Matsunoki

Netsuke for me is a very bitter sweet subject. Over many years I’d built a half decent collection and had a massive library on the subject. But the along comes our woke vote grabbing government with its unjustified and ill considered ban on ivory thus was I really forced to sell the lot before their value evaporated to zero in this country. Of all the things I’ve been interested in Netsuke were (are?) probably my favourite…..even more than the guns and swords and tsuba! I really miss them more than anything else. Bloody Michael Gove…..what a weasel…..now he’s a Baron and a Lord 🤬🤬 Sorry for rant….netsuke always hit this painful nerve. Wonderful things like this …….banned from selling, importing etc

Netsuke for me is a very bitter sweet subject. Over many years I’d built a half decent collection and had a massive library on the subject. But the along comes our woke vote grabbing government with its unjustified and ill considered ban on ivory thus was I really forced to sell the lot before their value evaporated to zero in this country. Of all the things I’ve been interested in Netsuke were (are?) probably my favourite…..even more than the guns and swords and tsuba! I really miss them more than anything else. Bloody Michael Gove…..what a weasel…..now he’s a Baron and a Lord 🤬🤬 Sorry for rant….netsuke always hit this painful nerve. Wonderful things like this …….banned from selling, importing etc

Yes. Can’t see any problem with that Piers.

🙂😉🫢

Shakudo is an alloy which before patination looks like copper in colour. It is not a solid block of black metal. When patinated it will form an oxide on the surface that basically looks black. If the patina is then worn, scratched or in any other way damaged the base colour of “copper” will show through including within the nakago-ana or on highlight areas etc Copper on the other hand does not patinated to black, in fact it is the most difficult metal to get a good solid patina on and any patina on copper is easily abraded. This tsuba simply looks to have nice quality copper sekigane perfectly and carefully fitted into a tsuba with a plate made of a shakudo type alloy. The actual tsuba itself is of modest quality. Personally I can’t see any mystery here.

Roy, you have taken the metal mekugi out from both sides? One side is a tube, the other the screw that goes into it. Both need to come out. Sorry if that sounds insultingly obvious!

How many do you want and do you come to the Birmingham Arms Fair?

Not in my opinion. Blade obviously has had a hard life probably with many polishes. The last polish does not look great from these images.

I think Marcin is trying to explain undercutting and sukashi work? ie it’s not a “solid block” It isn’t unusual to see that on menuki.

Is there a boshi? In image of kissaki it looks like hamon could run off the blade and maybe that has been concealed by strange “polish” on kissaki? Of course could just be a trick of the image. personally I’ve never seen a nakago re-worked in that manner unless it was done to fit into a Kyugunto and then re-done again to fit this koshirae.

Crab and either seaweed or coral fronds is perhaps more likely than pine trees?

Can you image that? ……because these two features (possibly the central nerve with cracks coming from it) suggest it may indeed be Ivory but of very low quality. I”m even wondering if it is an older piece that has been heavily “enhanced” and mercilessly re-polished.

That habaki is confusing….it looks maybe as if it has been painted gold or perhaps been given a thin plated gilt wash. It isn’t gold though sadly. The fuchi and kashira do not match (I’m sure you know they are made in matching pairs) which is a shame. The “gold section with scalloping” on the kashira are small gilt tubular eyelets that prevent the ito from being damaged by the edges of the kashira. Overall, the mismatched mountings are of very modest quality and possibly assembled in more recent times. I would not remove the Ito to check the menuki, it’s a million to one shot that they are gold. Apologies for the somewhat downbeat opinions but best to be realistic.

Gold habaki and menuki are pretty rare and generally found only on very high quality items. Can we see better pics of habaki? It looks to have some wear on it as if it is plated, or sometimes they are a thick gold foil over a base metal. Can you see if there is foil folded over?…it usually shows at the nakago end of the habaki. Is the tsuka ito fairly recently done? Looks very fresh. Could suggest the menuki are modern and plated. In the images the fuchi looks iron, not silver…..does the kashira match it? Can you show the whole sword please?

Ie……

Hmmmm……can’t explain those small areas that look like brass spots scattered around randomly on the fittings. I’ve seen that before when weak areas in pressings have been reinforced from behind so still can’t tell if pressed or cast. Could be that an alloy was not fully “mixed” so blobs of one component appear in any casting.

