The correct restoration/ conservation of fine quality Japanese
arms and armour requires a multitude of skills that have to
be mastered separately before they are all brought together
to achieve work of the highest standard. These include the mastering
of the crafts of the Kaji (blacksmith), the Shirogane-shi (silversmith)
and the Urushi-be (lacquer craftsman) to name but a few. Of
course in the past, the creation of armour was achieved by many
different craftsmen and craftswomen all of who were masters
and specialists in their particular fields. Today, however the
Japanese restorer usually works alone and has to use utilise
these many skills for his work.
My occupation encompasses all manner of Japanese arms/ armour
and antique restoration/ conservation. Some of which are given
below…
| ODOSHI-GE |
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Re-lacing parts of or a whole
suit of armour in either doeskin leather (Shikagawa odoshi)
or pure silk braid (Odoshi ito). A match and weave service
is also available to match existing original silk braids
to repaired areas. |
| URUSHI |
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Repairs to chipped or cracked
original lacquer or the complete re-lacquering of the many
various parts that make up Japanese armour. A wide variety
of finishes are available (using only genuine natural ‘Urushi’
and not the synthetic Cashew brand).
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| E-GAWA |
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The unique soft doeskin leathers
stencilled in a wide variety of patterns and used to cover
various specific areas on Japanese armour. All traditional
patterns are available or if a specific design is required
a stencil can be hand cut using traditional persimmon tannin
coated ‘Katagami’ paper and apply it to genuine
Japanese doeskin. The now extremely rare smoked doeskin
leather (Fusubegawa) made by a master in Japan is also available.
Please contact me
for further details. |
| SAYA NURI |
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Repairs to chipped or cracked
original lacquer or the complete re-lacquering of the scabbard
of the Japanese sword. A wide variety of finishes are available
including ‘Ro-iro’ (Highest quality polished
black lacquer), ‘Shu’ (Highest quality cinnabar
lacquer), ‘Ishime’ (Stone ground), ‘Same-nuri’
(Polished ray skin lacquer), ‘Tate-kin-nuri’
(Irregular gold lacquer) to name a few. |
| KANAMONO |
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The numerous ornamental gilt
copper (and sometimes Shakudo or more rarely Shibuichi)
metal fittings found adorning armour usually of a better
quality. These replacements are hand made to order and are
of the highest quality (absolutely no stampings or machine
made copies). Any design or style can be made including
fittings made from genuine classic Shakudo (an alloy of
copper and 3-5% gold which when immersed in a special solution
turns a beautiful violet black colour) and Shibuichi (an
alloy of copper and 25% silver which is coloured to various
shades of brownish greys).
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| KODOGU |
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Sometimes the various soft metal
(copper, sentoku (a Japanese brass), Shakudo, Shibuichi
etc) and also iron fittings found on Japanese swords have
lost their original colour or patina, either through neglect
or through inexperienced collectors removing what they think
is discolouration, therefore greatly destroying the value
of the pieces. These items can be given a new lease of life
using the same traditional colouring techniques used by
the ‘Iroage-shi’ (metal colouring craftsman)
thereby restoring the collectability and value of items
such as Tsuba, Fuchi and Kashira, Seppa, Menuki etc. Please
contact me here
for further details… |
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