Tcat

No sorry, youve got the wrong dragon, I was referring to the Komai dragons and clouds I posted above. See the thickness of the metal used for the body of the dragon, I dont think this will adhere correctly with nunome crosshatching alone. All of the images I have shared, aside from the Komai dragons and clouds, use nunome. I am looking for examples of kodogu other than tsuba which carry the same or similar theme and style of execution.

That’s a beautiful example and thank you for posting. The work on your example is all nunome. I think the Komai example I posted above is not. See the thickness of the body of the dragon? I believe this mass of metal won’t adhere correctly with just the nunome crosshatching technique.

Are you thinking of later Komai work? I I was referring in particular to this style below which is made by Komai and surely includes inlay. Agree, except for the double vines which I believe could be inlayed but am not sure.

Gold not brass.

I have been trying to get hold of one of these with this motif...there are a few out there. Theres one on yahoo Japan now but with sakura motif. A collector in the US has one but its out of my reach. Here's a matching set for the kozuka...

This one is fairly similar but has the double vines. I include another example below, hamidashi tsuba.

I was wondering what that creature was... I thought it could be a fox as in the above example posted by Dale. Good to know. There's a similar one to the above on ebay with the double wire thread vines and phoenix. I have yet to find any other fittings aside from tsuba in this style...

Great menuki Dale never seen one like it...what school would it be?

Happy lunar new year! Beautiful tsuba John. Good luck to all in the year of the dragon.

Gentlemen, I was wondering if anyone can produce photo examples of matching nunome work fittings by the Kenjō / Kyo-Kenjō artists. I'm mostly referring to the flat / hira inlay type seen here under Kenjo work - http://jameelcentre....ection/7/10237/10370 rather than the heavier more deeply inlayed work like Komai's dragons and clouds. I am particularly looking for examples of F/K, kozuka and kogai or complete fittings which match the style of the images below, theres also a kurigata and kojiri but not pictured. I wonder if it is possible to pinpoint a school or some schools who did this kind of work, rather than the general 'Kyo-Kenjō' attribution. None of the tsuba I can find in this style are signed, and I can find no other examples of similar F/K, kozuka, kokgai, kurigata, kojiiri etc online. I expect that far more tsuba were made in these shops than any other kind of sword fitting. The smoking samurai website is marvellous but so far I cant find a match.

Nice examples. Maybe a forumite can confirm if it's true that in the case of tsuba and other tosogu, animals depicted with open mouths are to be taken as female?

I sure have missed this hobby.

Some really fantastic photos in there....

I have seen a sword like this before and believe it is considered horimono rather than bohi. I have seen a few examples of swords with horimono moving from omote to ura, with the design continuing unbroken across the mune. Regards,

Well, it had to be done sometime. Well done Brian for forging ahead! Progress. Chat feature has me excited :D I would like to return to the old color scheme but I know this is planned. Good luck with the new layout!

Everything I read about Col Hartley and his adventures in the world of Japanese swords is fascinating and inspirational. Legend!

WOW

Very interesting pair of blades Nick, thanks for sharing. The joke has been cracked before but one wouldn't want to start messing around doing iai with these forgetting what they are and what they are noto.. Ken, no yokote on moroha zukuri aka kogarasu maru zukuri blades that I have seen. I wonder if one has ever been made with a "ken" style yokote... You raise a good "point" though. Perhaps someone can enlighten me as to where the kissaki technically begins on such a blade. (enough puns for the day I think...)

Dear Johnny, Show me said levels? Yes, according to you I should shut up and kowtow to my royal elite superiors and the wailings of animal rights protesters regardless of my personal beliefs and value system. Do please tell me where lies the sense in destroying beautiful artifacts? To clarify, I am all for a ban on the poaching / hunting / unethical killing of animals under threat of extinction, regional or global. I am also against ANY cruel treatment / torture / abuse of animals in general. I am not however against hunting, nor the use of animal products. I eat meat and wear leather more or less every day. Incidentally, African/Asian elephants are far from endangered. The LEGAL hunting and tourism industries generate far too much money for anyone to allow that (much more than the illegal ivory trade, go do the research, your concern in about 25 years out of date). IMHO cowardly is refusing to face clear and present threats to humankind and the global ecosystem potentially caused by the proliferation of nuclear armaments and the potential for a 100 year nuclear winter and the destruction of nearly all life on earth, including your precious ellyfants in favor of irrelevant populist throwaway comments designed to give warm fuzzies to ignoramuses. If I had a royal soapbox to preach from that would be my number one sermon. Peace. 'Nuff said.

