Jean

Very good John, I shall simply say Offer and Demand. Other Analysis from any other NMB member?

You are right in your analysis, Piers. - Sentimental : I love my antiques whether Minerals/fossiles/paintings/swords, they are valuable to my eyes because they are a reflection of my personnality. Nothing is innocuous (Dr Freud speaking) - Money : as long as it is an out-of-pocket expenses, antiques are not conveying Money principle. Unfortunately, Nihonto is an expensive hobby and convey Money flavour ===> investments ..... It could be, when Art objects are Antiques - but All Art objects are not Antiques and reciprocally (my fossiles/minerals collections). - Antique = Art Object No, as Dust can be Antique but in some cases it can be, in mathematics, we could say : Antique>Art objects (in quantity) - Antique = Art Object = money = market trend = fashion? In fact, Antique as Art Object = money when there is a market then the market is subject to trends and fashion Let's someone else carry on......

John, You are right, I did not mention it in my post but I had spotted the Kashira. Bad mounting. Brian, The description was mentionning Same has been repaired (something like this). The Same is brand new. the Tsuka mounting (though flashy) is all wrong. F/K are not the right ones, I should say "bad restoration" : Here is a good brand new one : http://www.ricecracker.com/ - Wakisashi - SW-7 Now fittins : I shall just say, no close-up pictures of the F/K or of the menuki. I am becoming a suspicious frog :lol: :lol: :lol:

Hi Steve, Concerning the blade on Auction (which ended) a few comments : I do not like the Tsuka, the Same has been more than repaired. It looks like plastic. Big nodes should be seen but are lacking. Nakago is too stout (too thick - no tapering) Look at the way the temper line finished in the nakago. the boshi (tempered part of the kissaki) is a problem in itself. From pictures, it seems there is no continuity between the temperline of the main body of the blade and the boshi which is far too close to the edge.

Piers, That is a splendid topic!!!! Every people buying/collecting have asked themselves this question. To get answers, one has to proceed with methodology and point out the good questions and according to his (honest :lol: :lol: :lol:) answers get somme answers ...

It is a fantastic topic and furthermore a philosophical one - (I dig these "gut" topics) As all pilosophical topics, it begins by a question : "What is a valuable antique ?" It has to be splited in three topics : 1 - What are we talking about when referring to "valuable" : - Sentimental - Money 2 - can we limit this topic to antique and should it not be widened to Art object? 3 - This lead to the last questions : can we validate the following equations: - Antique = Art Object? - Antique = Art Object = money = market trend = fashion? I shall let every NMB members do their homework :D :D :D

Hi John, Let's Give back to Caesar (Jacques) what belongs to Caesar (Jacques), he is the one who mentionned it, I only stressed the differences...

Yes John, a bit to roundish, have a look at the following link for hamon/ hako: http://home.earthlink.net/%7Esteinrl/terms/terms.htm

Main difference lays in the Tani pattern

Could it be a booby trap ? Nevertheless without any interest, too much kizu Gimei for Gimei, I prefer this one : http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-Samurai-Sw ... dZViewItem :D :D Much cheaper and what a blade .......

Brian, You should have been born a diplomat

I agree with Milt at 100%. It was a bargain I'll go for shinshinto copy of a Soshu koto blade (because it has seldom been polished - visible from the picture taken from above the munemachi -) , the hada is incredibly tight and very fine. A lot of activity, tobiyaki ... It has been taken back from the auction by the Seller because he was offered a large sum of money ....

Steve, You would have got much more money in private market :lol: :lol: :lol:

Hi Mike, For the price I prefer the Masamune shown in a previous topic. (though Shinkai is called the Edo Masamune) IMHO, It is Gimei taking into account Darcy's post about the subject. Look at the initial mekugi ana, the mei and the nengo do not start where it should. The oshigata provided by Jacques shows clearly that the kanji are perfectl aligned close to the back ridge of the blade, on the e-bay one there are more centered on the nakago. The nengo of the e-bay sword is chiselled on the shinogi, not in the oshigata. If the sword is gimei, how is the kanteisho .... question answered... Now, Question : Does Philanthropy still exist in our world? If you had a Shinkai Daito to sell (certified), would you put it on e-bay?

