12 swords at auction in New York area

[Millsman]

Saw these listed,I have no relationship and will not be a bidder but thought the membership might like to view. http://www.hudsonvalleyauctioneers.com/swords.htm

[Curran]

One has what appears to be a Tanaka tsuba.

 

If signed and genuine, probably worth significantly more than the sword.

[jason_mazzy]

Thank you for the heads up.

[Cello]

The sword with the signed tsuba went for over or close to $4000.00 !!!the rusty tanto in good condition actually, went over 1500.00 so I didn't win that one or the other tanto with full koshire wich was also around 1500.00. Maybe I'm missing something but all seem a little on the high side except the tsuba which I'm not very knowledgeable about.....

[jlawson]

They were certainly more expensive than if the link hadn't been posted on here. :-) There was definitely some major phone bidding occurring from more than one person reading this. I ended up with what I was after.

[watsonmil]

All Auction Lovers,

I am reminded of an auction I attended a number of years ago, ... being recognized as an Antique Dealer, and Collector of Samurai Arts ( I've never sold Japanese Art in all my years as a dealer however ), ... I overheard the comment while examining a Japanese Tanto ( with a very fatal Kizu ), .... " you're safe to outbid him as he is a dealer and collector and will bid within the parameters of making a decent profit ". Bad move, ... when the item came up for sale, ... the auctioneer who was more accustomed to doing " Farm Auctions " rather than fine art auctions started the bidding off at $ 100.00, ... which I quickly bid, followed by my unknowledgble competitor who bid $ 125.00. I then shouted $ 200.00 to which my competitor shouted $ 250.00, which I, showing feigned displeasure upped the bid to $ 500.00. He then bid $ 600.00, to which I really showed my colours and bid $ 1200.00. The stupid auctioneer almost pissed himself expecting the foreign dagger as he called it to have sold long ago ... asked for $ 1500.00 which my opposition quickly bid, ... with me following immediately with $ 2000.00. To make a long winded bidding war a little shorter, I noticed my oppositions bidding dropping back to $ 250.00 hesitant increments with me enthusiastically increasing the bid by $ 250.00. I finally let him have it at $ 2750.00. After a round of applause from the stunned crowd, ... the NEW owner of the Tanto came over to me and asked what he had just acquired and if I didn't mind ... what was it really worth. The look on his face when I told him quite honestly ... perhaps .. $ 250.00 tops and NOT to ever f... around with me again as to me this was MY Bread and Butter and not some game. I can only smile and hope he learned a valuable lesson ( which a great majority of our members had better learn ... and that is if you want to play this game of Nihonto and it's related Arts, ... do your homework first or leave it alone ).

... Ron Watson

[Lee Bray]

Ron, you bugger, that was me...

 

I couldn't translate the mei on the Tanaka school tsuba...anyone out there tell me what it was?

A friend of mine had a bid on that sword but as we couldn't recognise the name and I thought the work wasn't great for that school, we only bid low.

Surprised that it went for 4k...bit of a gamble unless it's one of the better names in the school.

[jlawson]

Hammer price for the sword with the Tanaka tsuba was 2750 + buyers = so around $3300. A bit of a gamble if you bought it based on the photos provided from the auction company.

[Cello]

I was on the phone bidding for the Tantos and went to the inspection the day before since I work very close to the auction house.I thought I heard it go over 3700.00 but I could have been mistaken??The sword it's self was not in great condition nor impressive at all the Tsuba was the shining star.Was the tanto with the light surface rust a diamond in the ruff that I missed?I didn't feel it was worth nearly the 1500.00+fees and adding the restoration costs but I did like it..

[jlawson]

Yes, you were mistaken. The hammer price for it was 2750 and yes the tsuba was the reason, the sword was of no consequence in the price. I am not sure about the other swords etc being diamonds in the rough as I was not there personally and was not able to inspect them as one should due to the photos posted online. Most of them seemed average or below average from the photos and brought prices that I would expect if they were posted on Ebay with the same photos etc.

Interesting comments from Ron there and I am not sure if he was referring to this auction and possibly this lot specifically but one thing to remember is that whatever you are bidding make sure you are ready to own it for that price.

In the case of this lot the Tsuba was the only possibly discernible winner on that lot and from the photos posted it was an ok tsuba. However if someone had other photos that were not posted online and was able to look closely at the tsuba the may have just gotten a great deal even paying the price it went for just for the tsuba, completely ignoring the sword.

Back to Ron's point it all depends on your knowledge level.

[Curran]

One has what appears to be a Tanaka tsuba.

 

If signed and genuine, probably worth significantly more than the sword.

 

 

Fittings are a different ballgame. A lurker on this board who chooses to remain private bought a sword off of ebay for $1000 not long ago. He asked about the fittings.... whoa, there... show me that tsuba again! Then had to direct him to someone knowledgeable in his area. Not easy to do in the USA as most focus on swords. Ratio of knowledgeable sword guys vs knowledgeable fittings guys 10:1 in the USA? Luckily, someone very knowledgeable within a few hours of him. Yep, it was a 1st gen Kanshiro. Went to Japan, papered Hozon. Then sold internationally (Americans are all about only holding onto their swords F*Yeah!). Selling price for just under $10k.

Sword was dumped back onto ebay and pulled a few hundred $.

 

Not that many USA knowledgeable fittings collectors, but it is changing fast as people cotton on and buy/read the right books.

 

(edited this message. Original word choice was poor, conferring the wrong idea at one point)