Lewis B

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What a wonderful story of a swords discovery and restoration. Thanks for the update and photos after the recent polish. Sounds like our swords will be partners on the Shinsa journey in Sept. Wishing you a very successful outcome.

Pablo had not given permission to use the copyrighted images and description. The seller on Catawiki just copied and pasted his photos and description word for word. Just lazy and not cool without getting permission first.

First tsuba appears to depict a kozuchi hammer with offset eye.

Assuming permission wasn't sought I'm sure Pablo will not be too happy to see his photos being used in a third party FS listing.

What I find surprising for a smith who was so highly prized even during the early Edo period (when a lot of suriage were performed) that no Go signatures were preserved as gakumei or orikaeshimei. All we appear to have is a single signed tanto extant.

Ah Yuri Emelin's Go. A superb blade and in excellent condition.

Yes, it could be Japan's sequencing-the-genome moment. After all, who else is in a position to take on such a project. You only have to see the quality of forensic video of blades to understand what could be achieved. I'm sure it could be quite easy to automate using robotic cameras so requiring minimal human intervention.

Go yoshihiro from his early Yamato influenced phase. Of the 2 blades extant 1 is saiha (Kai-no-Kuni Go). I would love to see high rez images of the Kabuto-Giri Go with an Ichi-mai boshi that’s in its original condition. If it wasn’t for Andrew we wouldn’t have some nice images of his Soshuden period when he completely embraced the tradition. Early Tametsugu from his younger Etchu/Echizen period when he was working directly with Norishige and incorporating some of Go's swordmaking style. Nice images of Fukuoka Ichimonji blades are sorely missing. These need a range of different light sources and photography styles to fully capture. We only get an inkling of their true beauty eg Yamatorige. Some specific blades I would like to see in high Rez glory are the Dojigiri Yasutsuna,

Did Massimo Rossi polish the tachi or just prepare the certificate and oshigata? YUKIHIRO (行広), 1st gen., Kanbun (寛文, 1661-1673), Hizen – “Hizen no Kuni Fujiwara Yukihiro” (肥前国藤原行広), “Hishū Saga-jū Fujiwara Yukihiro” (肥州佐賀住藤原行広), “Hizen no Kuni Dewa no Daijō Yukihiro oranda-gitae o motte saku” (肥前国出羽大掾行広 以阿蘭陀鍛作, “forged by Dewa no Daijō Yukihiro from Hizen by using oranda-tetsu [= nanban-tetsu]”), “Hizen no Kuni Dewa no Daijō Fujiwara Yukihiro” (肥前国出羽大掾藤原 行広), “Ichi Hizen no Kuni Saga-jū Dewa no Kami Yukihiro” (一肥前国佐賀住出羽守行広), “Ichi Hizen no Kuni Dewa no Kami Yukihiro” (一肥前国出羽守行広), “Ichi Dewa no Kami Yukihiro” (一出羽守行広), real name Hashimoto Kurōbei (橋本九郎兵衛), second son of Yoshinobu (吉信) and grandson of the 1st gen. Tadayoshi (忠吉), his older brother was the 1st gen. Masahiro (正広), he received the honorary title Dewa no Daijō in spring of the the fifth year of Shōhō (正保, 1648), it was later raised to Dewa no Kami in Kanbun three (1663), in the third year of Keian (慶安, 1650) he moved to Nagasaki (長崎) where he was according to tradition introduced to the techniques of forging oranda-tetsu (阿蘭陀鉄, another name for nanban-tetsu) by Yakushiji Shirō´emon (薬師寺四郎右衛門), it is said that he alluded to the Bizen tradition by signing with the character for “Ichi” (一), he had learned the Bizen tradition from the Ishidō school, later he was employed by Nabeshima Sakyō (鍋島左京) for whom he worked in Nagase (長瀬) and also in the castle town of Hiroshima in Aki province, he died on the 27th day of the fifth month Tenna three (天和, 1683) at the age of 66, the jigane is a dense ko-itame with fine ji-nie, the hamon is a chōji-midare, gunome mixed with chōji or a notare mixed with gunome in nie-deki with a wide nioiguchi and ashi, partially the yakigashira of the midare appear in a pointed manner, nie gather in the valleys of the yakiba, the bōshi is sugu with a ko-maru-kaeri, jō-saku

Yes, I see many swords with reissued Juyo kanteisho. They are less desirable than the original though and can affect value or diminish the interest of some collectors. In any case I would actively pursue Sotheby's and apply to the NBHTK for a reissue of the papers with the nakago photo and Setsumei. Sothebys should be ashamed. They even mixed up motohaba and sakihaba with the latter also being incorrect. Not 1.1cm but 2.3cm. Nitwits btw the setsumei you posted suggests the sugata is suggestive of mid-Nanbokucho period production and not 15th century Muromachi as described by Sotheby's. I assume you were the seller back in November. If thats the case I would be making the auction house pay for the reissue of the Juyo papers.

Thanks @Hoshi. This is exactly the approach I plan to take. Attempting to rewrite the history of the early Soshuden tradition will only be counterproductive and ensure anything that might be relevant to the case is overlooked, or worse, deliberately ignored. I plan to keep the supporting document to a single side of paper with a couple of illustrative images, using bulletpoints and not a lot of verbage. @Rivkin that's an interesting development of which I was unaware. The next 5-10 years could be quite interesting as its clear from recent Shinsa results the tectonic plates within the organisation are shifting.

I just had some excellent and unexpected news. The dealer contacted the NBTHK and was told by the office that organises the Shinsa sessions, that a blade can be accompanied by any supporting documentation deemed relevant by the submitting party. This is contrary to what I had read but might be useful information for anyone in a similar situation. I take back the disparaging comments I said earlier about the NBTHK.

Saw this a few days ago. Interesting interview.

This would be a wonderful first blade for a new collector. Named smith with TH in very nice polish, and some historical documentation accompanying the package.

Best of luck for your new venture. I wish you every success.

Chapeau Andrew. Well deserved and proof owners don't need to send their blades to Japan for a top level polish.

Doh. I blame the heatwave. My brain is discombobulated at the moment.

Tametsugu way above Norishige. Ouch

If the mekugi-ana are drilled which seems to be the case that would suggest Edo period blade (1603-1867)

Since the Shinsa panel will only judge the blade in front of them and not consider any external commentary or factor in any historical nuance without precedent I am resigned to the strong possibility it will come back Horyu. Even though its clear daimei/daisaku blades were being generated in the atelier as early as 1306. If it gets Horyu again, then Plan B is to put it through NTHK who operate a different set of standards when evaluating a blade and call it a day. I didn't start this project to squeeze monetary value out of the sword. For me its all about preserving history and giving the blade the best possible chance for future generations. Dogma changes and evolves over time, Shinsa panels come and go and new discoveries eg the dated Chogi blade, reset the history books. The sword is more important than any one organization and its draconian appraisal methods. Its survived 718 years, ubu and intact, I want it to survive another 718 years, with or without a piece of paper. The blade will be judged on its own merits as a late period Shintogo Kunimitsu and the unofficial comments of Tanobe and Saito sensei carry enough weight for me as its current custodian.

The rough diamond polished up nicely IMHO. Now the real test will be if they can be swayed re the Mei. It's not unknown for contentious swords to get Horyu multiple times. Fingers crossed not in this case. Next stop is resubmission to the Shinsa in Sept.