uwe

Hi Jan, very nice maedate. The kanji can be an armorers mark. Found a similar one in Chappelears book pg. 23 read as "jo" (another reading would be "kami"). But believe me, you don`t need this maedate ........... I`m the shimazu guy here Uwe PS: Green of envy :rotfl:

Hi Mike, as an side note. The mon is left unregarded, because of the huge possible assignments. To many families used this mon during the centuries. Among others, Hosokawa, Matsudaira, .....etc. Uwe PS: I think you should mention the material and the lacquer in your description. Tetsu kuro urushi nuri....... ( Dave, Ian )

Hi Ian, I hoped you jump in :D I was unsure about age and school. Furthermore, examining the close up of the lacquer cracks, i wonder if it is actually a metal hachi :? Uwe

Hi Mike, at first glance, the za-boshi may lead us towards Kaga.... .....give me some time and if possible some more pics Cheers Uwe

Hi Mike, looks like it was a nice za-boshi bachi in his former life. Goshôzan type, with obviously hardly suffered leather shikoro. What exactly do you want to know? Uwe

Have fun Brian........in the so called "new world" Uwe

Sounds good Uwe

Hi Harry, thanks a lot. Very interesting read. Unfortunately, he seems to be the last of his craft. Uwe

Martin, Jean, thanks a lot for your input. I`ll do some further research and let you know if something interesting turns out Uwe

Hi folks, got this as a birthday present from a friend. I had .....Higo no Kami (Sada?)..... Knifes of this kind, supposed to be made since 1886 in Kyushu. I haven`t a clue. Any help are much appreciated :| Uwe

Ian, thus the katchu-shi, as the "designer" of a particularly armor, had to provide a kind of construction manual for the sub contractors Uwe

pm send Uwe

.....misers Hi Dave, regarding the gessan we can`t be sure. As I bought the do, the tripartite was affixed at the front side. Although, both have the same length and the holes matching both ways But I bet, three front-side, four back-side Uwe

Ian, I wasn`t aware that armorers where such stingy with their fabrics Obviously a matter of economy! However, the papers you mentioned I know from helmets. One I handled in the collection of a friend, with Buddhist motives and texts for shelter (I believe). What do you think about the marked plates? Maybe a hint of serial production? Uwe

Hi folks, a friend of mine is doing some slight restoration work on my new tatami-do. During his work, the do reveals his construction. Surprisingly, only the mail has a backing of dark blue fabric strips Than, as usual, followed from a layer of linen (or hemp?) and finally covered with dyed leather. Furthermore, every single plate is marked on the backside with characters in red lacquer. I assume, it helps the katchu-shi to determine the position of a plate in the whole arrangement. What you don`t can see in the pics is, that the front and the back of the dou are hinged, just like a "normal" dou. All in all, not that simple and cheap as tatami armors always postulated. Note, that the kusazuri for front and back are different Uwe

Ian, sounds convincing. Thank you I still have some questions about my new tatami. Will post the relevant pics next weekend. Uwe

Ron, I totally agree . However, we don`t know, if the koshirae belongs to the blade. Hence, it has little evidential value. At first glance, I thought I saw saki-sori and for the nakago I put it rashly towards shinto :? Franco, I can`t judge the cross section of the nicks by means of this pics. But shape and position pointing to kiri komi Uwe

Ian, if I get you right, than is that the reason for the blackish appearance of the scales between the "hole-rows" Uwe

Ian, very interesting explanation about an reused kanmuri no ita in this special case. Although, I`m not sure (happy) with the interpretation of the two black lines The lines marking exactly the overlapping area of two scales at each row. If the lines are leather kozane, then they appear to thin in my view. Maybe they are leather strings or bands of what purpose ever But even that sounds not really convincing to me. Thus, I had to carry on thinking about it :? Uwe

.....I`ll keep it as an Christmas secret until then (because of the surprise :D ). However, there had to be a Christmas tree int the background of your pics............just for physical evidence Cheers Uwe

You can divine the reddish color on the second lame on the left. Ian, it looks quite presentable to me. May we have pics from the whole set Uwe

Hi Franco, there is not much, speaking against the nicks are kiri-komi (except the one in pic 1415). What causes your opinion? Andrew, I can`t see shinae. The only vague flaw is that on the mune in pic 1415 as mentioned before All in all, a nice shinto wak, based on the pics. Worthwhile to be concerned about, IMHO Uwe PS: Missed mune-machi in the pics :?

Uwe

Hmm......it happens either very fast or he did it on purpose. Nevertheless, very interesting and a quite seldom event. Thanks for sharing. Are there more pics available? Uwe

Hi John, yes I mean this inverted cone shape. Sorry for my rusted English Cheers Uwe