Surfson

And often the rust can be localized in the monouchi when a sword is stored in a damp place standing up for a prolonged period. My only wonder is when it might have been polished and by whom? If it is rust pitting, then it has had a polish after its original polish. If that is true, then it should not be ububa. Is it sharp in the first inch or two of the cutting edge above the habaki?

Seems pricy for a showato, eh? Made me think about hauling out one or two that I have. If they bring that kind of money, I could get a nice koto for the proceeds! I haven't checked, but is there anything special about Ujifusa?

Thanks guys. Grey, I agree that the price figures in a huge amount of risk, even if the F-K contain solid gold rather than utsuri. I doubt it can be a wakizashi, since I estimate the cutting edge to be about 70 cm+. Steve, I'm not sure it has a yokote - it looks to me to be shobu zukuri-like in shape. Anyway, I might have taken a flyer on it at a fraction of the price, but am still curious as to what it is likely to be, and how old it may be. Cheers, Bob

Hi All. I am curious about this sword that just sold on Ebay. It seems a bit slender, but is it possible that it is a Nagamaki naoshi? I would appreciate the advice of those more knowledgeable than me on this. Happy New Year! Bob http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... _500wt_898

You are absolutely right Mark. It was a zero feedback bidder that won the high bid, so I suspect that we may see it again unless the underbidder gets a "second chance" offer. B

A sword just went for $5300 on ebay, and it looks gimei to me. The tada and yoshi characters don't seem to match any of the generations that I found examples of. Any opinions? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 500wt_1156

Ford, I just viewed the videos and found them utterly inspiring and amazing. You are truly a great artist and your patience and skill are humbling. Congratulations on mastering the highest level of the art! Bob

Does George Hakes really exist or is he a Fakenman from Fakenham?

Just finished the Nakahara book after reading the discussion on NMB. A great read and very informative. As far as his attitude about mumei blades and osuriage, I have to say that his comments were a little inconsistent. He seemed to be saying that nobody would cut down a sword with a mei on it without making an orikaeshi or an inlaid mei, but then elsewhere seemed to be aware that during muromachi there was not so much concern over collecting or honoring makers so much as there was focus on the use of the swords as tools. It's easy to see how one might cut down a sword and not bother about the mei. I loved his discussion about changes in the shape of the nakago, especially when a signed blade was cut down.

Looks a bit tired too - I think I see a lot of shintetsu in a couple of the photos.

Thanks for a lively debate gents. I certainly don't intend to perform the experiment, though I do think that the pressure and hardness of the buffing material could be selected to approximate those in real life, and my gut still tells me that wear is an important factor in the evolution of the shape of a tsuba. I'm guessing that most samurai did not wear silk on a daily basis, so we would need a edo clothing expert on the research team. Cheers, Surf

I'm sure that you and many of the NMB members have been known to rub on an iron tsuba with a simple piece of cotton cloth and know that if you do it long enough you can smooth the surface and develop a patina. I realize that rust is softer than the iron, but I don't think that it requires a great deal of suspension of disbelief to think that silk can wear down a tsuba over hundreds of years. We'll just have to do some experiments. Do you think that if you put an iron tsuba on a buffing wheel with soft buffing material of the hardness of a kimono that you could wear the mimi down two millimeters? If you are willing to wager, I think that it will, in fairly short order. Of course each minute of rotation of the wheel may be the equivalent of a week's wear, but we certainly can't do the experiment over 500 years using a kimono..... As to the face of the tsuba that you mention, I'm not suggesting that all irregularities on the face or rim of a tsuba are from wear.

Glad we've moved from the ridicule stage to a real discussion on this. The article Mariusz linked to is quite good and provides some insight. Ford, I agree that iron is harder and wears more slowly than soft metal, but I have had many very old iron sword parts that are quite worn, and not from abuse or neglect. The concept that old iron tsuba with bones result from wear was introduced to me at a special presentation by a tsuba expert (I don't remember his name) at the Chicago Sword show two or three years ago. He had many wonderful tsuba on display and spoke about many features as well as kantei and dating. As I recall, he made the point that the bones tend to be on the lower left of these guards as you face the front, since that is the region that comes in most contact with the kimono for a right handed samurai. Anyway, I have tired of the upkeep with the Brooklyn Bridge, and am willing to sell it at a good price if anybody is interested. Cheers, Bob

I couldn't make that one out either. That tanto went for over $3K.

You guys can't fool me - I already own the Brooklyn bridge. By the way, 500 years is a long time. Have you ever seen the wear on an old coin, kashira or umabari just from handling? Ever seen a kozuka so worn by use that you can't make out any of the carvings? Smug you are, but a lot to learn have you.......

I've been a Mac owner since they first came out and can say that they are superior to PC/Intel machines in many ways. Very user friendly, and can now run all PC software. The most valuable feature to me is that I have never had to load a bit of antiviral software, purge viruses or worry about what attachments I open etc., since they are virtually impervious to the ones that lurk out there (at least so far and to my knowledge). Just my two koban worth.

I have had it explained to me that bones emerge as the tsuba rubs on the kimono of the wearer, and the harder iron wears down more slowly than the softer, exposing the bones. In other words, one tends to see them primarily on quite old tsuba, and they weren't there immediately following the construction. Can anybody confirm or refute this view?

Very few of the folks that haunt the NMB will be interested in that modern sword that is not samurai in any way other than appearance. Some of us collect modern gendaito blades, a few collect militaria, and most are interested in genuine nihonto from 1870 and earlier. If you are really itching to buy a blade (as my Dad would say, if the money is burning a hole in your pocket), and you already have enough books to keep yourself amused, I suggest that you enlist the help of Grey or another collector that you know and trust and have them help you buy a decent blade on Ebay, at a local gun show or one of the sword shows that take place around the country (e.g. in SF, Chicago, Tampa etc.). I echo what the others said that reading, reading and more reading is the way to go. Good luck with your collecting.

Nice soft metal tsuba. Not sure of the school, but I would say that it is Edo period and has clearly been mounted so is unlikely to be Hamamono or Meiji tourist item. it appears to have been cleaned and there is some wear on the shakudo in the hitsuana and removal of some of the finish on the raised work. I would think that on ebay it would go in the $200-250 range, but that's just a guess.

The hada on those is pretty impressive, though the hamon leaves much to be desired. I suspect that you are right that the nakago would give away the ruse.

Anthony, I'm in Chicago, and would be happy to show you a few blades some time. Several are definitely of interest as the subject of an oshigata. Cheers, Bob Surfson@rcn.com

I believe that it is Naminohira Ju.........

I have a tsuba very similar to this. This maker was very prolific, like Munetsugu or others. I suppose he may have had a "shop" with kaji that helped produce them. This one does seem to have some damage on the leaves from insects.......

I looked at at least ten examples, and the suke character was written very differently. On the other example, it was the naga that differed considerably.

Two late Bizen Sukenaga's listed. The kiku ichi mei didn't match the ebay sword, nor did the other which I could only find in the Bizen Taikan. I agree that somebody really took a stretch on this one.