Gabriel L

I'm not Darcy and I've never used an auction house, but I would be pretty surprised if Christie's entertained a request for the contact information of one of their bidders regardless of who's asking. Seems to me like that would be a privacy and liability concern, as well as a threat to their business model. But as I said I don't actually know anything about the big auction houses. Darcy on the other hand strikes me as a smart enough person to have thought about contacting Christie's directly if that were in any way feasible.

Wow, that is something else. Every now and then something so unexpected comes along that it shifts your perception of what possibilities are out there. A+

Hi Carlo, Sending this as a PM so as not to break my promise [EDIT]: "OT" stands for "off-topic." :lol: Have a very merry christmas, Ciao, -GLL

My last OT post in this thread: I would like to thank Alan (and Brian, and John) for "tempering" my own inaccuracies, such as they may be. I think Carlo hit the nail on the head at any rate. I'll shut up now, -GLL

That's Moses Becerra, for Charles's information (and those of us who don't speak "Milt" :lol:).

Send them to me. Seriously though... if you have no friends interested in nihonto (and who could care for them), then you have to ask what stranger you want to benefit from them (via ownership or selling). Not many museums know how to properly care for nihonto, so if you choose to donate make sure it is to one with the proper expertise. One solution I can imagine is compensating a good dealer for selling them on commission and sending your share of the proceeds to the beneficiaries of your choice. This way the dealer is motivated by his commission percentage and has the knowledge to sell at the best price, while your beneficiaries get the bulk of the profit. The dealer's opportunity to sell the collection in the first place would be predicated accepting the terms of the will, so your executor would have the legal authority to ensure proper distribution of the proceeds. This would obviously be aided if you could document your entire collection to the best of your ability now, and make arrangements for their proper shipping, etc. Including some kind of price documentation would be helpful - how much did you buy each for? Etc. Choosing which dealer(s) (or auction house, I suppose) would depend on working out appropriate terms, knowing who in the field is reputable, etc. I don't feel comfortable making direct recommendations on this point and I think it is something you should research yourself. There is a commercial links section to this site you might start with. Please note I am no lawyer and the above does not represent any form of legal counsel; it's just ideas that I would research if I was in your shoes. I welcome anyone who knows what they are talking about to set me straight on any of the above. -GLL

Hello, As someone who enjoys arms & armour from a variety of eras and cultures, I have to protest calling a medieval/renaissance European sword "primitive." Like most mainstream sword presentations, the TV special you linked to is not 100% accurate about nihonto nor European swords - but that's besides the point. European blades were different from nihonto, and in some ways required less complex and laborious construction, but were not primitive. Many were made from good steel, were very well balanced, were given decent heat treatments that included tempering (in the strictest sense of the word, something that many Japanese blades were never subjected to as it tends to dull the surface activity), etc. Many of them were beautiful, some in an honest and simple way, some with detailed and skillful artistry. Just as Japanese blades have been ridiculously hyped up by excessive and unfortunate rhetoric both here and in Japan, European arms & armour have been unfairly and inaccurately reviled by the ignorance of popular culture ever since Victorian times. I'm not just talking about myths, which are bad enough, but an overall attitude that is not supported by the reality. That is something I like to counteract when I see it. Here is another youtube clip to enjoy: Thank you, -GLL

Now I see. Thanks Milt! Yeah, I don't know about the dimensions. It certainly could be an optical illusion, but then again maybe not.

Ah, I thought we were looking for a "Where's Waldo" sort of thing, with maybe a book titled "How to Forge Japanese Art" in the background or something. :lol: The description states the dimensions for the three paintings respectively as: 54" H X 14" W 74" H X 19" W 62" H X 18-1/2" W None of those look like any multiple of the "oban" size, if that is supposed to be 14.5" X 9.5". I don't know anything about this field or why any of these paintings are "supposed" to be oban size, but the auction doesn't claim they are. Cheers, -GLL

Why don't you enlighten us?

