TheGermanBastard

Thank you Ray. Unfortunately the Nakago is in poor condition. The blade has seen some polishes, too but should probably polish up well. It was mainly the mounts and the shape that attracted me.

Yes you are of course right Ray. Typo. Yes it is Katakiriba which is not a common trait.

Since I am lacking the needed Oshiagata, I am seeking advice on which Bizen Osafune Normitsu this 1473 dated blade wants to be - and if it is possibly a good match for that smith. Thank you for your oppinions

Thank you Steve! Unfortunately that blade has no Kanteisho. I am undecided wheter there was really a cutting tester by that name - or if it is possibly all bogus?

I did not count in the Ko Gatana as I am very ignorant about those. But just the Kozuka was striking. I think Darcy has once has a very similar one on hios website and I think it was in the 2.5 to 3k range if I am not mistaken

Those were?

Thank you. So Markus mentions no Heisaku?

Hello, is anybody familiar with a teste cutter name Gotō Heisaku? He ought to have been active in the mid 19th century. I could not come up with anything through Google. Thank you!

Hello Bob, I understand your reasoning. Assuming it is a very old blade there had been plenty of time to add or remove a signature at any stage - while this may just be some rubbing. More important I wonder if you had any specific school in mind for this blade?

PS: That is the area where it looked like a signature may have been removed

Hello Bob, I agree that was a very neat looking Jigane. It struck me. However my impressionw as that it was a later piece. I would have no older than Muromachi-. But I may be mislead by the (later added?) Horimono and condition of Nakago. I fully understand your reasoning on the mounts and I would also try to stay save and bid for what I felt the mounts were worth (to me). I really did like the Habaki, Kozuka and Saya mounts. The FK and Tsuba were not my personal taste. Just the Kozuka could have been in the 2k range easily in my oppinion. Beautifull I agree that this could definatel have been a Nambokucho blade. On one side the Nakago seems to have lost some patina. Not sure about it. That is a good reasonmig. My impression was that most pieces had late Edo or Meiji periode mounts, too. The fact that we had some obvious Gimei there may be a hint to handle everything with a grain of salt. This I felt very excited about this auction as it was really what you would call an old collection coming out of the woodwork. Getting older myself I see swords flood around that I have seen multiple times over the years. This stuff however sure is new and it will be interesting to see if we may see some blades again in the future with or without papers. By the way Bob: Thanks for talking. While I was not getting anything nor you were I just enjoy discussing this like the aftermath of a boxing match (where the outcome is however more clear )

Hello Michael, In understand your point that any potential bidder will want to keep a low profile prior of an auction. However I think now since the game is over there ought to be no more competition as everything is set. Of course you are right that the price will often indicate the expectation like some thought it was a Shoshin Masahide while nobody digged into the Muramasa. I was quite frank about what I intended to bid on before the auction as my expectations of winning anything were low - one of the few occasions where I was right Tokubetso Hozon I think is not something we should worry about as it can be acchieved easily as the rules for it are straight forward while Juyo level is totally different cup of tea - and we can of cause only have our more or less educated assumptions whoch I consider however to be both fun and educational.

PPS: This is of course are far fetched, very vague question but I wonder if you thought any blade or Koshirae with Juyo potential being offered there?

Just a short update: I have received the blade meanwhile. As I said before it is in a rough state with pitting but healthy otherwise. Hamon is very nice. I sent it off for polishing and Shirasaya restoration. The Shirasaya has been split since it was coming apart anyways and will be cleaned and properly reglued so the blade can be kept in it. Unofrtunately it has been refitted with a non matching Tsuka but taht is still better than if the Saya with the Sayagaki had been lost / replaced.

PS In Francois image it looks like this could be an Urushi job rather than metal work? Is this the case? I am afraid that the high is as much of a poor reader like I am then.

Hello Bob, thanks for letting me know. On #19 I I did love the mounts. Especially the Kozuka. A great piece and lots of gold in there ... In the images it looked like a reallly really strong Utsuri. Whoch Kunitsugu do you think it may have been good for? Regarding #22 what was your take on the sword? Likel a Koto O Suriage. It looks like there may have been a Mei removed? I assume you were in for the blade? Thank you for your input on the Guribori. SInce this went way ahead oif what I could or would have been willing to pay I was not endangered. However shame on me for missing out on the imitation part. I really should be able to read BUT why imitation!? It looks real to me. Please educate me. Thank you!

Many items look familiar. Estimates seem to be on the high side.

This was a really nice auction. Did anybody of you buy anything? I had considered bidding on 24, 29 and 36 but did not win anything in the end. 29 was straight forward with nice Guribori mounts. 24 they got wrong and it wanted to be a Rai blade. The signature was not a good match in my oppinion and the condition remained questionable. Looking at the filemarks I would not think that it was earlier than Murmoachi but still it seems to have seen many polishes. What are your oppinions? The mounts were solid late Edo. I feel somebody got a reasonable lottery ticket 36 was interesting to me. I wonder which smith it could have been good for. Overall I feel that the prices were reasonable since those blades mostly all needed some TLC but then there we good quality mounts on most of them. The 30% premium however is a real pain in the ass. Congratulations to anybody who participated and ended up with a new toy

Exactly. It is sometimes just a pain in the ass with vendors all oiver the world as they think that a sword is a dangerous weapon and thus can not be put on a plane ...

Which ones did you consider to be sleepers? I was going back to teh catlogue again and think that the Sadamune may have been worth a shot given the low amount it went for. Just based on the images I had seen, it looked not too bad to me despite the ood Nakago. (While of course this was not a Sadamune for sure)

Coincidenatlly I have a whitebread passport while my command of French is embarrasing .... basically you only need a 3rd party ship to pick it up and send to you via any shipping service of your choice. Usually DHL I would think.I can assist you - as long as you promise not to outbid me case I should participate myself .... however I think that is one for the big boys with the deep pockjets and I am just a watcher on the side line.

There ought to be no export paperwork.

The Sadamune did not look tiered to me in the images - contrary to the "Rai" blade. The Hada looked pretty tight on it from what could be seen in the images

What was your oppinion on the "Sadamune" as far as the Jigane etc. goes. I could not tell much from the additionally provided images.

Hello Christian, I was aware of this but have no clue if it is Shoshin or not.