Well done Wales. Forget about promoting international peace and nuclear disarmament, that's far too political, far easier to win the adoration of the masses by making sure the last remaining remnants of poor old ellyfants and skilled artists are lost for ever. Well done. On a "happier" note...the Chinese are now collecting Okimono and regardless of laws will pay through the nose for a nicely carved piece of old ivory.

So they had climate change significant enough to affect geopolitics back then too hey? Well who wouldda thunk...

Hi All, This message from Tsuruta-san left me thinking about the matter and I wanted to share some of my rambling thoughts with the board. I am 31 now. I was 23 when I started to develop a strong interest in Japanese swords (strong enough to spend $1000 on a high quality replica, and even then I thought what I was doing was more than just mildly eccentric - please don't flame me for spending so much on a chinatana, I wanted to cut up tatami rolls with a heavy long sword and the market for genuine nihonto was much stronger at that time) but it wasn't until I was 27 that I plucked up the courage and funds to purchase my first papered blade in full koshirae (a wazamono ranked smith I'll have you know ). It took several leaps of faith from a casual interest in Japanese culture, to samurai culture, to actually buying a replica blade, then finally an antique sword of some value; and that came only after years of interest and study in Japanese martial arts, anime , living a few years in Asia etc. It takes some time to develop an appreciation for the level of skill involved in the craft and to some degree I believe it takes an introduction from a trusted mentor or well respected person to really understand just how special an object a finely made sword is. Then of course, one needs the (spare) money. On top of all this..something needs to give an individual that final push to make the move into collecting, but that is another topic altogether I think the biggest problem for new collectors (in the west) is twofold. The first is that comparatively speaking on a global scale, the average westerner approaching middle age is now approximately 50% as wealthy as folk of a similar age 40 years ago and as such they (we) have about half the disposable income of the generation before them (us). Nothing in particular can be done about this. The second is accessibility, but this can be addressed by enthusiasts such as ourselves. There are just hardly ever any opportunities for exposure to swords and fittings for average people. Whether it be by virtue of the nature of Japanese swords or by nature of those types of individuals that collect Japanese swords, the artworks themselves do not lend themselves well to exposure to high numbers of people - especially not on a casual basis. This is not the case with visual and decorative arts. I think a person needs to hold at least one real sword before they can truly fall in love with them. There are "art" (painting, sculpture) exhibitions everywhere. There are posters of oil paintings everywhere, an image can be easily reproduced. Samurai art needs to be actively sought out by those who are already interested. It has been mentioned before but I think it was far more common for average folk to come into contact with a Japanese sword in the post war to late 1970s period, when many people had a WWII trophy in the attic from dad/grandad, swords often appeared in antiques and pawn shops, gun shows etc. After the 1980s when so many swords went back to Japan it has become exponentially less likely that a "random" person outside the field would come into contact with a Japanese sword. There is also the issue of various governments and administrative soft power actively promoting the dumbing down of mass culture, the mollification of citizenry, the nanny state, the demonization of "weapons", implied association with criminality or violence or evil, the list goes on. My take on the Tsuruta's comments are as follows - now or over the next couple of years is the time to buy swords from Japan as their price is pretty much at an all time low. Prices for quality swords outside Japan which were previously considered low by Japanese are now are comparatively high. Because of this, import of swords to Japan has all but ceased and an equilibrium has more or less been reached. As economies improve in the BRIC and as their population far outstrips that of Japan we are likely to see the tipping point around about now, where more swords leave Japan than enter. In the long term this potentially bodes well for the craft, but as others have mentioned, it depends on the administration of each country's willingness to allow free flow of trade. China is a notorious Japan hater for reasons not necessary to mention here, and this political maneuvering extends unfortunately to Japanese swords which are banned in China (despite their hypocritical export of tons of replicas every year). Sure, this does not stop all collectors on the mainland but does make things a lot more complicated for interested parties, especially the further north one moves in the country. The smart money for future collectors/dealers I believe would be on Russia and Brazil. The market for samurai arts could develop nicely in these locals, Russia having a long history of interaction with Japan and Brazil having a strong Japanese integrated community. Personally I believe some of the responsibility lies with each of us to educate our friends as to the value of these objects. I have a couple of friends who are very interested in purchasing a Japanese sword but have yet to "make the plunge", mainly due to monetary reasons. I am sure that were they to have a financial windfall they would among other things purchase a nice Japanese sword, but not everyone can win the lottery. Please share your collection with friends over tea. If each of us introduces just one or two new collectors to the field we will be on the way to doubling the size of the market, consider this. Regards,

Thank you for this.

I think this looks cracking - so many goodies on display my eyes just don't know what point to focus on! Great stuff. Love that Ken also.