kusunokimasahige

In the Netherlands when I import an antique item with provenance from a non EU memberstate I am in the lower VAT of 6%. Does not matter from where I import it. When EU citizens buy from EU citizens or companies the VAT is in the price already just like Guiseppe stated. You pay in the country where you buy it. KM

Well the one on the right has the name Yamanaka and then something but that is probably not related to the headstone in front of us and the offering basket of wood So he died/was buried in 1478. (文明１０年) The year the Ōuchi left Kyōtō. Looks like the Tsuchimochi han Kamon. Dang.... Getting pretty pissed off now with myself. KM BTW, I never sleep. As an omipotent being I need to be awake ADHD......... so sleep in short bursts in general.

Aha ! Tadakatsu sama ? So you visited him, his wife and his son in the grounds of the Ryōgen-ji ? Well I hope there still are many who pay their respects and visit him. However I thought their graves looked like this : https://storage.googleapis.com/geolocat ... /076-F.jpg KM

WOW !! I like !! But I guess it came empty ? KM

Interesting indeed. And what do we know of this extensive collection of the Tokugawa. How many of the swords were taken and redistributed by the Meiji government when the Tokugawa lost power ? KM

Here is a better image for the experts :

Feudal Japan extended to 1868. Notwithstanding the Tokugawa bakufu semi-centralized rule. An interesting book to read on that issue is : "a modern history of Japan" by Andrew Gordon. KM

Looks like several variations of the Ikeda family mon KM

No Mariusz, will come next at your local Bonham's auction. Provenance : The Japanese-American Tokugawa Samurai BBQ Guild. KM

Yup ! Not 19th century as I first though with the earlier small image of only the nakago. Nice ! Jean, do not feel bad about the lotto. No one wins apparently and the so called winners in the media are all actors. KM

I used to have Millers guides for general antiques price references (http://www.millersantiquesguide.com/) and at times used the art-price site (http://www.artprice.com/). But I am not sure if there are specialized result sites for Aziatic art. KM

Those of you who can attend, should attend. Of course only for people with mega purses : Catalogue : http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/22248/ List or Grid search works fastest, with only images. Some of the Mounts of the swords are visible in the downloadable PDF catalogue here : http://images2.bonhams.com/original?src ... 48-0-1.pdf KM

Better images but we still would like images of : The full blade Boshi Full nakago close-up. That might seriously help in the age debate. The nakago-ana look punched now. different than on your first image. KM

Thank you Paul ! Will try to find some other examples of it. KM

Gorgeous tsuba all of you who posted. Jesper, you can tick a box stating you want the image to appear inline in the edit section under the added files. KM

Very interesting viewpoints all !!! Thank you for posting that piece Jean ! So basically it boils down to : When in general did Smith's sign swords and why. Was there any set rule for dates or not. What were the exact months Yaki-ire was performed. When would a sword be considered "ready" by a Smith to sign it. KM

This is a chrysanthemum mon : Of course there were variations like on this Kinmichi : http://new.uniquejapan.com/wp-content/u ... ength1.jpg But this is a design I have not yet seen on any sword but the one for sale.

The only thing that can be said for certain about the nakago is : Ha agari kujiri, taka no ha file marks, two mekugi-ana close together which look drilled rather than punched, two hi groves of which cannot be seen how long they extend and a dark patina with red rust spots of which cannot be said in my opinion it is any older than 19th century shinshinto work. That is about it. And indeed the rust should be taken care of. KM

19th century. KM

My thought: The mei looks chiseled by an amateur, the sunflower looks ridiculous. KM

ANYONE ? Or do the all-knowing guru's of the board have no idea themselves ? KM

Edited them slightly.

You could try the University Library of Leiden. No guarantee but the collection of the Japanese faculty is extensive : http://www.library.leiden.edu/

A coaster ?

Well, here is what I think. The nakago looks as if it was made by shortening a longer blade. Two things in my opinion stand out. The ridge line itself and the beaten metal on the cutting edge side. That looks to me as if the nakago was shaped after cutting by trying to beat the metal on the cutting edge square (and blunt) after shortening. So that, basically, combined with the straight edge of the nakago makes it look as if a longer sword was cut down. Even though the nakago tip could be considered Kiri, in my eyes the ridge line, shape and thickness of the nakago itself combined with what I wrote above might point to a shortened sword. KM