Matsunoki

I believe a few of these have found their way in the current Bonhams sale. Have fun searching!

Hmmmmmm….this will be interesting. Ferocious estimates typical of Sothebys…..and don’t forget the 26% (+vat) buyers premium on top. Just had a quick look, only a couple of items had even got a bid. To be honest I’m surprised Sothebys bother with this type of sale. It can’t be worth their while. They pulled out of “Japanese” years ago but have since dabbled with a couple of sales, none of which went well from memory. Bonhams have a general Japanese sale online now with swords, fittings etc…..including some very ordinary tsuba .

I posted closeups of the Mei in the translation forum and many thanks again to @SteveM and @Ray Singer for the miracle translation that was “Bushu ju Yoshikatsu” This is another venture onto eBay but I was so pleased when it arrived. To my eye the workmanship is excellent and the design is aesthetically very pleasing. I was surprised by the height of the inlay. The grey area is ( I think) a silver moon done in nunome that has heavily oxidised and bled slightly. Thankfully no one has tried to clean it. H 8.38 cm W 8.20cm Any opinions welcome. Age??

Many many thanks for all the reports and pics. “Wish I was there” springs to mind. all the best. Colin

Is anyone going to tell them before some poor guy gets toasted? In the UK I always email auctioneers when I see them misdescribing something that is within my knowledge sphere. Sometimes they thank me, sometimes not! I have no armour expertise or cred so don’t feel I can but if you guys are certain this is not “right” then why not ask them to “have another look”? They are not Gods. Sothebys will not want to get a rep for selling copies.

Wow! 👍👍👍

@Ray Singer @SteveM Thank you both so much. You guys are amazing. All the best. Colin

I know this is asking a heck of a lot…..these are the best images I can capture. Tried different lights and angles. It’s very worn.…..but you guys are miracle workers🙂 Many thanks and all the best. Colin

Michael, in the case of the Tanto in the link I posted, the Yushu paper was issued in Japan by NTHK NPO. However I guess your question relates to the Showato in the orig post?

You lucky lucky folk. Please post many pics even though they will make us UK dwellers even more envious! Enjoy.

Interesting debate. I’m sure many of us own Showa period swords that we would consider deserving of papers (if papers are “your thing”). This topic was well kicked around in the following link that related to a 1937 dated Tanto (now in my custody) by Horii Toshihide that was awarded Yushu papers by the NTHK NPO ….arguably equivalent to NBTHK Juyo!? All very confusing

Rowan, can’t add much more except to say the blade probably had significantly more depth (and thus a wider hamon) originally which has been reduced by polishing over the many years. That is not unusual. It would not be so good if the hamon actually dips off the edge …but we can’t see from these images. All the best.Colin

Hi Dale Old thread but thought I’d add mine. Recently bought simply because it’s the best one of these I’ve ever seen. Probably at the top end of their quality spectrum?

Yves….couple of links to have a look at….

To me it looks a late Muromachi period Mino Tanto. The polish is “interesting” . It seems to have a very pronounced Hadori finish that bears absolutely no relation to the actual visible gunome hamon. This (coupled with working simply from images) makes it difficult to see any of the finer details in the hamon. The hamon looks to dip fairly close to the ha in places. Could you show an image of the whole blade without the habaki and with the tip pointing upwards?

Dan, I see from your reaction above that I have confused you. Please let me explain. All the statements I have quoted above are pure assumptions on your part. You use words like “obviously” “evidently” “I would suspect” etc with no evidence whatsoever. You then go on to use those assumptions to validate your arguments. The word “expert” needs to be viewed with some caution (an understatement in many cases). Also the duration for which a business has existed is no guarantee that they are experts or that they use experts. It merely suggests that they have successfully bought and sold things and have survived. I have known dealers who have been in business for similar periods to those you cite who wouldn’t know a good thing if they dropped it on their foot! Let alone tell cast tsuba from forged iron. I’m not “having a go” at dealers…..I was one for very many years……and I met many thoroughly professional ones over those years. I also met some who would say anything and tell you anything to secure a sale. But be clear….I am not judging the ones you mention above and in my opinion there are many on this forum that I would deem to be true experts in their fields …..truly worthy of respect. Please …..stick to facts, not assumptions.

