Henry 24th

This is without doubt THE absolute favorite fuchi in my collection. A somber mid-grey shibuichi polished body. Two shakudo honzogan (flush inlay) crows perch upon an ancient gnarled tree branch, laden with snow. This design wraps around to the opposite face where more snow partially obscures water grasses next to a frozen stream. Katakiribori (brush-like engraving) was employed for the tree branch, and some detail to the crows wings and tail. All snow patches are of silver honzogan inlay. The birds eyes and river grass are gilded. Underneath, the copper Tenjo gane reads Ishiguro Masayoshi with kao. ? The signature of this fuchi, it can be conjectured, may be false. There are many examples of ishiguro Masayoshi's work to be found. All original examples are of extreme quality and craftsmanship. All manner of iroe incrustation are employed resulting in an incredible pallet of life and colour. In general a favorite, but not exclusive topic of the Ishiguro school, was birds. If Masayoshi set out to create a piece depicting crows in a winter setting, then he would not have had much use for the standard ishiguro colour pallet. The artist did however execute the piece wonderfully, regardless if it was Masayoshi himself or a pupil within the Ishiguro school. Ishiguro School circa 1850

Hello Thomas and Hugh. I am glad you like them. Thomas is the tsuba shown in your collection? Hugh, did you manage to find some pieces for yourself? I will post some more items soon. henry

Ricky, Ricky, Ricky... will you ever cease to amaze? Taking into consideration your findings and combining them with Dana's link to the 751 Fabers..... There is a potential of 10 officers of which 2 are Hauptmann. Dana....thank you VERY much for the link!!! I was able to find some interesting family related deaths on there as well. The site lists anybody killed as a result of war (both WW1 and WW2). Also includes MIAs. In many cases there was no rank (Dienstgrad) listed and I was not sure if these entries were military or not. At the end of the list were names similar to Faber...Faberg etc, so the actual "Faber"count is less than 751. Interestingly enough there were no less than 14 Fabers to fall in Stalingrad. 2 of which were brothers. More when the search is complete. Rick, "Ironic his regiment's headquarters was Rastenburg." why is this ironic? Now it is time to delve into the suspects names and see if one might be our man.

Cool! That would make more sense. The sword did not look navel at all. HFJ

Hello Luka. Thanks for posting the sword. I am not sure weather it is a commemorative piece, reproduction, or actually a dress sword from an officer of the 'Veribus Unitus". The scabbard and Handle wraps look somewhat unprofessional/homemade - not very military-esq, and indeed may be replacements from the original "shark skin or leather." you usually find on swords from WW1. The hilt is missing it's "D" guard, overall the sword is showing a lot of wear and abuse. Can you post some pictures of the blade, scabbard, and the monogram above the Austrian eagle? The Veribus Unitus was an Austrian Dreadnaught sunk by Italian frogmen days before the Austrian and Italian governments signed a peace treaty near the end of WW1. Hopefully some of the other GMIC members with interests in Imperial navy and swords can help you out. Either way it definitely warrants further searching. Here is an article about the incident: http://www.worldwar1.com/sfvu.htm Kind Regards...Henry

Here is a close up of the name - bit fuzzy I'm affraid. Sorry for not being clear on the shrapnel's path, Paul nailed it. Had he been wearing the lid, it must have passed through where the face or neck would have been. Dana, great link , I shall try this out later today. Pull out all the old german books and have a go. Kind Regards..HFJ

Colour is a little better on this pic. Hope this thread is helpful to some. Maybe there should be a section of restoration/ cleaning tips here on the GMIC Kind Regards..HFJ

The appearance of a colour change is just different lighting. Sun was not co-operating that day.

Ulsterman, Paul Snoopy, Thanks for the comments and suggestions. Here are the results I tried the lestoil after the inital WD40 application. It did remove a little more of the felt marker but unfortunately not enough to be seen. Next, I tried Goof Off/Goo Gone (Similar product)Goof Off did not cause skin irritation - therefore I applied a small amount to the affected area and rubbed it in, gently, only by hand - no cloth. After doing this to a few areas, I washed the solvent off of the helmet using soap and warm water only. (In order to render any leftover solvent inert.) I let a few days pass between applications. Final result, very pleased and highly recommend this process for removing felt pen. Here are the pics:

Wonderful. Thanks for the visuals.... I thought this as well for awhile - but - since the shrapnel went from front to back, in theory the entire contents of his head should have soiled the the back of the helmet and liner. What is left of the liner is in very good condition. As for the straps, would you have to cut both sides to remove the helmet? My thoughts regarding this helmets condition are a lot more tame. The helmet was lost in an engagement, perhaps damaged by artillery, left on the ground. The leather parts touching the ground may have gotten wet /damaged and over time began to dry-rot. After that, someone just cut out the affected parts and the damaged helmet band. Any other guesses out there. I would like to hear them. HFJ

Green arrow shows where shrapnel went through (partially obscurred by wood shaft) Red arrow show name placement. HFJ

Holger, Paul, Thanks for the replies. I will definitely try to track down this mans history. Here are the helmet pics as requested Paul...enjoy. It appears as though there may have been a helmet band over top of the decals, for a long period of time. Most of the decal wear runs laterally through the center of the decal leaving the top and bottom "clean". HFJ

Again, if anyone knows where to find a nice (non-mint) liner for this, please let me know. HFJ

Hello All. Here is an update on the helmet. Things went very well. Almost all the felt pen has been remove and there is little to no damage to the helmet paint. I will post the finished images as well as the method to remove the ink (Just in case you should ever want to tackle the same problem) later today. In the meantime here are a few more images of how it looked. Kind regards...HFJ

I know it is a long shot and therefore will post the question before the images (especially since the photos are not taken yet!) The inside of the army double decal helmet (rear apron) has the name O.Ltn. Faber 12/25 painted in white. (Possibly O.Lin. Faber 12/23) Oberleutnant Faber Perhaps? Shrapnel tore through the helmet apron from the front of the helmet - out the back, partially tearing the liners aluminum band. About half of the liner fingers are missing: cut out for some reason. The chin straps were also cut off, leaving behind only the small leather loops and fasteners. The helmet was purchased here in Canada for a ridiculous low amount - therefore I suspect a Canadian vet may have brought it home as a souvenier and sold it to the dealer. Was it on Herr Fabers head when the shrapnel hit? I don't think so... What can we find out about him? If anything

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try both - keep your fingers crossed. Ulsterman- can you provide more info on the Westoil? Never heard of it. Is it a cleaning agent? Solvent? Did you possibly mean Lestoil?

Dear members of the GMIC. I present to you this abomination in hopes that a few of you might be able to help. Since this photo was taken, I have applied a coat of WD40 to it. Most of the felt marker came off but there is still a moderately faint, but definite amount stuck to the helmet. The WD40 did nothing to the original paint How do I finish removing the last of the felt tip marker without damaging the paint??!?!? Soak the helmet in a mild solution of (something)? Take a q-tip and 100hours of light buffing? Cover it with a camo net and pretend it never happened??? Please help. Kindest regards...Henry btw - anyone with a camo helmet net and/or a proper war time liner for sale, please PM me...thx