paulb

Ron, before you give your blood pressure an overload, let me re-assure you that although there are many and numerous faults within the UK it is far from a "Police State". Most of the stupidity we face comes not from a desire to control but a perceived need to protect the rights of minorities and the vulnerable. Is the sword ban effective? absollutely not, was it worth doing? no. Has it had any real effect on collectors? not really. The ebay ban on shipping to the UK was not a result of this legislation but a response to media pressure, specifically the BBC, for selling knives to minors. Many collecotrs within the UK still bid on, buy and import swords via ebay and many other sites. While probably no longer my favourite place to live there are many far worse places to be than in the UK regards Paul

Hi John, immediate reaction and opinion only But I would not think this is Kamakura but considerably later. Blades of this sugata have been made on and off throughout history. My first guess at this would be that it was more lokely late shinto or even shin-shinto basd on the very little detail that can be seen in the images. As said above just my opinion which is often wrong. Regards Paul

dont worry Gabriel it was only because it is a signature I knew and had studied a lot )I had one a long time ago)

The Mei reads kawachi (no) kami Fujiwara Kunisuke. I have not checked against any references but based om memory I thnk it is likely to be gimei (fake signature). Others with more imediate access to oshigata may be better able to confirm or otherwise. Paul B

Hi Justin, Although difficult to tell from the image provided, I think you are probably right and it is a late piece. Other fittings specialists on the board can confirm this with more authority than me. regards Paul

Stephen, your not the first to see Mickey mouse in this piece (design not maker). Of course coming from the other side of the pond we tend not to recognise Disney so quickly :D I bought this tsuba many years ago, in fact it was the first ever thing I bought from AOI-Art. swpped it for something and then it has recently come back to me. Nothing special but it has something that appeals (I dont think it is the MM connection) cheers Paul

Here is another Boars eye example they occur quite often in many schools and traditions

Thank you Moriyama-san, too many Edwards in our Royal family in too short a time. still I was only one generation out! Best Paulb

If I have my dates right that Prince of Wales must have become Edward 7th. the one who abdicated in the 1930s. Not one of our better Monarchs!

Hi David, I think generally yes but it depends on which one (generation) but Honami have always been highly respected. Certainly I know that papers and sayagaki by Honami Kozon are beleived to be amongst the most accurate. regards Paulb

Dear Veli, As you say Fujishiro papers have a strong reputation for their accurracy. I dont doubt that as new research continues to increase understanding some of the older ones may be questioned. Regarding quality I have seen very few papers but the majority of comments you see about them seem to focus on authenticity of the mei rather than the quality of the blade. I assume that as with most top polishers if the sword was in too poor condition or had a fault that would prevent it passing shinsa then Fujishiro-san would neither polish it nor paper it. This is based on feeling rather than fact but others I am sure will have greater experience. Best Regards Paul

Barry, Just for the sake of clarity the UK government did not ban "Samurai Swords" although it was their original intent when publishing their consultation document. I think the combination of lobbying from the many interested parties combined with the fact that to spefically banning the swords of one culture but not others might be regarded as racist, made them re-word the amendment. What they now ban is "any sword with a curved single edged blade longer than 50cm". Needless to say those sites the original ban was aimed at immediately started to offer perfectly legal "straight samurai swords". So another piece of worthwhile legislation! ( if I had a sarcam mark I would put it here!!!!) Although totally meanigless it did encourage the BBC edged weapons reports which resulted in ebay banning the sale of all edged weapons to and from the UK. Although I have had little recent experience, as the revenue and customs people start to understand the legislation (or learn to read) the importation of antique swords is settling down. This is espcially true if you use a shipping company such as FedEx rather than parcelforce. Most problems seem to arise with private sales via ebay where the accompanying paperwork lacks clarity regarding value and age.. regards Paul

Klaus, cant help with the translation but Nakajima Rai is a school not a smith. they are an offshoot of the Yamashiro Rai School, I think originally set up by Ryokai or his pupils. Like most derivative schools they show many of the characteristics of the original school bit generally not up to the same (very high) standard. Having said that I have seen some very good Nakajima rai blades. Regards Paul

Hi Martin, the tsuba is not mine to share at the moment. I am just trying to get soem background to it. As soon as I can I will post some images. Best Regards Paul

