kusunokimasahige

Would not call that a late plain edo wakizashi nothing special Florian It used to be a longer sword which was shortened. Both are quite nice ! KM

Thank you !! Now I understand what Chris meant ! KM

What a nonsense Christian ! You call for things that you might think are proper with this sword, call it old iron, throw it away, falsifying art while totally ignoring that the sword itself might still be a decent piece, notwithstanding someone tried their hands on a mei and kao at one time in its history which was not all too good of a job anyway. However, what forger would use real Gold for this mei and Kao ? Any knowledge of the price of Gold trhough the ages and especially during the Edo period ? Probably not. First test if the gold in the signature is real gold, what Karat. Then decide if it is gimei or not (which it most likely is). But even before that (as Jean correctly points out) Look at the blade. Does it have activity ? Is it genuine ? Is there something there ? If so, and one likes it, buy it. If not, leave it. But simply throwing this into a recycle bin or in the rubbish is not at all an aesthetic way of thinking and it also does not show one bit of respect to the sword, its possible heritage, history and the smith who might factually have forged it. Do you do that also with tsuba ? See one you do not like on a show and tell the seller to dump it in the bin ? Or buy a tsuba which you do not like and throw it in the canal ? Sorry, but that is not the way to look at antiques in my opinion. KM

Could you post close up pictures of the nakago please ? Very interested. KM

Question answered.

Not certain why. Might be some people thought to see a hagire near the habaki *last images* Nice project blade though. KM

This is something which has made me curious and ponder over for quite a while now. When looking at various mei on swords of various centuries, often the year is inscribed, the month, but not very often the exact date (day) a sword was finished. It is almost in every case : "A day in the xx month of the year so and so" or :"An auspicious day in the xx month of the year so and so" What was the reason, if any, that the smith did not put the exact day of the month he finished the blade on the nakago ? Did he not remember when he made it ? Was it of no importance ? Did they not count the days but only the months ? Any info welcome. KM

I know that you know Tobias ! But these things even happen when stuff is sold legally. KM

True Ken. I also use PU rubber to make molds. Still have an EK I mold of the original I once sold. Love working with SFX materials. KM

Could not agree more Chris ! Great film and profoud understanding.

You of course always have the chance when found out that you will be talked to by the authorities if you remove an original magatama or any other artefact which holds historic or archaeologic significance from the country. Just like in Egypt, travelling out of the country with an archaeological artefact might get you in trouble. Or Greece : http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/how ... cle674191/

Indeed Piers, just like other antique artefacts, these are also copied. And what is not copied these days It takes a discerning eye and training, but yes, even experts at auction houses I worked at in the past were sometimes mistaken about the origins of items ESPECIALLY in the archaeology department. With the two I posted it is not so much the age and originality which mattered to me but the looks (though I consider myself quite lucky having found and won them!). I have seen a few original Edo period andon lamps I really liked on Ebay lately and have collected their photographs to probably replicate them myself one day for re-enactment purposes. Just like these two candle holders, they are meant to be used. Not to only display. Collecting photos (if there are enough and also detail photos) of items I like but cannot buy is one way to make an archive of every day objects of that period. Some examples :

Won a second (Edo period) Candle holder on Ebay. Bronze and Iron this time. 10,05 US$. Great !!!!!! KM

Years ago my professor W. van Gulik showed our class in Univ his sword which had been in his family since the war. It was in a bad state chipped all around. One student asked him whether they were battle scars on which he answered, no, we cut wood for our fireplace with it when we were kids, and ignorant. KM

You might know more if you have it properly polished. That is of course, if you want to spend money on it. Preferably by a properly trained (Japanese) polisher and not some internet hack who taught himself. There might be something nice underneath. Too much attention for any signature is not the way forward imho. Let the blade tell it's hidden story. KM

As posted today on Facebook : Historic overview of aesthetic requirements for a tsuba In two parts. http://markussesko.wordpress.com/2014/1 ... ba-part-i/ http://markussesko.wordpress.com/2014/1 ... a-part-ii/ KM

The logo of the SMRC on the fittings is also what makes this one very very special :

Thank you very much for making such an interesting site !! KM

Ah ! I get what you meant now. That might be the case, as is noted here : KM

I agree with Brian on the possibility that the nicks could have come from other things than battle alone. I do not however agree with his following statement : That is simply not true. Anyone having experienced or trained Koryu knows that blocking with the mune is a big part of the entire scope of Japanese swordfighting. These things happened and more often than you might want to believe. However, during the Edo period itself (after the siege of Osaka and not counting the Shimabara rebellion) with the ban on duelling (which was at times not adhered to by Samurai), less and less fights were fought, untill the turmoil at the end of this period ending in the Boshin war and Satsuma rebellion. So in Sengoku blades it would be more common to see than in Edo period blades except for those used in battle towards the end. In general these nicks on the mune are left and not polished out. KM

Thank you Darcy ! I see it now : KM

According to the movies, that has been done before Jean GORGEOUS PHOTOS !!! Is that Tsugaru lacquer style on those saya I see ? KM

http://www.Antiekewapens.nl is a great site but even there it often is caveat emptor. They often have great guns for sale though As well as cannon at times KM

I have been following this seller for a few years now on Marktplaats and have seen ,uch of the stuff he sells. In my opinion it just does not cut it. I asked him a few questions some years back and the answers were factual nonsense. Not that that matters much, but before you spend 2250 Euros on something which just is not worth it would be a terrible pity. If you check his other stuff and do that say, once a month, you will see what I mean. Anyway, I will pm you the info on Lody. Best wishes, KM

Thank you Alex ! Anyone who knows me knows I am a little Indeed most of what is put forward here is based upon conjecture. And unless somewhere deep down the Tokugawa Bakufu archives we come across a set rule which says: A sword should be mumei under the following circumstances : -xxxx -xxxx -xxxx -xxxx We will never know for sure. KM