IMHO you're not likely to gain much more information from resubmission; the only really good reason at this point to resubmit would be if you were convinced it could reach Tokubetsu Hozon, and the only really good reason for that would be to increase its resale value or just drape yourself in the cuddly warm blanket that it's "officially" excellent. Do yourself a favor and enjoy the blade as-is without worrying about papers. If your motivation is to learn more about your sword, then learn more about swords in general and do some research yourself. Worrying about the authenticity of your current origami seems paranoid to me; "some old papers are unreliable" is a truism that doesn't deserve the time, hassle, and money to prove correct when there is no good reason to doubt *these particular* papers. But I suppose that's just my opinion; you are free of course to do what makes you happy. Congrats on what looks like a very nice blade, -GLL

What kind of dealer becomes knowledgeable enough to make money buying and selling nihonto, yet stupid or heartless enough to have them destroyed?

Argh, I *know* I have seen a nice rendition of this exact theme before, but I cannot for the life of me track it down. I will post again if I find it. [update]: Haha! Now I know why I had so much trouble finding it, I didn't see a tsuba with this theme before - rather, the fittings of a daisho koshirae on page 55 of the Japanese-language book "Edo no Token Koshirae" by Ide. A scan is attached for your translating pleasure. PS - I never realized what those things were - I think I might have been assuming they were horseshoes. In my defense, they are tiny on the actual page! :lol:

It does seem somewhat less accessible than nihonto study, doesn't it? You may ask for this to be moved to the Tosogu forum. Also check out recommended reading and information found at: http://www.nihontokanjipages.com/reading.html http://www.nihontokanjipages.com/tosogu.com/ http://www.nihontokanjipages.com/forum/ http://home.earthlink.net/~steinrl/nihonto.htm (great tsuba information) http://home.earthlink.net/~jggilbert/tsuba.htm (great tsuba starting point) Commercial books: http://www.satcho.com/Tosogu.htm Finally, join a sword club or something... you need exposure and guidance to really advance in this kind of stuff. Good luck! -GLL

Yeah... I like anhydrous isopropyl alcohol. I haven't used uchiko in ages. The only thing I would worry about (besides human safety precautions) is water content, as the open grain of the steel can actually absorb and trap this water (as happens with polishing). It actually does this more easily when a small bit is mixed with isopropyl than a straight application of water. So the more anhydrous the better. I don't think properly-applied uchiko is a bad way to go though. Arguments can be made both ways.

...Because you couldn't discern what takes most people a significant period of dedicated study and exposure (via the right sources and authentic examples) to gain a sense for? Don't. Of course it is excusable!! It's not just excusable, it's to be expected of absolutely anyone who has not already developed a certain amount of knowledge in this specialized subject. And a SLO ("sword-like object") like this isn't necessarily a total wash... it can have sentimental value, steal-able decor value, or teaching value in stressing READ & LEARN before BUY. FWIW, I concur 100% that it's fake. Really no question about it. Check out this page for a good primer on this particular subject (cheap fakes). Much more importantly, it has, as has already been pointed out, brought you to this forum - and I can tell you that as far as the online English-language nihonto scene goes, it doesn't get any better than here. Welcome to the NMB, and I hope you stick around! :-) Cheers, -GLL PS - the one thing you may feel free to "feel like an ass" about is falling for the old eBay "low price, high shipping" scam. :lol:

Cheers Ted!

It's wonderful to have you here, Jon.

Many thanks to you Piers, for so readily and thoroughly accommodating my (and, by proxy, Lafayette's) requests and for trading some pleasant emails. A fascinating aspect of Japanese arms that I previously knew literally nothing about (no surprise there ). You learn something every day... Cheers, -GLL

Hi Jim, If you are selling the sword you might as well post it here in the classifieds, and perhaps at some other sites such as Sword Forum International and myArmoury. That way you know you will get as fair a price as can be expected and more importantly the odds of it going to someone who actually knows how to properly care for and appreciate it go up as well. It 100% genuine, btw, I don't know if that was entirely clear from previous posts. Appraising its monetary value is more difficult without seeing it in hand, especially out of polish as it is; likewise, getting a strong indication of provenance is more difficult although the shape is textbook Kanbun Shinto as has been mentioned already.

