Lindus

Spending some time on the net, is it possible that the Tsuba is Ko Nara as well?? Roy

Perhaps my previous on this was too lighthearted, the Toshi Haru mei seems to be genuine but as I have said befor I was never a keen student of fittings and have little on the subject, Question is (A) have I got the translation correct?. (B) Is he one of the founders of the Ko Nara School?. Ford,are you there?? you were about at the time......... Regards Roy

Hi I have known Les for over twenty years and watched with interest his progress through his polishing journey. He did spend some time with a Japanese polisher in Japan and came back with some interesting and on one occasion a quite startling Reciept wich included Mercuric oxide!!!!{He never used it for obvious reasons}.. Not promoting him even though an old friend, many other members know his work and could comment I am sure, if you would like to contact him PM me and will give you his email address. Roy

Thanks David Guess we shall never know Roy

Illustrated are a set of mounts from a large Wakizashi or short Katana. In pretty good condition the F&K are obviously by the same man, from some research a few years back I came up with this. Signed "Toshi Haru, one of the three founderes of the Nara school and father of Nara Toshi Naga" Note the Duck bill on the Hare rare indeed. Could any of the experts on the board confirm or deny this? also the Tsuba and Menuki arent bad, is it possible that they came from the same school?. Would be most greatfull for any imput on this. Roy

Thanks again Roy

Fascinating thread, thanks. Sadly not all of us can afford the best, having spent some time with Kenji Mishina and his wife when he worked in the UK,even then his work was way beyound my pocket. Now we have one riseing star in Scotland, Lesley Stewart. I have watched his progress over twenty years and as far as GB is concerned he is probably the best. I stray from the reason....Chris, I have a very handsome 50cm UBU blade signed " Sagami no Kuni Hiromitsu" and fine mounts signed "Toshi Haru", the bad bit is a major flaw {see attached} is there anyway to save this old blade?. Thanks Roy

Hi Not worried about the tanto as it was given the OK by a top Japanese polisher when he lived and worked in the uk. Roy

That depends on the smith and what his custom was. Some smiths routinely dated their work and it would be odd to come across an undated example. Others never, or very rarely, dated. I have seen many fakes with a date, so not so sure a faker would avoid adding a date if it was normal in the real smith's work.... Generally speaking, the later a blade, the more they were dated. One sees most shinshinto dated, and all better gendai. In fact, when it comes to gendai, I would not in most cases own one that was not dated.... Myths and legends,many thanks Roy

Thanks Chris,one other odd detail not re Gassan, I read somewhere way back the none dated sword with a mei to a smith were likely to be Fake.....? Roy

I could not begin to make that kind of judgment without a good collection of oshigata at hand as I am not a specialist in the Gassan tradition. Unfortunately most of my library is still in storage pending the move into the new house... The Sadakazu work is late so it is possible that the mei was cut by Sadakatsu. The Sadayoshi, not so much so, so it should in most cases be his mei, not Sadakazu's... Why are you asking this? Have you been told the mei are not good? No , like you I have some books on Gassan but untill recently did not care too much, the Tanto Ken Mishina confirmed but that was many years ago in the UK, the Sadayoshi arrived much later. The lack of Kao and the fact that in the case of the Tanto, Gassan was at that time quite old. Roy

Can't say anything definitive from internet photos, but nothing jumps out at me screaming "GIMEI!"....It could be the photos, but it may well benefit from a polish... It would seem you have had the trifecta of Gassan smiths, something few can claim....I didn't see much more than a small section of the Sadakazu blade, but based on what I have seen of the three blades, I would say the Sadakatsu is my favorite. I generally do not care much for the o-hada as seen in the Sadakazu, though I have seen enough Sadakazu blades to know he was a fantastic smith with a much deserved reputation.... The blade mei" Made by Gassan sada kazu,Imperial arts & crafts expert in August 1912 made this copy of the works of Norishige of GoFukuyama province" is it dai mei? and the second " Made by Gassan Sada yoshi for Tanaka Keitsu" Dai mei as well?. Your opinion would be valued. Roy

Hallo Peter Saw similar some time ago, the chap was tickled pink that he had accomplised by cutting out in"Stcky back plastic" then applying nitric acid......probably not in this case. Roy

So we are agreed, you expertise is world wide recognised and info input rewards us all. Have a look at my (?) Gassan mei, would appreciate your thoughts. Regards Roy Edited by Admin - the next 2 posts were moved to the Gassan thread to keep this one on topic.

Oh dear!! Roy

Now be carefull old chap, arrogance can also be a problem in Nihonto as it is in many clubs,do you not a living from the "Hobby"? :D Roy

LOL...as in the theme of things the collecting life of most is around 20 years, as I suppose unless most collectors who are financialy stable {Not today I thinK} I suspect are involved in any hobby could at some point be considered "Dealers", this is not a denegrating term as some of the really good bloke in Nihonto have been dealers/Collectors. Coming from a period when information was really not available so you aquired and later began to appreciate if the item was good,bad or indifferent....life was much more fun than the situation today when it seems if it has no papers perhaps it should be avoided. I remember a chap who at the first Token Taikai was distraught when the shinsa team stated that the mei on his sword was Gimei and an attribution to another smith was given, the "Other smith was far better"...It is fun, to many people take it far too seriously unless their living depends on it,enjoy. The definition of collector is a person who collects,an accumulator is pretty much the same, why infer that one is lesser?. Roy

Ctagorise...difficult, seems to me it is a combination of... {a} Treasure Hunter {b} Militaria freak {c} Japanese art follower {d} competitor with other collectors {e} Interest in Japanese history {f} A gift turns into a life time study & appreciation (Me) {h} Martial art off shoot {i} Decorator section Suppose that you could go on but for me it is a collective of annoying,social,instructive & at the end of accumaltion, financially rewarding.....but ya do have to be lucky and wait decades Roy

Only ever had three, this one I am not so sure about but the work is very good. Roy

Then their is this one. Still here but may leave soon. Roy

Hallo Young Ford Are these better for your purpose?. if not mail me and will try a large attached. Roy

The collections are from old families local to Truro. De Pass & Hawkins gave large collection of almost all art forms, if you google them you will see but no mention of the Japanese collections!/ Interesting that we seem to think that today our research abilities take us way beyound the early collectors such as Turk,Depass et al,but when you read for instance Dr Turks comments on the reverse of the "Warabite to " plate, perhaps it begin to dawn on me that the real students of the art forms were into the language as well as the art forms..... Roy

Last contribution for a while so when I found these photographs of a sword that briefly passed through my hands I thought, I wonder where it is now?. Not in the condition when I had it, my old chum who had it polished in Japan sent me these "after" shots , ever felt a mistake was made, should have taken out a bank loan........ Interesting Mei for those with a keen interest in late swords. Roy

Gentlemen, I have tried scanning and various picture enhancements but quite simply the pics arent good enough. Have contacted the museum and hopefully will be able to set up some pages with decent digital pic,s. Have attached some others to show what I mean re quality. Thanks Roy