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Favourite school


peter

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Both are eye catchers. I still wish I could photograph like that. In the upper pic the ha makes a weird detour into blackness. Is that something obscuring the blade or angle or something? Just curious. Looking forward to that Soshu book, BB collaboration on that one as well? John

 

I was asked by the owner to photograph them side by side which is not something I tried before and is very difficult. Just one is difficult. Two in flamboyant hitatsura, trying to get the best aspects lit up... on limited time... and not my equipment... hard. So yes any failures are mine. The blade looks new and is signed and dated and is I think the finest and most representative work of the smith.

 

The Bizen book actually leveraged some essays by non-me and non-Bob people, and the Soshu book will probably be the same. I am not sure if Bob will have the time to contribute anything, he is very busy and his time is in great demand, so last time around I wrote the majority of it outside of the attributed essays. If he has time to contribute again I would love to have his knowledge as it can't be replicated. I can't say that I am much more than an editor, assembling as much as I can dig up and discover. I am no scholar.

 

I had no idea though when I started how much time it would take to do everything for a book. Layout, photos, just getting the prints right through the printer (I sent in 29 revisions after the book was "done" ... each one failed somehow and had to have every page tweaked in order to be passable quality). I spent 2,500 hours on the first book. It will never break even, even for my grandchildren [1].

 

There's a tag in the printed volume that anyone has, that looks like this:

 

[6.31.08.v29]

 

So the first three numbers of course is the date I made the revision and the last is the iteration going out for print and coming back to tears. It was such a pain.

 

So in the end it's just a hobby.

 

As a result it has been something easy to put on the back burner knowing how much will have to go into the next one. Especially since I have not had until now the kind of access I need to photograph the right swords (can't knock on a lot of doors to turn up Sadamune and Masamune, etc.)

 

[1] theoretical entities

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Another lustful thing.

 

Attribution up to you.

 

If you're not going to tell us what this sword is, then may I kick this off by guessing and perhaps making a major fool of myself? Would three guesses (quick-pick attributions) be fair?

 

Awataguchi (? Awataguchi Norikuni).

At first I was going to say Rai Kunimitsu. No that would be too "common", and you had just mentioned that Awataguchi was your favourite school.

My third guess would be a Bizen Kunimune.

 

I'm too unqualified to fully qualify my guesses.

 

 

My favourite "school" (so far): Ichimonji. Era: Kamakura. Smith: none

 

If I had that Hasebe (in previous photo), I would nickname it The Leopard.

 

Alan

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Hi,

 

No question it's an Upper Class artefact, and I think that Darcy is a Scholar and

Not only an Editor and Dealer as well.

 

Watching his New Year "Thanks" post, read all of Darcy's posts and replies acting in a calm, cool and friendly Manner.

. A Gentleman on Board. Hope to buy One of his First Class Nihonto ( count Money all Day)

 

Thank you, Sir Darcy

 

Best regards

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Hi Darcy and all…

 

Well, do I see an extremely tight Ko-Itame with ji-nie, a true Nashiji Hada? An almost wet and "oily" look? Suguha Hamon with really thick Ko-Nie? It seems so in my unexperienced eyes. Yes, this indeed could be an Awataguchi blade.

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Battered and butchered Bungo. Well, if not exactly my favorite, why do I seem to attract so many? :freak:

 

More seriously, I have a thing for masame, so therefore Yamato. Unfortunately, given their relative scarcity, I'm limited to seeing them on monitors and book pages, and have no hopes of obtaining an example of my own. :cry:

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