to show that there was no issue... But, just as a safeguard, I suggested that he could use DHL or FedEx to ship to Canada. They certainly don't have any COVID restrictions with Japanese shipments. The seller gets back to me a day later, saying it would cost $115 USD to ship the ONE TSUBA to Canada and asked if I would be OK paying the difference. WTF!?!??!?!?!? Of course my answer was NO to this laughable cash grab, so the seller canceled the auction and I was fully refunded. He since relisted it and sold it for the higher price he was hoping for. Piece of work... I wish I could post the pic of this menuki in his ebay feedback profile... Sorry for venting, but I've never had that happen before and was wondering if anyone else has had this happen. Regardless, there are millions of other tsuba out there to be admired, and hopefully collected

That's a real gem. Congratulations on winning that one

got a full smirk from me... congrats on the purchase

Ummm, my vote is for both Bob schools first as a nice way to ground all the pieces in some context, then comparisons by themes (to see the range of how different smiths and schools tackle the same subject). You could be at this for the rest of the year... hopefully

It amazes me how little information is provided with the tsuba in a lot of the museum collections. Unless the collections were all mostly donated, then why would they procure so many tsuba without categorizing or identifying the schools, describing the motifs and explaining cultural relevance etc. Isn't the goal of a museum to preserve historic items and educate the public about them? These Cleveland Museum books look like they'll be a refreshing change :) Thanks for putting those together Dale Colin, I completely agree about referencing... nice to have a book in hand sometimes. My order should be arriving any day now.

I'm glad I could help in some small way Bob. Those videos from Ford Hallam are such an inspiration. Thank you for having them produced and commissioning those magnificent tsuba from Ford. In light of this info about what you've got, I can't even imagine all the gems that are going to grace this thread as time goes on.... I'm looking forward to them all!

Here's a papered Mito school Katsuhira tsuba: and a link to a bunch of info on this smith: Hagiya Katsuhira · Tokubetsu Hozon Tsuba · Tosogu – Yuhindo.com

I see why you like it so much. That's a really nice effect, almost like you're standing high up on a cliff edge, looking down onto the turbulent waters swirling among the rocks in a cove below. Definitely something to appreciate up close. And ummm, on a general note regarding favorite tsuba... it seems to me that all I had to do to start this thread was to post that facebook link belonging to Rich Turner, and voila! another lovely piece... Don't sell yourself short Richard...I think your collection is spectacular and would certainly buy that book. Especially with your image and shot quality! Thanks for sharing all that info and those links. I have great admiration for what you have put together.

Update on the restoration 1- Made a second tsunagi out of oak that is now proerly fitted to the habaki, tsuka and saya. I chose a piece of oak that had a grain pattern that looks like the straight grain pattern of a real blade (I forget the name of that pattern at the moment) 2- Cleaned off most of the old glue residue using "Googone" and some cotton swabs. I first tested a small area where the kozuka sits in the koshirae and the Googone didn't affect the lacquer at all, so I gave it a go. 3- Used a dremel and fine bit to slightly enlarge the holes to fit the larger posts of the clamshell menuki. The clamshell shapes fit nicely in the hand, which is something I was hoping would happen. 4- Reprofiled the DIY kogatana so it had a slimmer, more tapered look. It has a much nicer look to than before. Thanks again Jean 5- Added this sageo. The one that came with it was a bit garish, with some bold purple contrasted with a muddy beige, and likely not original to the koshirae anyway.

Thanks Bob! I'm pretty happy with them, but it's always nice to have some validation on a choice like that. I know that all the tosogu choices can all be intensely personal choices, so not everyone will like the choices someone else makes. This aspect of Buyee drives me nuts. It's so frustrating to have this potential looming threat of "we not be be able to export it, even if you buy it" or just a straight up "banned item" because it was poorly described as a sword, which counts as a weapon. I can't see kogatana being much of weapon at all lol. I decided to stick with making my own for now. Especially because I can't imagine how long it would take to track one down that first my kozuka.

Thanks jean! I felt like several aspects were a bit "off" and It's great to have another set of eyes on it. In looking at more images of the kogatana in the kozuka, I see that both edges of the kogatana taper towards the point. Here are some of the images I found: I originally assumed the back edge of the kogatana would be straight because the opening for the tanto blade/tsunagi of this koshirae is actually shaped like an o-kogatana that doesn't seem to taper at all along the the majority of its length. As for the length, I didn't want to make the kogatana as long as most kogatana/kozuka combinations because my wari-kogai are so tiny, only 10.8cm long. The kozuka is only 6.7cm. I'm trying to keep the proportions of the kogatana in check so as not to overpower the wari-kogai. On top of that, my original goal was mainly just to get the kozuka to stay in the saya but now it has gradually morphed into "getting it right". All that being said, adjustments are on their way...

Oh wow, Richard (RKG), that's one of your tsuba that I posted as my favorite! I hope you don't mind me posting an image of it. I left the copyright line on it so credit would go your way. Those are some fantastic tsuba you have... when are we going to see a published book of your collection? I can only imagine how amazing it would be to see detailed images of them all. I particularly like the one on the bottom right. I think it's now a close second favorite behind the one I posted at the start of the thread. Richard, can I ask what the dimensions are on these two tsuba? The one I posted looks like it's quite tall relative to the nakago-ana. Also, If I may ask, what is your absolute favorite tsuba of any type of metal and any school? Rich S, I'd love to get one of these Tembo tsuba too, but it's starting to look like Richard (RKG) already owns them all! Grev, thanks for clarifying the difference between Kobushi and Kawari. Much appreciated. The one you posted is really nice. The shape is beautiful and I like the carefully placed punch work.

Hi Grev, I've seen both terms Kobushi-gata and Kawari-gata to describe similarly drawn outlines of irregularly shaped tsuba. Is there a difference in their use, or are the two terms interchangeable?

Bruno, the Tanaka school produced some amazing work. I really like the yin yang aspect to the light and dark birds in the one you posted.

sorry, that was Curran who posted the Higo. My apologies

Bruno, I'm also a fan of so many of the Higo school tsuba, including these elegantly "simple" ones from Hirata Hikozo, as well as these ones from Kamiyoshi, and Jingo: I also really like some of the elaborate Hayashi tsuba:

didn't realize the Image i posted was of such poor quality... here's a better version (hopefully)

That's one heck of storm. I like it when they put rain lines across a tsuba. And is that a mountain goat up on the cliff above the water? No problem for the goat but a nightmare for the sailboats...

I like the octopus... don't seem to see that very often. I also really like the 3D depth on that one And kuddos on having a 100% complete Heianjo. The dimple-textured plate also seems unusual.

re #60 Here's a "similar" method of sunken botanical depressions & gold inlay accents, signed Echizen Ju Kinai Saku:

re #35 signed shigeyoshi Here's some more, signed: 'YAMASHIRO KUNI JU UMETADA SHIGEYOSHI' and another Umetada Shigeyoshi... I get the impression from Haynes and Long that there were several Shigeyoshi at Umetada: regarding the image on the left "Which Shigeyoshi this is, we do not know."

# 72 Here's another emaciated water buffalo... maybe they were frequently overworked in the fields?