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Originally Posted by josh stout
I totally understand about the very infrequent typos. I am sorry I mentioned it. The date reversal did not detract at all, but it was slightly amusing. The look of the book overall is quite good. As I said, the photos are works of art in their own right, and show some very special pieces. I am most interested in the Chinese section where the catalogue helps on a subject where there is very little information available in English. Someday I wish there could be information on Chinese swords that approaches the information on Japanese swords, but at the moment, the field of Chinese sword scholarship is simply not mature enough.
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Not a problem
It is very difficult to keep a tri-lingual catalog like this free of typos. The eyes get tired on the revision, and as known, we read by words and so if it type
worng instead of
wrong we will still read it correctly.
There are many books in Chinese about swords, but not translated to English...
As for the bronze pieces, it is amazing to show the ring knife was already in existance in jade and it went all along through Han. Then I have seen a Song piece which is curved, in a Dao shape
It is documented in the stone rubbing below
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There is one particular sword that I would love any more information on that you might be able to locate. The Ming dynasty willow leaf sword (#94) with the horse tooth pattern welding and the nickel silver fittings is one of the most beautiful sabers I have ever seen. Is there any information on its provenance? The medial ridge on the blade and the lobed guard are certainly things found on Ming swords, but I was wondering what other information was used to date it. It appears to be a very important piece.
Thanks for your help,
Josh
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Ah yes, it is a sanmai, called
jiagangin Mandarin. The horse tooth pattern is what the makers did, and it came from the Zhou Zheng Wu's own Museum collection. Being native to
LongquanZhoubelongs to a multi-generation of smiths so it isn't surprising that he has all his contributions handed down and in a condition that is reliable because Long quan was the most important sword and celadon center.
Hope this helps.