Matsunoki

Blimey Alex, I now believe in miracles. Congrats…..it’s a lovely sword🙂

Just to be clear this is a perfectly genuine old netsuke. It is just the signature that is fake and likely added later. It’s general shape and composition suggests, like many, that it was carved from a cheap outer offcut of ivory as evidenced by the circular crack in the base. It’s obviously been around for a while because the considerable wear is apparent and the patina has that nice “buttery” texture. Possibly early 19thC. The engraved decoration to the clothing is also original…..it’s just heavily worn.

Sorry to disappoint Jon but this is most definitely not a genuine 18thC Kyoto Tomotada netsuke. It’s not even close, not in subject nor quality. It’s not even “school of”. Go onto Bonhams website and search “netsuke tomotada” in past lots and you’ll see the difference.

Are we sure this is suriage?

In this image the steel actually looks quite bent suggesting an unhardened area.

Shinto related?…..folded paper symbols, food offered on a small table, kami palanquin, straw cape ……a tough one for sure

True! Many cultivars and species. We could keep this going for ages🙂

Hi Glen The inkwell theory doesn’t really make sense imo Aesthetically it looks much better standing on its “legs” with the tsuba uppermost. Quite a lot of effort gone into its making. Best offer I can come up with is maybe a small stand for something like a small food dish, netsuke etc Unlikely but…..? …..or maybe it is simply a stand to display that tsuba? Never seen anything like it before. Best Colin

Not necessarily………?

Other way round maybe? Plum blossom has rounded petals with no indentation imo…..

Beautiful. If these were UK or the seller would ship internationally I wouldn’t hesitate. Of course could be “last minute bidding war” but boy these are looking cheap! …..and lovely condition. Someone buy these for goodness sake!🙂

Sam, A good way to get a quick feel for the (any) market is to go on Bonhams website (major auctioneers of all things Japanese/Samurai) and search PAST lots for “Abumi”. You can scroll though many examples but concentrate on what was sold and what wasn’t sold…..anything overestimated usually fails. Anything badly damaged usually fails. It’s extremely interesting and you will notice a huge gulf between the best and the rest. Nice way to pass an hour or two. Enjoy. Colin.

Sam, they look genuine, probably late Edo but not great quality nor great condition. The more desirable Abumi are russet iron with inlay….silver, brass etc and often signed. These look to have a lacquer finish that is cracking badly and chipping. Despite their obvious decorative appeal good Abumi never seem to command a price that reflects their quality so lesser quality pieces will really struggle. That’s probably why they are still in the shop. Spend more, buy better would be my opinion. …….I’ve been looking for a good pair for some time now……still looking! Best. Colin

I don’t think it’s bad news. If we just ignore the weird cabochons on the saya it looks like you’ve got an eccentrically mounted old Tanto …..quite an interesting item. The overall form does resemble some Ainu knives as mentioned by John and I think I have seen a cabochon on one once somewhere sometime. But the somewhat tired fittings are definitely of Japanese origin and appear to be well made…..so maybe John is spot on…..Ainu themed but a true Japanese Tanto. I’d be very pleased to find such an unusual looking item. Better pics will tell more when you have time. Climb well, climb safely! Best. Colin

Never seen a saya with anything vaguely like those raised round “cabochon” type inlays. They do not look Japanese to me. The tsuka looks more a bit more plausible. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst!

Piers,Jan, many thanks. Frustrating……that doesn’t match any of the tsuba that came in the collection. How annoying! All the best.. Colin

Hello from the UK. I have acquired a small collection of tsuba but I suspect all the boxes have been mixed up. Please could you tell me what this says in the hope that it matches with one of the tsuba? As always…..many thanks. All the best. Colin

' Jeremiah/Steve Just for my “interest”, can you recall the price tags on the eagle/monkey and tiger/bamboo fuchi kashira please? I would have been very sorely tempted. Hardly ever see such nice things in the UK. Many thanks Colin

Going back over 40 years ago I knew Peter. I was just getting into swords. He always managed to find out about every single sword that cropped up, whether in auction or through dealers. I remember going into a few normal antique shops (when we actually had some really good ones) and seeing his trade card pinned on the wall behind the desk! He had a network that would notify him when anything was on the move anywhere. He was a prolific buyer and would buy just about everything irrespective of cost and very often totally unseen. However he would hardly ever sell anything good. He truly loved his swords although he didn’t always show it. We lost touch as I moved into Meiji era art although he phoned from time to time…..”just in case”. If indeed this is the collection in question I suggest we prepare to be gobsmacked. Respect Peter. RIP.

Good grief, if they put that number of swords on the UK market in one go it will “interesting”😳

Interesting to see the Honami family’s prolific use of uchiko when preparing to inspect a blade. I can only assume the quality that they have access to is better than that which we have easy access to…..or is the dislike of using it more of a “Western” opinion? In addition to some of the “out of polish” blades that I have inflicted on you all I do actually have a few in excellent Japanese polish and I have always used uchiko with no adverse results. Maybe I’m just lucky? Interesting.

I agree with Baba…..looks like the sword was polished but the area around the cut was left alone plus someone had a special habaki made for it to conceal the damage. Suggests someone really wanted to preserve it “as is” and valued it. I believe some smiths used Yakidashi to deliberately lessen the effects of hardening in that area (to reduce the potential for hagire) ie the hamon is narrower thus potentially weaker so a direct hit in that area could well inflict such damage. All part of its history. I would love to hear expert opinion re its effect on potential Shinsa?….

Thanks Thomas, it was these possible later modifications that caused me to consider exactly what had occurred and in what order. Curran hello and thanks for your time. …….my understanding is certainly changing! Beauty and “value” (aesthetic or monetary) will always be in the eye of the beholder. Until asking I had no idea about the contextual connection to “the way of tea” but now I do the wabisabi undertones of the tsuba make a bit more sense. As you say, see it in person to get the true feeling. Juyo is starting to make more sense to me now. I wasn’t really challenging the asking price…everything is worth what someone will pay and sometimes if you fly a kite you catch the wind.

Still trying to understand the Hikozo tsuba….please humour me🙂 ? Are those enormous hitsu original or later enlarged/modified? (The inner edges bordering the seppadai suggest maybe a different form originally?) ? What was it originally intended to be mounted on? There is a suggestion that it is of large size but difficult to judge from the image. Many thanks. Colin

Steve, hello from the UK. Thank you for a very thought provoking and interesting reply. I tend to look at all Japanese metalwork from the perspective of the Meiji period (it’s what I dealt in) when without doubt, the finest “technical” metal art was created by artists whose mastery of multi metal inlay and patination has never been and never will equalled (except for @Ford Hallam)…in my opinion. So I am definitely attempting to compare apples and pears…..the context is indeed very different. What I really take from your reply is that this piece received Juyo mostly because of the context and historical circumstances that prevailed at that time. I do find that slightly puzzling…..Mostly because I look at the quality of the object itself and for Juyo I would expect to be dazzled and this tsuba (to my Meiji eyes) does not remotely do that. Having said that (and I am not looking to be combative) I am being slowly lured into the dark world of iron tsuba and can sense my appreciation and taste changing somewhat! One question I would pose to the forum ……if we saw this tsuba on a stand at a show or fair with no supporting papers, no nice box etc, just sitting there with a price tag of $2500……how many would buy it? My lack of knowledge would lead me straight past it. Again thank you for making me challenge myself🙂 All the best. Colin