Marius

Jacques, I guess this would pierce even plate armour. Absolutely massive.

Brian, I wouldn't pay $1,750 for a sword which is out of polish. having said this, I guess everything is possible. Assuming an ordinary blade. you might try to put it on eBay, if you hit $1,200, you will be lucky, IMHO...

Mike, This is not a yoroi-doshi, unless it is very thick, which it does not seem to be, judging from the pictures. It is surely an interesting tanto with am uncommon hitatsura temper. The ha is tempered in o-notare and looks to be nie-hotsure (really hard to say, as the blade is out of polish) while the mune reminds me of hitatsura by Yasutsugu (a renowned shinto smith). Nakago indicates shinto (but tanto were rare in that period) or shinshinto. This should be sent to a qualified polisher. Very interesting, thanks for posting :-)

I guess that could be a refernce to the Tale of Ganji. Chapter 20 - Morning Glory: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/m/murasak ... ter20.html The hat is a kanmuri, worn by courtiers in the Heian period.

You will forgive me, but I think the remark about a donation was quite inappropriate. Newbies come here for help, and not for being pressured to make donations. Once a member understand and appreciates the value of this Forum, he/she is free to make a donation. Especially when making a sale thanks to this Board. But starting with such a suggestion, be it concerning even a small donation makes me feel quite embarrassed. Sorry about this Chip. Don't worry, keep coming here, you are always welcome.

Brian, the last thing you need is my approval :D I hope you will learn a lot from this sword, but all you will learn will be about low-end swords. Please keep in mind that a sword on which you see the hada and hamon is not necessarily a good sword. You will see them in bundle swords as well. Honestly, I don't tink much can be said from the pictures you have posted here. A typical Kanbun shinto, nothing special, with flaws which have affected the price. Otherwise, any reason why you have bought it, beside it being inexpensive and a new polish costing more than the sword? If you think it was such a tremendous deal, try to resell it at a profit, maybe? I am deliberately provocative, trying to induce you to think a bit. Don't hold it against me, please. If you don't want to listen to critical opinions... that will be the last time I respond to your post. Why should I annoy you?

Brian, you are insatiable :D But I understand, of course. The advice many people here have given you is still valid - save up for something much much better. And may I add that a better sword will bring you much more joy than those average eBay pieces? OK, I buy on eBay, too, but only from ime to time Now to the sword... Honestly, I cannot see much in the pics, but what I see is: kitae-ware and shingane. Not good for a shinto... I know the price was low, I guess below $1k, but that is precisely what it is worth. You will learn this as soon as you decide to sell it. You were the only bidder, I presume? Now, you have spent nearly $8k on swords and you have an impressive sword-rack, just like in a dojo. It s your money of course, but since you appear to be asking for an opinion, here it is - you have bought a low-end sword again.

Gents, I am seeking your advice as to a good agent who could send a tanto of mine to shinsa (wherever the next shinsa is, preferably in Europe) for a reasonable fee. I live in Poland and I think if the agent is in the US, that would work too, but ideally someone who has direct relations with Japan...

Rick, don't be shy, you have a few more which I think would be worth discussing here :-) Do not hesitate to post them. This is your finest tsuba and I must say you have shown good taste, being a beginner. But my take is theat we will enjoy two or three other tsuba from your collection as well :-)

Adam, that is a fascinating story, thanks for posting.

Chip, well done, that is good news :-) As for the sword's value... You will find out as soon as you put it up for sale, I am afraid. It really makes no sense to speculate now.

Lee, Chris, each of you talk about a different spot on the blade. And I can assure you, there is no fukure whatsover in this blade, and just one tiny spot of shingane. What was seen as a fukure/shingane is just a swirl in the long streak of nie. It shows (as has been said many times here) how difficult it is to judge from photographs.

Brian is right, although he was very diplomatic. The horimono is very very bad, and it has most likely been added to the blade to hide some flaw. I am sorry, but you could have done better than that.

And in the picture here, the nature of those streaks of large nie flowing from the boshi towards the ha/mune-machi becomes apparent. They are pretty brilliant. And so is the lentil-shaped cluster I have showed in my previous post. Sorry for the quality of the last picture...

Lee, Jean, it is neither sumigane, nor fukure. It is just an irregular spot in an irregular streak of nie. BTW, this streak has nothing to do with the boshi, it is a metallurgical effect that flows out of the boshi towards the hamachi. Here is the pic of what I mean - this lentil-shaped cluster of nie appears directly in the habuchi.

BTW, it is for sale, either way. I am going to put it in the Sales section once I decide how to sell it...

Gents, I have a koshirae which has been assembled for a Bitchu Aoe naginata naoshi. Without getting into details - it is assembled and not genuine, and that is sufficient for me to dislike it, despite the kodogu being OK. Also, I will not commit sacrilege taking an original koshirae apart. If it were original t the sword, I would cherish it and keep it. Does it make more sense to strip the koshirae of kodogu and sell it one by one (tsuba, menuki, f/k) or sell the whole koshirae? You can have a look at the koshirae (and the sword, which I keep in shirasaya) here: http://nihonto.us/BITCHU%20AOE%20NAGINATANAOSHI.htm My feeling is that selling the parts will bring more money than selling the whole.

Chris, you are right, photos are not enough to judge a sword. I guess, I'll send it to shinsa and come back with the results, just for the fun of it :-) I agree with you on the hada. It looks shinshinto, it is so tight... Only a shinsa team will be able to tell what this is. I am puzzled by this cluster of nie in the habuchi, the elongated lens-shaped something. Any opinions on that?

John, with all respect, this does not look like a Momoyama ko-kinko. Who is the author of this attribution? I'd rather say late Edo shiiremono. Momoyama ko-kinko tsubako might have been somewhat naive when compared to Goto (and their imitators), but not sloppy... Sorry for the OT...

Lee, I'd say: 1. hard to find a shinshinto blade with such a sugata (you can''t see it in the pics, but this tanto is very very narrow) 2. boshi in similar Koto can be substantial: http://www.users.on.net/~coxm/?page=oshigata_sword_k100 3. Question: are there no Koto with very tight ko-itame? 4. Why would anybody mimick repeated polishes? Isn't a healthy tanto more desirable? 5. The patina on the nakago looks exactly like on a papered Oei tanto which is in my collection. Yes, it is possible to patinate the nakago, but producing such an excellent patina would take time and would cost a lot, so that makes no economic sense... Having said that, I must admit that I am still not sure what to think... I lean toward Koto, but that may be because I like Koto, so my opinion doesn't count

I don't think it is cast. The residue could be just grime.

Brian was right. Better pics do help. Still, the sukahi seems late Edo, at best. The tosho tsuba... Could be anything. Any better ideas?

OK, I take back "awful", "Chinese" and "amateur". The rest of my opinon remains unchanged, awaiting better pics and more educated judgement. Sorry, the seppa-dai on the sukashi and those little openings on the "tosho" look weird. Let us see if that changes with better pics.

Tsuba #1 and #2 look modern to me. #3 could be anything, but is likely late Edo/Meiji - at least a real tsuba. # 1 mimics an Akasaka tsuba, # 2 mimicks a tosho. Both look like pretty awful, should I say Chinese, or amateur? # 3 has a shakudo rim and shows some age. Focus on it, the rest seem pretty hopeless and worthless...

Actually, one click is enough to switch to "high-rez" view. I still dislike Photobucket, the zoom > original size does not always work. I hope you see enough to have an opinion..