Bazza

2. THE INSCRIPTIONS The gun has numerous inscriptions and stamps and I will certainly need help with some of them. 11 GÔSHÛ KUNITOMO JÛ YOSHIDA □ □ □ SAKU 12 Gunsmith SHIGE □ (KAO) 13 MEIJI Serial number & rear sight 14 Serial number closeup 15 Breech kanji inlay AMA □

1. THE GUN ITSELF Minna san, I have been very slack in bringing to you my newly acquired TEPPOU, nearly a year after I acquired it. Firstly, I wanted to take good photos; secondly, there is always another straw on my back begging attention; lastly, I’m notoriously slow and slack at the best of times. Just ask those who know me and they will tell you my middle name isn’t ‘Gunnadoo’ for nothing!! This TEPPOU has some interesting features, not the least of which is the exquisite fine and precise filing of the barrel. I have always wondered what the ‘snake eye’ holes were for in the front of the hibasami (‘hammer’). The closeup photo of this area shows the wedge for holding the match cord is still with the gun and in place through the ‘snake eyes’. I have never seen a matchlock (sample about 10) with this wedge still present. Another feature that surprised me was the dark, almost red, lacquered stock. Was it ‘raw’ lacquer I wondered? At first glance from a distance (like, when I first clapped eyes on it in the distant gloom of a room) the stock looked almost black. What also surprised me was the battered look of the stock, almost as if the gun had been thrown onto a pile of weapons after the battle was won. That the gun has had a lot of use is clearly shown by the erosion of the touch hole in the flash pan. The pan cover is present, but broken, again as if the gun was just thrown down. Unusual to find the flash shield is iron, rather than brass, with a ‘T’-piece extension that ‘locks in’ the priming pan cover (top removed for clarity). The flash shield locking pin, however, is brass and of the Kunitomo form. I also thought it a distinguishing feature that the match extinguishing hole – if that’s what it is – was under the stock just behind the barrel retaining band. The stock itself internally seems to be of less than adequate quality and workmanship compared to the other five guns I have. See for example the view of the match extinguishing hole (7 'Snuffing out' hole 1) where the carving for the lock plate recess is quite crude and careless. This can also be seen in the last photo (10 retaining pin slot) showing where a barrel retaining pin slot has been crudely cut. Barrel length is 66.6cm and the bore is 19.9/20.0mm = 12.0 momme. 1 BaZZa's 2021 teppou win 2 RHS lock & stock 3 Flash pan & hammer 4 Priming pan quite worn 5 Muzzle front quarter view 6 buttcap 7 'Snuffing out' hole 1 8 'Snuffing out' hole 2 9 battered stock lacquer detail 10 retaining pin slot

Vajo, yes, that's what I meant, though your Yamato Tegai pic with short 'inverse' bohi shows one should never say never with Nihontou!! BaZZa.

Yes, but... I've never seen a Nihonto where the bouhi ni tsurehi has the narrow groove near the back and the wide groove below it. Always the wide groove is near the mune and the narrow groove at or near the shinogi. So far I think indeed a Vietnamese blade. BaZZa.

I sent the link to a mate of mine with broader interests ans he replied: ============================================================================== Hi mate, Thanks for the link. I think what we are looking at is a variation of a Vietnamese guőm sword. maybe you can post this link for the thread? These sabres often have Habaki type mounts. It's a really nice example, with some age (I'd hazard a guess at late 18thC, but it's just a stab in the dark!) Anyway, this might be a good place for them to start their research. Hope you are well, Chat soon Antique Vietnamese arms | Mandarin Mansion ============================================================================== Regards, BaZZa.

BOKUDEN https://www.e-nihontou.com/products/detail/534 BaZZa.

Agreeing with Dale's expression of difficulty in assigning school or period to such a tsuba, to me the OP's tsuba is certainly real and likely quite old, but for all that it has a rudimentary, agricultural 'look' to it. I don't mean this to be critical, but rather to say it doesn't appear to have the 'finesse' of a 'school' piece. So, might I suggest it was made by a local (rural??) craftsman seriously intended to be a practical tsuba. I feel it fits the Hizen/Nagasaki connection. BaZZa - but what do I know...

