Surfson

That looks like the same book that I have, which was purchased a couple of decades ago. I think it cost me about $600-800 even back then. I have used it on occasion, but it's too big to put on the shelf in the vertical orientation.

There are plenty of US collectors and dealers with expertise enough to give you an opinion. An appraisal by one of these folks might be useful for insurance purposes, but it would not be of value to collectors that might buy the sword. Collectors only rely on the Japanese appraisal organizations or the judgement of themselves and trusted friends.

He probably took a stone and ran it along the ha, making it dull. I have seen dealers do this when there are small nail catcher chips. It is easy for a potential buyer to overlook the fact that the ha has been reduced less than one mm.

You are correct Mark. I have gone through them and rated them 1, 2 and 3. I will study the 1s and then the 2s, taking photos and building a file on each of them. I bought a Dymo labelmaker and it can support kanji, so I will make labels for the boxes (or tags if there is no box). It should take considerable time but be fun and stimulating.

So Grev, how many is enough?!

There are a few here that are ex. Dale Garbutt Collection!!

Michael, you are right about a tansu. Do you know of one with many shallow drawers on the top and deeper ones on the bottom, so it can hold kodogu, koshirae and nihonto? Alex, I just bought a light box and if I can figure out how to take nice photos, I plan to start photographing my favorites, studying them and doing brief writeups about them. Cheers, Bob

Thanks Bruce. I am in the Island of Chicago!

I had a wakizashi in fairly good polish with ko kissaki that papered as Oei period with NTHK NPO. I eventually sold it on ebay (I don't remember what it brought - maybe $1000 give or take) and the buyer found that it had a hagire, which had not been noticed by me or by the NTHK. I refunded his money and then sold it as a study piece for $50 to a collector with full disclosure about the hagire and only after he promised not to resell it without disclosure. I wouldn't destroy it, and even if I never sold it, it would still find its way into the market when my heirs passed it on. I think that is about the best we can do. There are lots of these dilemmas that we face. For instance, if you have a blade with two or three sets of papers, do you throw away the lesser appraisals and sell it with the best appraisal? Is this ok, slightly dishonest or an unforgivable act?

I think that maybe it's time to slow down....

Just One More!!!

Those insects can do some damage though, Jesse!

We have had conversations about other swords appraised by Mr. Fimio. Unfortunately, he was apparently simultaneously a dealer and an appraiser, which can raise obvious issues. I suggest that you judge the sword without relying greatly on the appraisal by the "Master".

eBay is deep water, but there are still some big fish.

I remember seeing that sword, and may have bid unsuccessfully on it. This was a nice Choshu guard with a dragon in clouds or waves, as I recall.

The general belief is that most of these were not made by the often famous sword maker whose name is on the blade. I do wonder the how it came to pass that kogatana are so often signed with famous maker names.

Thanks Jacques - according to that article, the use of oroshigane, i.e. steel made by the sword maker himself, is common with these swords. Markus also has an interesting article about oroshigane and shinto smiths, in which the meaning is can refer to sourced tamahagane that was further refined. https://markussesko.com/2018/09/30/oroshigane-mentioned-in-signatures/

Mike knew the instant he saw that sword from the other side of the room that it was junk. I guess they had to go through the motions as if it might be authentic.

What a great New Years present, thanks Jussi! I will have fun with this. Cheers, Bob

I have two original sets of these. Maybe they will become collector's items some day. Thanks for doing this Grey, and thanks for reintroducing them for newer collectors.

No worries, Dale, I'm sure that I will be pleased with it. I will just have to scribble my own translations or kantei into the books and make them living documents in my library. I look forward to receiving them.

Sorry to hear that John. I haven't received mine yet, but I do agree that the author should have put some work into identifying schools and makers.

Thanks for the post Dale. I just bought your two books on tsuba in the Metropolitan museum when looking at this one!

The imozuru appears to be thick, continuous and long, like a vine. The sunagashi is usually several parallel lines that are often interrupted but maintain their parallel nature. I have always had a hard time distinguishing inazuma and Kinsuji, as both seem to run under the nioiguchi and tend to be of moderate length and on the thick side. i think that they may differ by level of darkness.

The kanji look to me like this (below), but I'm not sure what the reading is. Otsuki Yamasuke Roku? O Gassan Sukeroku? 大月山助六　 Sorry, that's the best I can do. Waiting to hear from Steve or Nobody....