Japanese Armor Society Forum

Look how the nose is mounted on all these somen.

Luc Taelman wrote: ↑Sun Sep 17, 2017 12:42 pm Look how the nose is mounted on all these somen.

So would this one be questionable??

Not at all! The rivets are hooks here, but the construction is the same.

Luc Taelman wrote: ↑Sun Sep 17, 2017 1:21 pm Not at all! The rivets are hooks here, but the construction is the same.

Yes, you are right, same basic look, some slight differences such as posts and their placement, notice the peak at the top. No lacquer inside...original or removed?

Hi Eric,
With regards to your somen I think you have answered your own question. The erased Mei shows the ghost of the "Ryu" kanji as illustrated in your other examples. I think you can definitely call yours an Ichiro, just a shame that someone has defaced the original signature in an effort to pass it off as Edo.
Richard

The "mei pictures" from Eric are showing very clearly the difference in the surface pattern (hammer marks/no marks) of both examples. Although I agree, that the remnants of the strokes tally with "ryu"!

So either Ichiro used a variety of finishes or people have altered his work in an attempt to make them look older. Thanks for the opinions from everyone, very interesting.

There is a nice Ichiro Ryutaro for sale in the members section!