FZ1

Japanese Spears - Polearms and their use in old Japan (Knutsen & Knutsen)

ISBN - 1-901-1903-56-7

Hardback with dust cover, Good condition - £50 GBP

Japanese Art Signatures - A Handbook and Practical Guide (James Self & Nobuko Hirose)

ISBN 1-891640-09-7

Paperback, Good condition (slight fading on spine, but hardly used) - £20 GBP

Postage at cost to wherever you are, your choice of service.

Thanks,

Jon

9 hours ago, Voppip said:

-The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords  by Kokan Nagayama

Hi Marc,

I have a copy of this that I was going to list for sale, but I have no idea what the "going rate" is.  I'll try and find out and get back to you (if anyone knows, please PM me - Thanks!)

Regards,

Jon

Sorry to hear about your hassles Lee.

I've had long delays with shipping blades in and out of the UK (Border Force was the delay every time), but not with any other items.  I think John's explanation is probably the most likely, i.e. carriers are maxed-out by increased business due to the Royal Mail strike.  Let's be honest, DHL, UPS, etc, are not efficient at the best of times; even worse when overloaded. 

My theory is that they make their money through the quantity of parcels shifted, not quality of service, so they don't give a monkeys about individual delays or losses.

Cheers,

Jon

SOLD

Thanks to the buyer 

Jon

There's a link to the video in my original post, a link to the catalogue and a link to a catalogue extract. 

I'll be honest Alex, the only images I have are Pablo's, so I didn't feel comfortable about reproducing them all here, hence just putting one up and linking to his catalogue.  I have no clue with photography, and his are so much better than anything I could aspire to! 

Thanks Grev - Feel free to PM me with an offer! 

I have offers from non-UK members, but (as per the original post) my experience of exporting is really stressful, hence preferring a UK sale if possible.  The last one I sent sat in UK customs for a month, with UPS being completely unhelpful about updating me.  Fortunately, the buyer was very patient and very understanding, but the horror stories about UK Border Force impounding stuff concern me.

To be fair to those members who have made an offer, I don't want to delay making a decision, but just giving UK-based collectors a final option!

Cheers,

Jon

Any UK offers before I respond to existing non-UK ones?

Jon

Thanks to members that have made offers.

I'll review and respond in the next few days.

Cheers,

Jon

I forgot to say that I'm open to offers on this.

Cheers,

Jon

Kelly is excellent - highly recommended.

Jon

For your consideration, a wakizashi by Yamato no Kami Fujiwara Tadayuki (Hôei era: 1704~1711)

(preferably a UK sale due to potential hassle with UK border force, but will sell outside the UK if the buyer is patient - it took a month to clear last time I exported a sword).

The blade has NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers and the koshirae, tsuba and fuchi-kashira all have NTHK-NPO Kanteisho papers. 

I bought it from Pablo (Unique Japan) and there is a video of it here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY25ggvrePE&t=2s 

Pablo does a great job of providing excellent photos and info for his swords, so all the info is in the catalogue extract, shared here:

https://1drv.ms/b/s!Au0p7phbocIZgekOWoXkWLXc8sfinQ?e=bwZCHP   (If that link doesn't work, email me and I'll send you the 10Mb file).

Alternately, its in Catalogue 36 on Pablo's site here:

https://new.uniquejapan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Unique-Japan-Sword-Catalogue-36.pdf 

Note: The catalogue is huge at about 125MB, so will take a while to download.  Search for ujwa251 in the catalogue.

It comes with a shirasya, the papers, sword bags and a printed catalogue extract booklet, as supplied by Pablo as part of the original sale.

I'm asking just £2,500 GBP, plus shipping or delivery at cost, for a quick sale.

Cheers,

Jon

On 11/7/2022 at 2:22 PM, Matsunoki said:

You really don’t have much choice but to travel to handle the swords in person before the sale.

