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Matsunoki

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Everything posted by Matsunoki

  1. Hi Sam, I’d say vintage…..maybe 50s? you’ve got a good basic structure for a good price. Of course if you are not keen on the colour or decoration it’s a fairly simple job to re-do it and some great results are possible. For example I have used black enamel aerosol which looks very close to black lacquer. You can also buy excellent gold lacquer kamon on eBay so you could end up with a very handsome kake! If you can’t find the kamon on eBay let me know. You can also'play around with gold enamel aerosol using stencils . I suspect you’ll enjoy that 🙂 best. Colin
  2. Steven, the harsh reality is that bargains coming out of Japan are not exactly common. Many swords are “dressed up” to look flashy and appeal to the non-domestic overseas market. Koshirae are often “assembled” from cheap components and a nice new tsuka wrap can grab your eye. Anything that is actually “good” or “right” will not appear cheap, and even then you have to ask why hasn’t it already sold in Japan. Also depends on who you are buying from and where is it being offered. Buyer beware.
  3. Recent discussions on here re a tiger tsuba and also an enamel tsuba reminded me that I’d got this tiger themed kozuka ….so here are a few pics just for interest and any comment. At first glance it could be taken for one of the cheaply pressed shiremono pieces but it is in fact very heavily made and carved in thick copper with enamel stripes done in white and gold (male and female?) and gilt eyes and claws. With some help I learned the Mei reads “Hirata Hikoshiro saku” and was possibly C1800 No-one does tigers like the Japanese imo!
  4. Absolutely correct, it is a waterfall but again very basic in its workmanship and artistry. Another small thing I just noticed…..it looks like the Sennin’s hair has sustained quite a lot of wear? The carving appears almost worn smooth on the central highlight? Sign of age/use? Here is the actual link to one of the Bonhams tsuba I compared. The reverse has a similar theme……rockwork, crashing water etc. I haven’t put them next to one another for a really close look but there are strong common features even if the quality is a bit different. I think Bonhams say Murakami school…..might be worth a look? https://www.bonhams....hearly-19th-century/
  5. Nope, totally wrong Jacques.You obviously don’t know me. I dont mind not knowing what it really is. I’m absolutely not afraid I’ve been fooled. I don’t care what it’s worth. My approach is very simple….I buy things that I like and/or that I think are interesting. This blade fitted both criteria for me ….and as for the size of the machi telling us it’s recently made when then nakago is so heavily re-worked including machi-okuri…..that’s a new one on me. Is that a new Kantei pointer……strong machi=new blade? Anyway, ended.
  6. Jacques I apologise if you thought I was putting words in your mouth. I would never presume to do that and I never said that you had commented on school/smith. You obviously have knowledge that far outstrips mine but despite me asking several times for your views on the blade rather than just the nakago (the nakago is a wreck) you declined to respond. So, just to be clear…..these are your actual words on the sword in question including your opinion that’s it’s 20thC and that it is both suriage and ubu depending on which comment I read Please excuse my confusion🙂 I would still be interested if you could ignore the nakago and comment on anything you see in the blade….sugata, hada, hamon, kissaki etc. Yes I know the images are not perfect but they are pretty clear and surely they can tell us something?
  7. This is one link where you commented. We continued the same conversation (on the same sword) on another topic which I will look for later. I am NOT prepared to re-debate as I don’t want to get myself banned from the forum. I will not respond to anything you say.
  8. A couple of iron jobbies from Bonhams which struck a chord. Bonhams is a great search resource. I just put “tsuba tiger” into their search and then selected “past lots” Easy to lose a few hours trawling around in there. Get sidetracked easily! There are some superb tiger tsuba to choose to enjoy.
  9. Perplexing tsuba this one is! Just to get the terminology right…..silver gilt is gold plating on solid silver. That’s not what we might be seeing on his collar. It could be heavily abraded silver nunome. It would make no sense to have silver on his nose…. is that just the iron showing through the rather strange patina? Also, when I first saw it I thought “cast fake” something about the surface texture so looking inside the nakago ana does that look like a cast granular surface? It certainly doesn’t look like it’s been filed in any way….. But I’m not saying it is wrong …..just somehow doesn’t seem to display that elusive “Japanese essence”. Great subject (I love tigers as well!) but clumsily handled.
  10. Read what I said. I said you tried to trash one of my swords from images. I did not say you made a kantei. It was the suriage (probably o-suriage) machi-okuri katana that had a classic Nanbokucho sugata and very strong Yamato characteristics including numerous masame hada-ware etc etc . I’m not having the ridiculous debate again but if you insist I will quote your exact words where you even contradicted yourself, from memory firstly saying it was “new made to look old” then it was “suriage yesterday” then is was “ubu” I”m sure you can remember it…..if not I’ll go back and find it. I believe you also sent me a couple of offensive private messages and also publicly accused me of not knowing the difference between Art and good craftsmanship …whatever that meant. That one made me smile given I’ve dealt in the finest Japanese art for over 40 years. Any recollection now?
  11. Didn’t stop you from trying to trash one of my swords purely from images. You even argued against several experienced people who had actually handled the sword…..and all from images….which you constantly tell us are insufficient. It was mumei so you can’t fall back on that. Can we assume that you will no longer comment on swords discussed on this forum?
  12. Join the club🙂🙂🙂🙂but that’s nothing unusual in this subject.
  13. Good luck Grev….I’m pondering similar…..be interesting. Let us know how it goes?
  14. Hmmmm……I doubt that’s for “one of the great Tokugawa families” . Solid gold seppa…..doubtful? It does clarify the construction method which is interesting. Date??…..more likely to be late than early?? Not all old books are totally accurate maybe? Great find @Spartancrest
  15. Possibly brand new koshirae? Please show example.
  16. They did use shibuichi a fair bit…..once had a stunner of a double faced moon vase in shibuichi …..but granted nowhere near as common as their assorted bronze alloys or shakudo. I personally don’t believe they actually made the nunome zogan pieces that bear their mark…..I think that Komai workshops made them for them. That happened a lot in Meiji…..sub contract work. That’s not surprising. There are no absolutely definitive lists of who worked for who in Meiji…..things developed so quickly and artists moved around and also took on sub-contract commissions.
  17. The Nogawa studio produced some of the very finest Meiji metalwork pieces of truly mind boggling quality. For years their output was overlooked as “studio work” but last 20 years it is receiving a lot more attention and prices for the best items are skyrocketing. OK they had a more commercial output in later Meiji and into Taisho but they never succumbed to mass produced tat. Please take the time to look at this…….its wonderful…. https://steveslyjapa...ter-caddy-by-nogawa/
  18. Matsunoki

