Cuirassier

Thanks John. They are very nice; I think palm tree tops

Morning all. I have a standard shin gunto in every respect, except for the menuki, which are clearly original to the tsuka. Does anyone know what / why? Cheers

Thank you Koichi

I wish blade smiths would write the same! I believe kanenobu, but..... Appreciate any help

Thanks Dan, Piers, Colin Very much

Thanks guys, so 1st March 1364?

It is just too feint for me I have nailed the mei (I think); Sagami (no) Kuni Junin Hiromitsu But the date Thx in advance Mark

Thanks Piers I thought the last two characters were saku kore

Have I possibly just got quite lucky? Or am I about to get shot down in flames?

Thanks Mark.

Please It is worn, after all.... Thanks and a Happy and hopefully Peaceful New Year

Thanks Guys. As Tony Norman is no more and no-one to replace him and been quoted 520000 JPY to polish and paper in Japan, I guess it will remain a secret!

Hello Geraint. Thank you. I can see the file marks on the tang in the photo I took; can you not? I will try and take the other photos soon, family permitting. Regards, Mark

Thanks Joel I came to the same conclusion; yes, Christies is on the right. The Christie's lot sold for $57,600 in 2005; now that is something I would understand people making puerile comments about. But, Christie's said the two character signature was typical for this smith. Yes, mine (on the left) has patina. So it at the very least is a decent old blade worthy of a polish. I can not find ANY such authenticated examples for Horikawa Kunihiro. So, who knows? A polish is not going to be wasted money IMHO, and...... Thanks again Regards Mark

Not you Simon, thansk

I know. But it is still worth a polish. Maybe Christies have the bad un! And, TBH, I find advice amongst insults makes the advice worth zip.

Hi guys Sad to hear Tony Norman died He polished a couple of blades for me a while back and did a great job. I want to get a Wakizashi blade polished now. Are there any decent polishers in the UK? Thanks

Thank you

Hi Guys I have a blade I want professionally polished and then sent for certification. Are there any UK options? Is Tony Norman still going / the best option? What about certification? I thought I saw a UK based certification option some time back? RSVP / Thanks Mark

I've decided to get it polished and submitted for papers. Which is my best option (polisher and where to send it) anyone? Can it be done in the UK or does it have to go to Japan?

Thanks, but https://www.christie...m/en/lot/lot-4461867

Hi Guys Local UK auction punt. Came with "certificate" from old school expert Bill Tagg that (in his view) this is a true original Horikawa Kunihiro wakizashi blade. Comments? Mark

Thanks Guys. I just know he paid $800USD for it in 2016, nothing else. I bought it at auction for less! But then he had used a rotary polisher on it

Thanks Geraint. They will not say much because he western buffed polished the blade. I was trying to work out from the papers if it was worth the postage to send to someone like Tony Norman (if he is still polishing). Does the registration certificate say anything about the age, etc?

Thanks Piers. Yes, I whited it out; I bought it from him (actually via an auction). So the registration certificate is just an ownership paper? Not a certificate of what the wakizashi is / appraised / accredited to be? I know it has an unsigned Nakago, but nothing else.