With the 'reverse' takanoha yasurime and the niji mei certainly not any of the 'great' Shintou Nobuyoshi. BaZZa.

Regards, BaZZa.

Definitely not Showa. 'One-hand' nakago and longish blade suggests Muromachi. The near non-existent hamachi also suggests old with numerous polishes. From the photos the blade is redeemable, but whether the cost of a polish is worth it needs close in-hand inspection. BaZZa.

I'm sorry too Tomu san that it isn't yours. BaZZa.

Tom, I hope it is yours and you can show us the rest of the sword!!! BaZZa.

Bizen Toshimune is in Ono's GENDAI TOKO MEIKAN. Decades ago I used to have a sword made by him, though no special inscriptions, just signed and dated. BaZZa.

Peter - looking forward to the reveal. BaZZa.

BaZZa.

Brian, Thank you for this link. Within it is this link that I absolutely enjoyed. On that page there are other teppou links as well: BaZZa.

Hi Nigel, great to hear from you. No, not an Australian requirement, but that horror was inflicted on Victorian collectors in recent decades. I have seen a cased pair of flintlock pistols with late 20th century registration numbers stamped in them under the Victorian law of the time. Sadly (or rather happily!!), the law was later abandoned, but these verdampt numbers are there forever to show the lunacy of the sort of regulations the Victorian Government is capable of. Just ask Victorian sword collectors. The registration number stamped into the barrels of Japanese matchlocks was a requirement of the early Meiji Government. I've found a quick reference to the system in the pages of THE GUN COLLECTOR, September 1950. The two pictures below should answer the question without turning out a mini-essay. EDIT: I should add that the fuzzy numbers you can see on the lhs of the image are Japanese characters. Barry aka BaZZa.

Mark H wrote: >It would be damaging to the market if word were to get out that it's impossible to tell apart a > contemporary blade from a blade close to a millennia old. There would of course be a strong > financial incentive to keep this hidden (if it were the case). There may well also be the art challenge, as with all forgers, to fool the cognoscenti of the day. However, it was once the case in our time - I'll have to dig out the info. In my decades of accumulating club and society newsletters and inhabiting online discussion boards since 1996, there have been a couple of juicy tidbits on this very subject. One I remember was concerned with a sudden influx of (I think) Nara period swords that were about to be given high and important cultural object designations until "someone" opined that they were the work of a recently deceased swordsmith. A committee was formed to look into it. Now, a definition I remember of a committee is that it is a group of people who lure a good idea down a cul-de-sac and quietly strangle it!! On that point I cannot recall the conclusions of said committee, but maybe someone else remembers the details... A very interesting rabbit hole for this thread... BaZZa.

OTTOMH 2nd guess - Echizen no kami Minamoto Nobuyoshi

OTTOMH - naka kawachi no kami Kunisuke??

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step... Begin with the Board and the Search... feature and plug in tsuba. Just begin at the beginning and work through the topics and do remember that the Japanese sensei would spend a lifetime studying tsuba. One of my favorite 'sensitising' threads is here: I hope you enjoy your journey, may it be long and fruitful. BaZZa.

There is always the 'home test' that easily allows the calculation of specific gravity. If gold it will stand out like the proverbial... BaZZa.

This getting so far from the original topic that it is in danger of becoming a burlesque!!!! BaZZa.

Seeing iBot's Sakai teppo description of lotsa brass on a teppo I was reminded of these pictures of a teppo discovered by a mate in the 'deep country' here in Australia. There are 15 images I present for your delectation. Any comments will be welcome. No, the barrel was not removed as it was thought to be an 'imposition too far' on the elderly owner. BaZZa.

Gents, Here is my Namban tsuba that I put up on the Board many years ago (ca 2013?) and as it seems to fit into this discussion here it is again. This has an 'old green' NBTHK paper from one of the USA Shinsa many years ago. A visiting togishi from Japan held it one day, also many years ago, and said "A real one". BaZZa.