I wish you good luck. Most UK carriers will not touch blades/swords. You will have problems with customs who seem to delight in making it very difficult proving the age etc and showing them Japanese papers which they can’t understand might not work. They will most likely apply 20% tax without a second thought and then sit and wait for you to prove otherwise. I have heard of some swords being returned to the overseas sender and I’ve also had that happen to me. I’ve had a sword opened and damaged. In the UK everything is being done to make shipping swords as difficult and unpredictable as possible. There are several posts on this forum discussing this…..have a search around. Speaking personally, I wouldn’t even dream of trying it now.

Watches are just mass produced things that some people will pay a lot for, no comparison to this blade.

Based on these images I’d just leave it as it is. It’s not that bad and probably wouldn’t justify the expense of a polish. Enjoy it, learn what you can from it and move on up the ladder. It’s a modest typical starter…..nothing wrong with that. Sadly, near on impossible . No two blades are the same and it’s famously difficult to find particularly a saya that fits. If you wanted to experiment, as the saya is wrong and a bit of a wreck anyway and with missing fittings you could try shortening it yourself and as the tsuka ito is poorly done you could try splitting the tsuka and refitting it. I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND DOING THAT ON ANYTHING OF QUALITY……but you don’t have much to lose on this one. Getting the tsuka rebound is no big deal, I’m sure you could find someone in Oz. Depends on how confident and capable you feel 🙂 Dont do anything to the blade except to keep it lightly oiled….and enjoy owning a modest piece of history.

To me based on these images this looks like a totally acceptable but unexceptional Koto Tanto blade with accompanying Koshirae that probably doesn’t fit that well (saya looks too long). The difference in kasane between nakago and blade suggests multiple polishes, nothing unusual there for an old blade. Some loose hada is nothing unusual either. The polish is obviously not pristine and certainly not comparable to a good modern polish but so what? If you bought it because it pleases you and you haven’t paid a fortune for it then good for you. Did you buy it with the intention of getting it polished?

Correct, as far as we can see from the images. The term “tourist trade” and its variants when used in connection with Japanese works or art all need to be put into context. During the Meiji period there was no tourism industry in Japan. There was little industry at all to begin with. That came much later when many of the skills to make something like this had already been lost. During Meiji there were many foreigners in Japan mostly acting as envoys, advisers etc helping Japan to “modernise”. This included areas such as military, weaponry, railroads, construction, agriculture etc. Large teams of people all interested in the culture and “art” of Japan and with considerable finances available. Many of these foreigners did indeed bring great “perceived” benefit to Japan (and themselves) and it was very common to present them with lavish gifts often of superb quality made by some of the finest remaining artists. From the images, this piece, although containing an unspectacular blade, does look to fall into that category and time period although a critical thing to know is…..what metal is used for the mounts and are they heavy, solid and cast or are they pressed?……because the Japanese at this time were quickly developing techniques that mimicked high quality but using far simpler manufacturing and patination techniques. As Meiji progressed the “look alike” pieces became more common, not as gifts but as fodder for the wealthy gaijin who lacked the knowledge to tell the difference and who were too far down the ladder to be important. They still fool some today. So, which is it?

Not having much luck searching but same “vibe” ……. https://zentnercollection.com/product/18th-c-edo-polychrome-Japanese-oni-devil-statue-carved-wood-okimono/ Could also be an elaborate Oni or even Nioi. If anyone on here buys this give me a shout🙂

I have seen two of these before. I believe they represent Ryujin but I’m not sure. One was in Sothebys about 35 years ago, the other in a top London gallery……mega-bucks even with no blade. They predate the “tourist era” by quite a bit I think……well back into Edo. One I saw had a blade that was sold separately and made a huge price. I believe they are rare sShrine pieces. I predict a big price but if going cheap buy it. I’ll try and do some research. Lovely item.

Perfectly genuine old prewar Samurai era sword that looks to be of modest quality in modest quality mountings and in pretty rough condition. How long is it measured from tip to the notch where the tang begins ie excluding the tang? The cutting length appears to have been shortened by moving the tang notches up towards the tip ie by elongating the tang and adding an extra peg hole. can you show a close up of the tip?

Perfectly genuine old Tanto exhibiting Uchi Sori where the mune curves towards the edge as it approaches the kissaki. A feature seen in Koto Tanto especially in Kamakura era but also in later Utsushi (copies made in an earlier style). There appears to be no reshaping to the kissaki (boshi looks OK) which would suggest it was deliberately made in this shape. Just an opinion.