Jaron

The iron is shaping up quite nicely thanks.

Thanks guys, so much. That was my thought. I’ll leave the soft metal as is as it looks good as is. I’ll work on the iron to get rid of any active rust. Jaron

Hi all, I had the pleasure of getting this new Tsuba and setting to work to gently clean the overall piece with warm, no detergent soap, dry it, and then go after the areas that respond well to shattered bone needles, mainly the precious metals like gold and silver. I am only part of the way when I was wondering if one of the overlays was supposed to be exposed as a metal in it’s pure form or is it truly copper patina which should be jet black. It is an iron Tsuba but has the metal overlays. My one question is the butterfly that has worn away a bit to expose just a bit of copper or bronze, but I’d like your opinion whether this is supposed to be block or fully exposed copper of bronze. is. If it is supposed to be brlack entirely, and I have many pieces that are like that. Please let me know what you think. The patina is tough to remove with light rubbing with antler, so that tells me probably wearing away the black patina and leave it alone! I if is truly supposed to be copper of bronze exposed, I will stay on it with antler needles, otherwise I am done… other than removing the red rust and replace it with xoygen restrictd black! Thanks guys. Ciao

I appreciate the quick response from everyone. When I got it to review I was immediately suspect and the feedback was a great learning experience as well as confirmation of that. I do like the Goto school and I have a Tsuka with some nice Goto fittings and was recently given attribution at the Shinsa in San Fran this year, as well as a Tsuba with more identifiable and crisper “fish roe”. This one has been returned. Thanks all! Jaron

Great advice John. I will do that. Thanks.

Thanks Jean. I appreciate your expertise.

Hello members, my apologies for adding to an old topic but I am hoping to get input from those who commented before, and others of course, since I can’t message directly to some. I hope Mr. Hallum gets a chance to see this. A new collector, I am looking at buying a Goto Teijo signed Tsuba that looks identical in design to Ludolph’s post above. I have included the one I am looking at to compare with the two posted above, one being in Hayne’s listing. I have also included others I have found to add to the discussion. The one I have is a green/silver hue, shiny, with the nanako where there is no carving. You can see the gold is inlay with a decent thickness to it on the figures. One area of concern, other than authenticity, is that compared to others, the bridge/dock post tops look smashed. I assume it could be normal wear but that is why I am posting for input. Looking close with a loop, it is appears to be decent workmanship in any case. I would appreciate any thoughts in addition to the original since this post is 2014. Thank you. Jeff

Thank you.

My apologies, I forgot the kuni ju 国住 So this is the full signature I believe 備前国住長船法光造. It’s that last character that doesn’t seem likely.

Here is a blade with a supposed Norimitsu signature I have not seen before. I have also checked Nihontoclub.com signature database. The signature as far as I can tell is 備前長船法光造. It could be Bishu not Bizen but it is hard to tell. I understand that 造 means construction but I am used to seeing 作 for “made”. I don’t understand if someone is trying to pass off the signature as real and not gimei, why sign it in an oddball, uncommon way? Here are some pictures. I found one signature that did incorporate that kanji but the signature was much longer and 1400s. Curious to what others think. Thanks, Jeff

As it turns out it actually is Bizen Ju Osafune Sukesada 備前住長船祐定 as noted from the seller. The engraving is so light it is hard to see in pictures. So at least it has Osafune in it but still a short signature. Often in signatures after Bizen, not Bishu, the smith would engrave koku before the ju. Still looking in resource material for anything like this particular one.

Hi Piers, Thank you for the response and your own looking. Yes 祐定 is what I am talking about and I agree that a better look at it is needed. Once I am able to get views I can post ai will. From all the research I have done there are no short signatures other than the couple I mentioned above. I don’t think there are any 備前住祐定 out there. Jeff

Sorry to be vague, it’s not papered like from NBTHK, I meant the government certificate registering it, and the hand written name which is hard to make out but it is 5 characters which look like “ Bizen ju Sukesada” supposedly late Muromachi, so in the time of sword factories. I found one case when a Sukesada smith signed “Bizen Sukesada “ that was papered. I have also seen Bizen Sukesada Saku.

Hello NMB, Has anyone ever seen a signature for a Sukesada where it is just “Bizen ju Sukesada” or would this be a classic Gimei? I have looked over many the various signatures listed out there, like the nihontoclub.com site with all the smith listings and signatures, and it seems the longer and more personalized/dated the better. The sword I am looking at only shows the Mei on the certificate of “Bizen ju Sukesada” and I can’t see the signature well enough yet on the blade. I think this is a big red flag, unless there is something there worthwhile someone has some input on. The blade and hamon look decent with the hamon in the straight suguha pattern similar to other Sukesadas. Sorry I do not have pictures to provide at this time. Thanks for your input in advance. Jeff

And here is your random guy 5 years later. I am at the NCJSC annual sword show and there is a 2022 Shinsa as well. I submitted my Wakizashi and it passed. It is a Mumei but they attributed it to late generation Nobataka, pointing to 8th generation, 1789-1801. A big surprise from what I thought it was. There was also mention here of there not being any existing work done by 7th generation out there. That's what I have been told up until now. Now the research begins. If Davidarmy happens to see this all this time later, let me know if I can help with anything.