I will not be able to help much on this, sorry, but perhaps if you could post an image of the mei, orikaeshi or no, it would help others in their search. There seem to be several Izumi-province Kagashiro-group smiths signing Masakiyo, including some with different characters for "Masa." Of course, if you don't own the blade, that could be difficult.

Isopropanol (isopropyl alcohol) is a very good solvent for oils without affecting steel directly. Be sure it is >99% as you want as little water content as possible. The isopropanol proper will evaporate extraordinarily quickly, but even strong (70-90%) solutions will leave water streaks. On that note, if you order/buy it and it comes in a plastic bottle, transfer to glass if you can for longer-term storage. It will instantly suck water out of the atmosphere if you leave it exposed, so it's always diluting itself; I'm pretty sure it can manage this trick through plastic somehow as well. Most importantly, be aware it is a fire hazard and I'd wear gloves as it is absorbed through the skin (and converted by the liver into acetone). It's also volatile, so work in a well-ventilated area and don't deliberately gulp down the fumes. Not trying to be scary. It's great stuff, I have a bottle for cleaning as I think it's better for a brand new polish than an amateurish application of uchiko (if you insist, then use only really nice uchiko, and that very gently). Just be aware. On to your actual question: isopropanol will, in theory, dissolve some amounts of iron oxide (including red rust, Fe(2)O(3) where the parentheses indicate subscripts). It's not magic and it won't replace a true professional polish, but it's technically better than nothing. So I'd go ahead and try it. I've heard an account or two of surprisingly good results. But again, its true purpose in this field is as a solvent for oil, not for removing rust. Oh, and of course do NOT get it on the nakago.

(I assume from your post you've got this sorted yourself, but just in case:) Please note that the first link Jacques posted is a great company, but their homepage shows a polishing kit - NOT something for amateurs! This link takes you to the same company's list of sword care products, including the basic Care Kit in Wood Box which includes all the necessities. Cheers, -GLL

Bob, I am happy to hear it. It was my loss that once again I was not able to attend. Sundays are not very good for me. Depending on the content of some news I am waiting on perhaps that will change in September, and I will be able to become a regularly visiting member of the NY Token Kai, but in the meantime I'm glad that your sword was given a clean bill of health. Cheers, -GLL

Since the window light was probably my (evidently unhelpful ) comment, I'll try to explain a bit further. Very basically, the optical qualities of the Japanese sword are as follows: 1. Mune and shinogi-ji (spine and upper ridge area): burnished, so reflects environment very directly (either dark or bright depending on environment). 2. Ji (surface between shinogi and hamon): a combination of directly reflected light (due to steel itself and polishing method) with elements that diffuse light (such as parts of the hada). So the hada will be brighter than a reflected dark background, or disappear into a too-bright reflected background. 3. Hamon (hard white edge steel): very diffuse light almost regardless of angle of blade, so shows up light in most cases. The ideal then is directional (not diffuse) illumination from an angle, which will light up only those aspects that diffuse light - the hada, hamon, and various other effects - but with the blade angled so as to only directly reflect the mostly-dark environment. This will maximize contrast, which (one hopes) may also provide some measure of clarity. Thus my suggestion of late afternoon window light, ideally with the interior of the room very dark and the light very direct but not extremely strong. Then the trick is to angle the blade precisely so that everything you want is illuminated, but the reflection is only of the dark room, and not the window or the sun. Proper exposure is obviously important here. This is of course a primitive and limited technique, which is more of a tip to achieve contrast than anything else. Anne, your photos are already reaching at least the level that this technique would be able to obtain, so I don't know how useful it would be to try. Just to put my money where my mouth is, though, here are several photos I took just now to illustrate the sort of (very basic) results possible. These are pretty bad -- I haven't properly cleaned the blade, the sun was still much too strong at that hour, the perspective is distorted by my wide angle lens, the camera/hand is reflected, yadda yadda yadda - but it's not totally obscure, I think. PS - by way of disclaimer, I am not really any better at this than anyone here. I just know the frustration of photographing this stuff firsthand and am trying to give advice; if it doesn't work for you, don't listen to me!