Dear All, I am trying to do some research on an Akasaka Tsuba. It has a Sothebys label attached to it. If anyone has a copy of the catalogue of Sothebys sale of 14th November 1996 could they please pm to me the decription for lot no. 568? Many thanks Paul

Hi Martin, I think like much art it is more important how the viewer sees the result than how the artist originally percieves it. It would not have said butterflies to me but then again I am not sure I would have gone with Chinese flowers either!! It is a very imposing piece. I have to say when I first saw it I would not have thought Owari, it is totally different in design to what I thought an Owari tsuba should be. It is very early which may explain this. The more you look at the iron the more interesting it becomes and I have gone from thinking it was an ok early work to one that exhibits all the trends described in the description. As a blade collector I have a long way to go before better understanding fittings but I hope I am learning Glad you enjoyed this one Regards paul

Many thanks to everyone for their help. I am always staggered (and envious) by the abilities of members here. Martin please see the image below it was thoughtless of me not to put it in the original post for which I apologise. Thnaks once again to all Best Regards Paul

Dear all, I am trying to obtain a clearer understanding of the attached inscription which I beleive to be by Masayuki Sasano. So far I have idetinfied the date, Muromachi, that is mumei sukashi and I think it refers to excellent work but am struggling to porperly understand what is being said. Any help would be gratefully accepted. Best regards Paul

Unless you are in Africa :D

Hi James, I think (opinion not necessarily fact) the use of the term inscribed means that they do not believe it was an authentic signature. Regards Paul

James, I am coming in to this late and without sight of the Christies catalogue but something to be aware of is the langauge they and other auction houses use regarding attribution and authenticity, not only for swords but for paintings and other works. roughly generalised some of the terms used include: 1. By kotetsu (in their opinion it is by the named smith) 2. Signed Kotetsu (thats what it says but there may be some doubt) 3. Attributed to (they dont necessarily share the opinion) In addition many of the guarantees large auction houses offer regading authenticity are not applied to Japanese Swords or other works. There are just too many good fakes. So they let the market decide whether it is right or not. In reality and considering that every top dealer in the world is likely to have viewed what is on offer there is very little liklihood of an authentic work by such a cherished smith as Kotetsu selling for less than its true market value. It is a hope and dream we all start with but the reality is alas a lot different. Best Regards Paul

John the indicator of the boshi is that O-maru is indicative of Enju where Rai is predominently ko-maru. I have asked this question several times regarding particular swords, including my wak illustrated earlier and the feedback was that it was paperd to Enju rather than Rai because of a) The boshi being o-maru b) utsuri being shirrake rather than nie-utsuri. I was somewhat blasphemous recently when I said that an Enju blade I had seen was infinitely more interesting than an o-suriage Rai Kunitoshi Wakazashi which if I am brutally frank was extremely dull and lacked any significant actiivty.

Jean always posts this image to wind me up!! That is a very good looking sword Jean and as you say it has some interesting features for an Enju balde. Ray I look forward to some better images as from what I can see from these ones it is a very beautiful sword and very much to my conservative taste (some claim it is because I am a control freak but I am sure that isnt the case ) In response to your question no I cant see any signs in my sword of the Utsuri you illustrate and describe in yours. Is there any sign of "enju hada" in yours? defined as areas of plain dark steel not unlike Rai hada, just to make attributiion a little more difficult. Interestingly The comment that I think Ted made about whiteness is seen in NBTHK publications and Nihonto Koza but alongside this they also claim Enju hada to be stronger and clearer than Rai which seems to contradict this. The more we see the more one can identify the closeness of the two schools. Interestingly the O-maru boshi in your blade and mine are very simialr and I can see why this might be regarding as a key point in attribution. As you say there are illustrated examples of Rai Kunitoshi making O-maru boshi but I think these are the exception rather than the rule. I continue to be green with envy, Best Regards Paul

Gents In an attempt to help the discussion along I have attached some images of my favourite wkazashi, a surriage enju blade. The hada is extemely beautiful full of chickei and ji-nie, and as everyone always says the images dont do it justice. Ted I was very interested in the comments about nie behind the boshi as I had not heard that before. Also that Ray mentioned nie utsuri which is very much Rai rather than Enju according to the basic texts I understood Enju tended to be more commobly shirrake utsuri. There are very many cases of Enju blades being mistaken for Rai and I guess the other way round as well. I have to say the more I learn about Enju work the more I like it. Looking forward to some pictures Ray Best Regards paul