    Ken Swords

    Love to see images🙂🙂
  19. Matsunoki

    Ken Swords

    That blade is definitely not tourist Geraint. Nice elegant blade that importantly has kept its symmetry…..very easy to spoil that with a poor polish. The shape is very subtle…..imo….but I like Ken. Had a belter once and like a twit, sold it. Have never found another.☹️
  20. Matsunoki

    Ken Swords

    Looks a bit too nice to be tourist Geraint? Certainly not cheap tourist! Ken go way back in Japanese history …..Heian period I think. They are often offered to and thus associated with Buddhist Temples and Shinto shrines. Fudo Myo-o wields a Ken as does Shoki the Demon catcher. They have attracted the attention of some of the finest Japanese metalworkers. How about this one….. https://steveslyjapa...anto-wakizashi-copy/
  21. More likely to be read as Tadakazu if on Meiji metalwork. I know there was a Tadakazu working for the Nogawa studio. What is the object…..looks shibuichi?
  22. Matsunoki

    Ken Swords

    Meant to add koshirae most likely Meiji period.
  23. Matsunoki

    Ken Swords

    The koshirae looks like very nice lacquer to me. Can’t clearly see the “bone like” claws but they are likely carved and inset ivory. Nice quite rare item.
  24. Museum closes. Stuff gets de-accessioned. Stolen. Sometimes private museums sell stuff to raise funds. My feeling is that it is old though judging by the enamel colours and pitting and definite nod towards Chinese Ming cloisonné
  25. Says who????…….and coming from a scientist???!!. Maybe we should all go back to caves and wooden clubs and start fires using sticks rubbed together. ……it also pushes and enables people to vastly expand their knowledge and understanding on just about any subject thus knowing far more than they did before. …..but I do agree not all opinions are equal. Some are vastly inflated…….and I know that mine are worthless - except to me.
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