About suguta look at this one (Muromachi) http://www.aoi-art.com/sword/katana/07365.html

Very good Masamune but a bit more expensive Shinshinto (myguess), very few polishes

Marius, Of course, there are no rules as I have seen Fantastic Koto nakago and totally ruined shin shinto nakago. All depends on the way the sword has been taken care of, during centuries. I was talking about my shaved Wakizashi Yoshimitsu Nakago, it is dated "Ko Sho ni nen hachi gatsu hi" (August 1456). Here attached a picture (sorry a bit out of focus) Crisp signature and nengo

Mariusz, As you are probably in Euro zone, it makes 2370€. For the buck (sorry Euro :lol: :lol: ), it was a good one, it seems well polished, fine hada, no fatal flaws (some ware - all my blades have one/several and none are ubu - even my Yoshimitsu wakizasi (dtd 1456) has a slightly shaved nakago ). I have seen a lot of swords on sale on which restauration costs would have amounted to much more ...... Unfortunatelly, it is no more on sale

We are in Tensho 3rd year 8 month (August 1575) not in 1573 Blade is not typical in length, starting Tenmon the nagasa began to increase, it is more an Eisho nagasa at 24 inches. In Tensho I should have expected a 70cm nagasa. Fine hada but with some itame nagare, not typical Bizen, ko Nie deki blade (look at the boshi) , typical sue Bizen is nioi deki - cf the Connoisseur of Japanese blades - (even if some blades are ko nie deki) No ashi as far as I can see. Blade with Nengo are usually not kazu uchi mono (mass product) I am not a mei specialist but I shall say, should the mei be genuine, it is a very good deal (some ware but we are in koto) but there is no kanteisho One objection, it is not typical of Bizen school (no visible ashi, ko nie deki, no choji) for we are not far from Shinto. Now, It is incredible the number of blades in late Muromachi which are a mixed of different traditions. It is very difficult to encounter a blade with all the school trade mark it is issued from ....

SORRY TO ALL FOR THIS BIT OF INFORMATION (TO AVOID MISINFORMATION° Hi John, Everything is peacefull in Paris, the riot was in Villiers le Bel a suburb which is 10 miles from Paris. Nothing to compare with 2005 riots or May 1968 events Facts : 2 teenagers 15/16 on a Tiny motorbike collided in a Police car. They should not have been on this road (these kinds of vehicles are prohibited), wearing no helmets and they refuse the priority and they died But in this suburb where 30% of young ones are unemployed, Police car being involved in a car crash is a casus belli. The Inquiry has concluded in this being a car accident. Paris is very calm and there won't be any impact on Auctions. When you hear such news, be very cautious, riots only happen in France in some suburbs areas where young unemployment is at peak, where drug dealers are thriving and where Police don't go very often (almost lawleess areas) . The main problem in this event is that for the first time, a riotgun was used against the task force

Hi Gordon, Very nice to have you on board and I would like to thank you for your contribution to the two volume Sue Koto books published by the JSS. They are fabulous. Now, on my waiting book list (dream ), I'd like to have in the same way : Early Muromachi Nambokucho Late Kamakura Middle Kamakura

France, I shall not enter into details but including "file fees" taken by the Customs Agent the cost is 5% for Antiques more than 100 Years old. It is some kind of Bingo with French Customs duties. I had swords coming from Japon which went through Customs - Tax free Others which were taxed (5% all-in) - small items as tsuba/kogatana often can go through Customs tax free. From North America, nothing escapes Customs but small parcels (tsuba)

Thanks to all Vets, especially our American/Austalian/English/African friends who gave their life during two wars to free France. A special thought to our two French last survivors from the First World War (107 and 110 year old)

Hi Pascal, Glad to see you are back, I think you have seen some marvels that you could perhaps share with us (if incline )

Hi Reinhard, At least in your examples the remaining mei strokes are strong and confident, this is not the case in the example