Matsunoki

Good luck Lewis. This has been a very interesting story and deserves a happy ending.

Ray, many thanks…..off I go to do what I’m not good at…..research! Very kind of you👍

I know I’m stretching it a bit here. But some of you guys love a challenge (I hope🙂) I can get Sagami no Kami but can anyone give me a pointer re the next kanji? Heavy corrosion. The last partly visible remaining kanji is probably impossible. Looks possibly a Shinto Mino blade, very fine itame hada with well made Sanbonsugi hamon. Any help very greatly appreciated!.

Do you think this is one such sword?

The seller was right. Sorry.

Baby Joe, that was very quick! Much appreciated. Many thanks. colin

This is the other kozuka that crossed my path at the Birmingham Arms Fair yesterday. 10 gambolling rabbits in seriously high relief zogan….assorted metals and techniques and although not perfect (and with a silver paper knife blade inserted) I could not resist its quirky charm. Sorry about poor images but you get the idea? As usual my question is who made it? Thank you again

Moriyama san, much appreciated, thank you. Colin.

Hello and thank you in and for any and all assistance. With the usual apologies for my lack of mei abilities…..what does this say? It is on a very heavy and oversize solid silver kozuka.

Your tsuba depicts the popular subject of a dragon emerging from storm clouds. The large swirl on the reverse is a suggestion of violent winds and tempest and the design I’ve circled in red looks like it is actually the tail of the dragon ie the design continues front the face over to the reverse….imo.

Will Sitting on a wall can be painful……jumping off it can be worse! Lots of folk on here would be happy to advise if you need advice. Mounting a sword brings many tricky issues to consider and many potential pitfalls. Hope it goes well for you.

Hi Will I’d love to know your final decision and reasons. Are you mounting on Wakizashi or Katana? Interesting comparison.

Correct! It’s garbage.

Been ok today and yesterday in UK.

Whatever.

George, we have a separate forum section under “forums”…. “related subjects”…”other Japanese arts” It can be frustrating when an informative specific discussion is dragged off course….. Any aspects of export art can be kicked around happily as their own topic. Sorry, I’m just a grumpy old man🙂

It would be good to stay on topic. From a useful detailed look at a dodgy tsuba we go onto the use of eagles in Japanese art through the ages and we bring in a sword stand for good measure.

Have a look at these coming up for sale. They look spectacular but I suspect that most, if not all, are shiremono. Many were actually made to use as cutlery handles. These have never been used so the patinas look stunning. But look closely….they have put two of the same one into the set. I’ve also got an example of that one. On some you can just see the silver plating wearing off to reveal the base metal underneath ie they are not true takazogan but coloured pressings. Some are signed. It is difficult to believe…..but the Japanese were incredibly good at finding short cuts that looked almost identical to the “real deal” https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/lawrences-auctioneers-of-crewkerne/catalogue-id-srlawre10247/lot-343d7a6c-fe00-4dcc-9a17-b45900d47764

We can only speculate…..but maybe the fact that it had ANY Mei on it was good enough to enhance its value. If it carried a “big name” Mei then it would be an obvious “fake” If this is your kozuka and you know how to check you can confirm what it is??

If you can fake a tsuba and Mei the sekigane are comparatively simple. Maybe a couple of hours work.

There are hundreds of designs, subjects and themes in Japanese Art that have been used repeatedly over hundreds of years by multiple artists and school, not just in sword fittings but lacquer, scrolls, ceramics, bronze etc etc The book “legends in Japanese Art” by Joly would help you.

Eg……this blemish would not exist on a genuine Nanako front plate.

Both of these kozuka look like shiremono ie the front plate is a hand finished pressing with some weak gilding etc that is joined to a more substantial back plate. Probably no true inlay. Many were given outright fake mei that deceive because the back plate looks “right” ie its thick and the Mei looks good. The same “stamp” is reused for the front plate but minor imperfections or different degrees of finishing can create minor differences. Would need in hand to be sure.

I don’t think anyone is saying it’s not old. There are old fakes as well as modern fakes. Some fakes were made by copyists who had some manufacturing talent but they did not have the artistic flair and “feel” for the subject they were attempting. They took short cuts and made castings look like true inlay…..fools a lot of people. Thus tsuba has a small degree of technical merit, probably cast, hand finished and then coloured but I doubt it is mixed metal inlay…..probably clever multipatination (see Nagoya mono topic) but it is an artistic disaster. Would need it in hand to be more confident. imo.

Quick Look…..something seems very wrong with this one. Artistically it’s horrible. Looks flashy but….