Tcat

Use your eyes and your knowledge above any and all papers and certainly above any and all dealer descriptions. That's all I'm going to say on the matter. The photos are there for all to see, and I see no hamon at the tip of the kissaki, and certainly no turnback. Good luck.

Does hamon run off at kissaki...

Hi, is it the rendering of 近 in 近江？ They look quite different.

Yes you are probably quite right, paper knife is a good bet. I stick with silver for the blade. Cheers.

Looks like table cutlery and with the tarnish the blade is likely silver.

I think that among enthusiasts and students there is a great willingness to participate which has the unintended and unfortunate side effect of creating a lot of distracting and confusing noise. We stand on the shoulders of giants and need ''thought leaders'' to help provide guidance and knowledege to raise the level of education in the field.

Hi Peter, the forum needs knowledable people such as yourself to keep adding to the discussion. I have read many of your posts over the years, thank you for your contributions and welcome back.

I really appreciate that 'old hands' still visit and contribute to this forum - without which, as others have alluded to, the place would devolve into a rather tiresome and repetitive discussion of fundamentals and merrygorounds of the blind leading the blind. There is too much to learn and too many idiots eager to speak without knowing anything.

Looks like Dana didnt get the memo.

Tobacco pouch ornaments mounted on saya vibe.

Hi Mark, long live this thread. I cant say how many times I have come back here to see that masataka koshirae and some of the other treasures over the years. Looking forward to every new batch of photos. Thank you for sharing.

I know this one and its an absolute stunner.....

While rare, they exist. Quite a few from the edo period. As date of manufacture gets older, naturally, the rarity of original koshirea increases by a large factor.

Curious statement… it’s a theme that crops up all the time in tosogu.

In the case of the tsuba I shared above, I was informed by an expert that the shakudo plugs and fukurin were likely to be later additions to an existing iron plate tsuba, which previously had some kind of gold decoration that seems unlikely to match with the shakudo. There are still trace remnants of gold visible on the plate. I'm not an expert and have no skin in it either way, though I believe what I was told because I suspected that to be the case already. The pleasures of confirmation bias.

Nice. I like those shakudo plugs. This tsuba reminds me of the first I ever bought..and still have. Pic for ref.

These are worth a look at just for the giggle

Lol - What I meant in this case was this particular seller had a lot of true junk listed. Overpriced low-quality genuine tsuba along with the worst kind of china repro junk, but in among the tat was a nice, albeit not very old tsuba I made an offer on which was accepted. What you are talking about though I see all the time, and it seems to be even more the case with auction houses savvy to what their buyers actually want to get ahold of. Another classic is to throw a real nice menuki in, without its partner of course, or attempt to palm off tobacco pouch ornaments as menuki..

I have found a few tsuba bargains on ebay but in recent years they have been much rarer. One nice tsuba among a bunch of junk tsuba one seller was offering last year turned out great. It is still possible but its not something I would encourage beginners to do because the time spent searching for a deal makes it a false economy...and you have to know what youre looking at.

Nice share. I have seen a few older blades like this but not so many. Handsome blade.

To answer your questions directly, it is best to buy in person in Japan, making purchase decisions based on inspections of swords and related artworks in hand. Not knowing the language shouldnt set you back too far. Buying online from photos is more risky, because you both need to know what you are looking at and rely on the honesty of dealer photos hoping they arnt playing tricks with the light / color / photoshop - which incidentally they sometimes do. Maybe narrow down further what you want from your sword other than TH papers, or perhaps what you dont want, and by process of elimination this can help you decide what your options are.

Ken tail is male. Also, female animals depicted tend to have open mouths...or so I've been told, someone might want to confirm.

It is a souvenir / letter opener. Not Japanese. Has 'Philippines' written on it. Probable place of manufacture. 5 bucks or less.

Yes, as I imagined. But what does it say?

Hi all. Would anyone here be able to please help me read these characters I found under a fuchi, and also if possible educate me as to their significance?