Matsunoki

I first came across Ford around 40 years ago when my wife and I started dealing in Meiji metalwork. Back then he was devoting much of his time to restoring such pieces for one of the Worlds top dealers. As such I was very surprised when he said to me….yep, send stuff and I’ll see what I can do. At that time I had no first hand experience of his skill and knowledge. Many parcels travelled between East Anglia and his home in Chippenham. Each one came back showing no signs whatsoever of the damages or of his unbelievable undetectable touch. Nothing ever look like it had ever had any problems, nothing ever looked restored. Missing inlay, dents and deformations, depatination etc etc…..all magically disappeared. He welcomed me to his home a few times, mostly to collect finished pieces that were best not left to the postal system. Once he told me not to send something as he was wheelchair bound. I was shocked, he had never mentioned his serious health issues to me. We lost touch when he moved to SA but upon his return we exchanged via a few emails. I was no longer dealing. It was sad that he was troubled by some of his experiences on this Forum, he asked me not to use it as a communication route. I count myself privileged that he helped me. A metalwork magician. RIP Ford, and thank you.

Just for a very quick comparison, here are 3 wakizashi with similar sized tsuba to yours. Actually one is smaller than yours. Of course yours is far finer quality ……more likely for the sword of a wealthy late Edo merchant? Anyway, it’s not an abnormal size but it is a lovely tsuba.

Nice quality very attractive tsuba. Probably for a compact wakizashi. I’ve got similar sized tsuba on original wakizashi koshirae. Could be for a Tanto but maybe a little bit too big.

Nope, never……but that does not look like Japanese workmanship to me. Nakago ana.???

Shouldn’t they be updating us? Incompetence and a “couldn’t care less” attitude. Someone is trying to buy Royal Mail (and thus also Parceforce)….hope he succeeds and wakes them up a bit (after sacking most of the useless management)

Yep it’s Fukurokujo. He is laying down looking skywards. His vastly elongated forehead gives him away.

Hi Yoon yes…menuki can be a bit of a challenge sometimes. I'm pretty certain the top one depicts Hotei, one of the “seven lucky gods” often depicted with children and his sack of treasure…as on this menuki. I see Jay has suggested Fukurokuju for the second - also a “lucky god” so that would make sense as a pair.

Not looking for a fight (don’t want to end up on my back) but I do think that all the advice re values, saleability, quality etc etc was given with the best interest of the OP at heart. OK it got a bit off track and heated but let’s remember the intention was always very obviously to help and guide someone and save them making possible “mistakes”. At least the OP has a better idea of what he is buying. If he choses to continue down the same path that’s up to him but at least he is armed with a degree of harsh reality. Hell I’d have welcomed that 40 years ago!

Long time since I shot a 45. Please excuse my lack of ammo knowledge. Can’t even remember what we had way back….I think it and the farm 1911 originally came from a USA WW2 bomber base!…..probably through a hole in the hedge

Do you have any idea how childish that sounds?, and you are the first person I’ve seen on this forum telling someone you’d put him “flat on his back”. Reminds me of the school playground. We don’t need crap like that on the Forum.

Maybe something like the one on the left hitting at an angle. Guesswork….we’ll never know.

I wondered if it was a smooth round from a .45 1911?

Agree it’s a bullet strike. Shrapnel would have cut the leather cover and left a more jagged imprint. You can almost see the shape of the round.

OK, we are not comparing Wakizashi but we are comparing swords of Wakizashi Nagasa. I’ll shut up now and for what it’s worth my preferences in descending order would be…. 1 3 2 4 ….but I’m truly shocked that I’ve said something that Jacques agrees with🙂

I’m getting confused, nothing new there. Are we comparing blades that were actually made as Wakizashi ie mostly ubu Shinto onwards or are we putting anything that has a wakizashi Nagasa into the debate thus bringing anything suriage into the comparison which to me does not seem logical. These suriage blades are not per se wakizashi and thus can only exhibit the remnant sugata of their former lives.

What a shock. Ford helped me a lot going way back over 40 years. True genius, not just technically but artistically. What a loss. RIP mate.

Just a personal opinion, but if we are judging true wakizashi I think we should be looking at ubu wakizashi, not longer blades that have become wakizashi via suriage.

It’s called learning. Sometimes sounds harsh but it’s sound advice and well intentioned. You should have seen some of my early stuff🙂. We all start from zero. The fun is journeying in the right direction. Train your eye….look at fine pieces ….sales, museums etc. Difficult to learn much from just studying low end. Look at Bonhams website, search “tsuba” (past lots) you’ll see a range of qualities and their financial market values. It will open your eyes very quickly but might spoil some of the romanticism.

Paris, hello For some reason I’m always fascinated by shipwreck recoveries. Ok it’s mostly porcelain or cannons etc but I’ve never encountered shipwreck tsuba. Any record of the ship or other relevant info….where, when etc? Just interested.

Not sure who are more confused, us or them. What a stupid mess. What the hell good will it do sending them an image…..anyone there likely to have a clue what they are looking at? They say “should be on our website”…..did they check?….obviously not. Thanks for trying Alex. The Token Society position is to wait for them (Parcelforce etc) to sort themselves out. Personally I don’t think they are capable of sorting themselves out. 🤬

Yes Dale, but you don’t have to face the M11, M25 and M4 all of which are either full of roadworks, accidents, massive tailbacks, HGVs about a yard off your rear bumper and other assorted lunatics rapidly heading toward an accident. Quiet life for me nowadays. Remember we only got electricity around here a couple of years ago🙂

Dale, I’m on the other side of the country, which for a native East Anglian, is about the same as the other side of the world.

Hi Dale, yes I stumbled onto that site via a search on fleabay and was gobsmacked by some of pieces…….far better than most Nagoyamono. Some of the fuchi kashira were worryingly good as well. A lot of genuine tsuba mixed in. Crafty. many of the repro were described as such but these tsuba were “edo” hence my suspicion that a trap awaited. Nothing gets past you does it?😊😊😊, thankfully!!! Best. Colin

@thutson Thanks Tom….interesting but very scary.

Some fakes are getting so good now that I begin to doubt far more things. Opinions on this one? Signs of wear to seppadai….but that can be faked as well! From China hence the doubt but it looks very nice quality and I’d normally go very late Edo or more likely early Meiji. They haven't got this good yet have they? If so …..blimey.