Indeed, Colin it can be a bit of a trek sometimes.  I know our American friends think that the distances we travel around the UK are small, but given the congested roads and cost of fuel, it can take longer and cost more than travelling three times the distance in the USA!  

However, for private sales, I've found travelling to be a double-edged sword (pun intended!)  Yes, it costs a fortune in petrol and takes ages, but I've had the pleasure of meeting other UK collectors / NMB members when travelling to buy or sell swords.

Jon

@Matsunoki @Lee997  and anyone else in the East  - How about an East Anglian nihonto get-together over the autumn/winter? 

Hi Lee,

Several of the "Western oriented" Japanese dealers are very helpful when exporting/importing and for those that aren't, you can always use an agent, although that does put the cost up.  This forum is a good source of info regarding people's experiences with various dealers.

Keep an eye on the "For Sale" forum ("Follow" it so you get emailed about new posts) and you can also post in the "Wanted" forum, specifying a preference for a UK purchase.  Some UK collectors prefer to sell within the UK because of the hassle you mentioned in export/import (me included after some bad experiences when exporting!)

As you get to know more collectors (e.g. via the To Ken Society of GB or or here on the NMB), let them know what you're looking for and they will be able to keep an eye out for you.

Cheers,

Jon

Excellent buyer, smooth transaction , glad your happy with it George!

Cheers,

Jon

There are lots of blades out there with no rust, so unless this one is a "must have" for you, then I'd suggest waiting until one with no rust sparks your interest.

Jon

@Paz-  Amongst other things, he acts as a "middle man" for auctions and dealers in Japan who don't sell outside Japan, taking care of export licenses, paperwork, etc.  

I'm sure he does loads of other things, but I've only used his services for auctions & dealers

I'm sure he won't mind me posting the signature block from his emails.

 

Kelly Schmidt

Japanese ANTIQUE AUCTIONS

A list of my services, fees, policies and disclaimer/limitation of liability is available upon request or in the "about" section of my Facebook page: 

https://www.facebook.com/Japanese.antique.auctions/?ref=bookmarks

Kelly Schmidt is an agent living in Japan.  He (obviously) charges for his services, but he is someone "on the ground" who makes a living from exporting and minimising problems.

Yes, its a more expensive way of buying, but the reduction in hassle and worry is worth it for me.  I believe several board members use his services and he's also a member on here (I think).

Cheers,

Jon

SOLD  - Thanks to the buyer

Just to clarify, the AFU Translations are not the originally published ones, they are copies/reprints as sold by a forum member.

All the text is there, they are just not the original publication.

Indeed, Brian, I think I should do more research before pricing stuff!  Unfortunately, it also means lower "commission" for the NMB coffers"!! 

Jon

Payment Pending.

I'm selling this copy of Hawley because I don't use it.

It's got a tear in the top of the spine, but otherwise looks good.

I have no real idea of its value, so £150 o.n.o.?  Plus postage/shipping at cost

Payment by Bank Transfer (UK only) or PayPal (UK or Worldwide) - you pay the fees if you don't use "PayPal Friends" payment.

Cheers,

Jon

I bought the volumes from a well-known dealer on the forum some time ago, but have never actually unsealed them from when they were sent to me.

I'm selling them because I just haven't used them (obviously, being as they're still sealed! ) and I've slowly realised that I am much more interested in the period-history that individual nihonto represent and less interested in the the smiths or their artistic properties (I know, "Blasphemy", "Burn-the-Witch", etc! ) 

These come compete with the cardboard slipcases (there's a 1" tear in one of the slipcases) and also come with copied/bound versions of the AFU/Watson English translations.

I'm not sure what else I can say about these - If you're interested, you know what they are! 

£250 posted in the UK, Shipping at cost to non-UK. 

Payment by Bank Transfer (UK only) or PayPal (UK or Worldwide) - you pay the fees if you don't use "PayPal Friends" payment.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,

Jon

Thanks for the tip Dan, but I'm looking for an Ubu one without the hitsu-ana (yeah, I know I'm fussy! )

Cheers,

Jon