Matsunoki

Is the mekugi ana on the other side hidden under the wrap? If it was a heavily tapered mekugi the ana could very very small and not obvious?

If at first…….🙂

????

Some Meiji stuff was glued together but??

Unsigned nakago are common for two reasons….. 1. It was never signed in the first place….very common 2. it has been shortened (at the nakago end) and Mei has been lost (also very common) Yours appears to be shortened.

Tsuka maki does look Japanese and seems to have some age. Meiji Tachi “fantasy piece” for eager gaijin at that time?

Meiji 3rd yr 2nd month a day?……a day in Feb 1870? Seems to have a small “spare” kanji in the date?….but I’m no expert so don’t bet on it!

Ray, how about…..

Ray….maybe overlooked to add the images? 🙂

Eg…..

The tsuba subject…rats dressed as humans is actually quite common and very amusing. They are (as here) usually dressed as samurai and carrying naginata, swords, palanquin etc as per real Daimyo processions to Edo. If really lucky you can sometimes (more rarely) discover fox depicted in the same way. Such subjects are quite popular. The fuchi subject could really be any dance or festival celebration although I think the drum depicted is possibly a small gagaku drum.

The tsuba is an anthropomorphic depiction of rats pretending to be humans in a Daimyo procession. Thenfuchi is totally unrelated and appears to show dancers and musicians…possibly children….giving a performance

Definitely modern. Definitely not for a traditional sword. Multi patinated rather than true mixed metal. Depicts the 7 lucky Gods In their treasure ship. Could still be Japanese but made as token/gift wishing “good fortune” Possibly an enlarged version of a genuine old tsuba…haven’t got the time to search right now.

….and I bet you’re enjoying every minute of it Piers. I love doing stuff like this. Keeps us sane in a mad world. I’ve never even seen one of these before…how/when were they used? Castle ramparts? Look forward to following this one. Excellent. Colin

Can’t understand why any vendor would agree to having their “collection” sold in this was by a big name auctioneer. They would be far better off to select a good lower tier auctioneer who would sell each piece individually. They could negotiate a better vendors commission and even do the descriptions themselves if they wanted to. With just about everything listed on the internet nowadays they would receive the same level of exposure and probably a hell of a lot more enthusiasm. …imo

Sorry Sam, me again. Meant to say you might consider taking it to pieces to do any refinishing. You’d get a far better end result and it would be much easier to do all the rubbing down and prep work. These things often wobble a bit so a quick tap here and there …and hey presto! (Speaking from experience, not theory 🙂) …and don’t use too much glue when you re-assemble it. But I bet you know all that anyway🙂

Spot on Sam. Here’s a quick shot of a knackered Meiji hawk stand that I refinished with the black enamel aerosol and gold mon. I also used a clear topcoat of aerosol enamel. Haven’t used the topcoat that Russ mentioned. In addition I used some gold aerosol to give a dusted area here and there….a technique the Japanese used. I’d 100% go for it. I don’t think you will be spoiling anything important (no offence!) ……..quite the opposite.

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

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.

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!

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/

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.

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?

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.

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.