Tcat

What exactly do you mean by "resist a moderately good blade"?

I'll bet.

Chris, I'll bite. Although I havnt got anything "in hand" your timing is good. I have nothing in the way of swords, but I have kodogu WIP with two non Japanese craftsman. One very highly respected and Japanese trained, doing issaku koshirea. The other is less well known and may be considered by some to be a bit of a gamble, but the stakes are not high and I have seen many photos of his work which is impressive; he is recreating some missing fittings from a Japanese set and has the existing original parts to work from. Perhaps I can post the completed work and have the forum guess what's new and what's old!

As the OP noted, elements covered in "Do you collect swords as art or as artifact?" are pretty relevant here. In answer to the OP, what "it is" comes down to what individuals value to be or consider as "art". Thankfully there is no definitive answer, it differs between individuals. Modern made kodogu, albeit the high quality work of Ford and some others, to me, is equaly valuable as any other quality made modern kodogu, Japanese or Australian. I suspect that some of the other "western" nihonto related craftsmen (including all areas of the art) over the last 20 years, claiming to work in the Japanese style, have done sub par work and have sullied the names or muddied the waters when it comes to collectors and enthusiasts judgement re: western nihonto craftsmen. This is regrettable, but anyone that can use their eyes and has a modicum of taste will be able to pick the good apples. Racism in this art is a very lazy filter - but those who apply it will miss some of the most beautiful gems in the trove. More fool them is all I can say. Lastly, re: the modern workshop with gatoraid etc. As long as the work itself is correct, high quality and aesthetically pleasing - it doesnt matter to me that it wasnt quenched in spring water once washed in by miyamoto musashi. The fact that the work is correct and high quality is ENOUGH romance to me - the spirit of old lives on in the work - the spirit of good work, the spirit of quality and beauty. Those in themselves are enough of a connection to the past, for me.

All good points re:correct labelling and correct tariff codes! This is very important... I might add that previously being a full time UK resident, whenever having anything sword related of any value (USD 1000+) delivered to me, I used FedEx everytime after having experiencing countless headaches and mistakes due to the fumbling hands of "Parcelforce" or as I like to call them, "Parcelfarce". I have never had any problem, holdups or customs delays when using FedEx. Expensive but worth it.

Applying a crusty copper patina to this one may be a challenge, even for the master :lol:

Having seen this listing before and having not paid much attention to it at the time, I was sure it was made of copper...thanks to Ford for the Schrager lines link.

John, David, Pete, Grey, thank you very much for the enlightenment and kind words. This was the first tsuba I collected and probably my favorite. It really looks better (softer, richer, deeper) in person. I see something similar being offered on ebay. Eric at Owazamono used to have it, now it is with fujisanblack but has no fukurin. I wonder if they are the same school considering the lack of fukurin and the example Grey posted. A final question, why there seems to be a gold residue on some parts of the plate? Just little dots and streaks, but enough to assure me Im not seeing thing and make me think there may have once been something there. Again, I have no idea what this would indicate though. So interesting, thanks very much.

Hi All, I just dug out the description from the auction... Apologies for not including measurements in the original post, schoolboy error: 71mm x 70mm x 4mm Bazza, you were right; description is : Tsuba with fukurin, tomoe and sea cucumber (??) I believe it is Edo, but couldnt decide whether like David said, it was an older tusba modified and filled or if it was simply made that way. Shonai = Shoami? Is a fukurin defined as a separately fitted rim, as opposed to a mimi formed from the same material as the main body of the tsuba? Thanks to all!

Ian, she is obviously on her way to inspect a nakago.. The 'mallet' is clearly a mekuginuki.

If anyone can shed light on what exactly this tsuba is I would be very appreciative. Out of my small collection it is the only one I have absolutely no idea about regarding its origins. The photos do not do the patina justice. The iron is a very dark chocolate colour, the mimi which I think is shakudo is very smooth and shiny black. David's Daruma tsuba post reminded me because the mimi and iron look similar, but I may well be a country mile off the point.

For the purposes of anyone who has come to this topic via a forum search, here are some measurements from examples I found. Ref 1: Higo FK and Kojiri Set (Original, Edo Period, Sword Size Unknown) FUCHI: 39.5mm x 22mm x 8mm. KASHIRA: 33mm x 15mm x 11mm. KOJIRI: 37.5mm x 18.5mm x 9mm Ref 2: Reproduction Higo FK and Kojiri Set (Wak Sized) FUCHI: 40mm x 23mm x 10mm kASHIRA: 35mm x 17mm x 13mm kOJIRI: 37.5mm x 18.7mm x 12.2mm (Same as katana size)

Great post Darcy, many thanks! Not sure where I got the idea, but could it be said that in terms of very rough generalization, koto blades tend to be more blueish (or darker) in colour than their more contemporary counterparts?

Some questions to help make a judgement: 1) what kind of kizu, and how large? 2) is there a habaki? 3) are there any other fittings / shirasaya present? 4) can you provide any other photos showing the whole blade and/or any other parts present?

Sugata looks pleasing, and the tsuba is quite charming, nice buy!

Very beautiful sword John, congratulations, and thanks for the pictures. (Very nice Yoroi-doshi too Curran.)

Hello all, I am trying to determine an acceptable measurement range for the length and width of the 'base oval' from a higo kojiri, wakizashi size. I doubt that 'base oval' is the correct term, but they would be the same dimensions as the cross sectional oval at the point where the woodworking meets the kojiri (outside measurements) on a period saya. ( A kojiri like this, but for wakizashi - http://www.cgfinearts.com/images/small/ ... MCG_sm.jpg) Any suggestions?

Haha... Brian, I predicted that logic. Perhaps I am taking this too far, but I thought it worth mentioning that since this "sword" is almost certainly a Chinese repro, I think it highly unlikely that the previous owner of this slinky scaley number was killed purely for her dress... More likely, the scene of this crime was the back of a restaurant somewhere south of the Yangtze. Note that here in China, very little in the way of meat (snake meat is no exception) gets wasted. There are several snake dishes the Chinese are very keen on, especially in the south. The skin looks to be of the type I have seen adorning snake meat on lazy susans in several major Chinese cities. Now - rays on the other hand...

What about the rays?

Have purchased a number of tsuba from this fellow. He has always been honest, flexible and prompt in shipping. Wouldnt hesitate to do business with him again.

Hashimoto, born 1949. Detail from a 2003 publication entitled "Toshin cho koku - Hashimoto Shu ha" (The Sword Engravings of Hashimoto Shu ha).

Kim, The image you have provided is a mirror flip. Viewers are going to have to be proficient at reading mirrored grass script and mei before they are going to be able to tell you what that means - without having to download the image, open some photo editor and reflip it again to get the image to be true. Not the simplest of endevours - make it easy for them; I suggest reposting with a correctly arranged jpeg. Regards, Alex

One day................when I have 65Gs to spare.................the price will have gone up to 150.

I believe it says '小山氏兵持' Regards,