Dan, that is a huge and dangerous assumption!!! Why is it obvious?

I understand Brian, and all of us (or hopefully most of us ) are very grateful and (again hopefully) we don’t begrudge you getting something in return for keeping us straight and narrow and safe. However, in order to increase the income you have to charge something for something!……and if people leave the forum because of a £10 membership fee you haven’t actually lost anything financially except for a few mean members! Obviously gold members, dealers etc would be paying more anyway and would remain totally unaffected. The amazing translators we have here could be rewarded by free gold membership at your discretion as could others who go “above and beyond” by providing excellent research links/materials etc You would generate a lot of $ imo by charging guests a nominal fee for a months access. Anyway, I’ll shut up now…….I can’t help it…….early career 28 years in the Finance industry……but don’t hold that against me…..I’m nearly normal again now🙂 Thanks for all you do.

Brian, hope you are feeling improved. Are you trying to increase membership or increase income….or both? Ok, I’m a relative newcomer on here but I’m amazed at the number of members, obviously long-termers/regular contributors who are not gold members. The cost of gold is totally inconsequential to anyone who collects anything that we discuss on this forum ………………………..WHY SO MEAN FOLKS????………………… So, I’m sure it’s been considered before but why not simply charge for access to the site? Whenever I look at who is online there are usually far more guests than members all using the forum for free, all benefitting from the vast knowledge store that is here. Im not on any other social media but this forum is a bit different isn’t it? If all non-gold members paid a small annual fee , say $10, what sort of a difference would that make? Would you really leave the forum because of $10 a year? Where else would we ever get this kind of access and help? Then for non members, charge them say $5 for a months access? If they decide not to pay you loose nothing financially but if they do pay it’s a totally fresh income stream. I anticipate howls of objections but how much do you all spend on coffee every week? Just some random thoughts driven by economics

Mark, hello. what bothered me a bit firstly was the scuffing/abrasions you highlighted. Given that the rest of the blade is in excellent polish I ask myself “why are they there”? - especially when they go under the area that is usually protected by the habaki. That did not suggest wear and tear from normal withdrawals from the saya. I ask myself….are they there to disguise something? Then when I enlarged the image from the papers I don’t see the abrasions but I’ do see what looks like a thin dark line very slightly in from the edge that runs parallel to the edge (not like a hagire) in roughly the same location as the slight opening on the other side. Of course as Ray says, the papers give some assurance regarding condition but many things can happen to a blade after it has gone through Shinsa. I really am not trying to spoil your purchase and it may be absolutely nothing but you asked for any opinions. My comments are not meant to be an opinion……just think it’s worth having another look at that area both sides or getting a few closeup images at different angles. Also just another thought regarding the nakago kasane. If/when it had been reduced I would have thought the hi would get narrower rather than wider at that point. Im guessing a lot of $ are involved and thus who you are buying it from and how well you know them counts for a lot. I wish you good luck. Please let us know and I hope my concerns are ill-founded All the best Colin.

Steve, that’s very interesting because it probably shows whoever cut the Mei deliberately changed one Kanji to avoid any accusations of forgery, fakery etc…..they knew exactly what they were doing.

If you look even more carefully (than I did first time!) , the large sukashi flowers are Cherry…..indented petals …..but the smaller engraved ones have rounded petals without the indentations ie they are plum - and Jeremy is correct, plum blossom attach directly to the branch, cherry blossoms hang on a small stalk. So we do indeed have pine, plum and cherry.

The bag is Chinese, the saya looks Chinese, the cord looks Chinese……so why not the blade? I think you can buy that exact bag on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/NINGWANG-Dragon-Phoenix-Katana-Samurai/dp/B09PTN7RVS/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1JNOO9UPUC6SB&keywords=Katana+bag&qid=1682010729&sprefix=katana+bag%2Caps%2C90&sr=8-6

The indentation on each petal suggests cherry blossom rather than plum?

It’s Chinese.