paulb Posted August 21, 2015 Report Posted August 21, 2015 Ok this is rather "tongue in cheek" and just aimed at prompting some thoughts and discussion. Below are two oshigata. They are of the same sword. One has the actual boshi the other one copied from another sword of almost identical size and style. The blade is a wakazashi, o-suriage and mumei.The hada is ko-itame covered with ji-nie and chickei. There are areas of whitish hada and nie utsuri. The hamon has a tight nioi-guchi interspersed with bright ko-nie. there are kinsugi and inazuma throughout its length. Assuming th boshi is the only tangible difference I am estimating the difference in price between sword a) and sword would be somewhere between $15k and $20K Questions 1.Based on what you see which one would be the high end price and which the low and why? 2. Ideas of school and period. Quote
Ray Singer Posted August 21, 2015 Report Posted August 21, 2015 Sounds a great deal like a sword I own. The commentary for this piece was that it greatly resembled Rai Kunitoshi, except for the o-maru boshi that is uncharacteristic for Rai, instead papering to Enju. Considerable difference in market value.Best regards,Ray Quote
Jean Posted August 21, 2015 Report Posted August 21, 2015 Yes Ray is right, the difference is in the boshi. Ko maru=Rai school, O maru=other schools. A= Enju, late Kamakura after 1300 AD, B=rai kunitoshi, 1280 AD. 1 Quote
christianmalterre Posted August 21, 2015 Report Posted August 21, 2015 as i do remember the 90´s....a certain coriphea expert...did continuously point: " The Boshi is the most important (and only) indicator" (citation Mr. M.H. Munich) so? did we learn ? (Thank you Jean - for pointing this out..) Christian Quote
Jean Posted August 21, 2015 Report Posted August 21, 2015 Btw, Tsuruta san often when he has an Enju sword for sale compares it to Rai Kunitoshi but mentions the O maru which makes the distinction. Quote
paulb Posted August 22, 2015 Author Report Posted August 22, 2015 Well this didnt go quite how I hoped it might. I am not sure becase of the prompt and correct answers or a lack of interest. It may be I wasnt clear enough in the point I was trying to get to. Ray and Jean you are both correct sword a) is an Enju blade. sword b. is the same sword but with the boshi from an almost identical work by Rai Kunimitsu. So both date from late kamakura period around 1310 to 1320. The point I am trying to get to is that there are extremely fine works in the field that exhibit every trait you could hope to see in a top level sword which ae still affordable and worthy of a lot of attention. Below I have listed some comments from several leading dealers and collectors in the USA when we discussed this blade when seen in the Florida show some years ago: " some things available at the show: A Yoshioka Ichimonji; a Higo Enju good enough to be mistaken for a Rai Kunimitsu. "The Enju is a really stunning blade, normally Enju are paled by Rai Kunimitsu, this one not so. Were the boshi different I am sure it would be attributed to Kunimitsu" "It is perfect and old. In my opinion if it were a daito it would be juyo easily (it has never been submitted for higher than TH) At this price level its rarely possible to get this combination of quality and age" Recently I had the chance to see a number of Rai swords in Japan, most were tanto and all were magnificent. They were all papered to a high level and they all commanded high prices ($40-$60K). Had I the funds I would have happily added one to my slim collection. Unfortunately I couldn.'t. Several years before I went with great excitement to view a Juyo wakazashi in a well known London sale room attributed to Rai Kunitoshi. It was without doubt the most boring sword I have ever seen. (slight exageration but not far off) This Enju blade compares favourably to good Rai work and I believe is far better than lower end Rai work. It is O-suriage and mumei. The only reason it is papered to Enju is that it has an O-maru boshi. If you study Rai work (and over the years I have done so obsesively ) you will find examples of boshi not unlike this one, it falls within the range. However it is absolutley right that it is a more common feature in Enju work than Rai. Also the slight whiteness of the utsuri suggest Enju over Rai A very good and knowledgable friend once said "Many branch School smiths were equally competent, they were trained by the same masters, the difference was the material available to them" I think this is a classic example of that. We are told, quite rightly, that we should always study top level work to learn what makes a good sword. I believe this absolutely. However recently the markets seems to have lost sight of the fact that there are some very high quality works by lesser known or appreciated schools out there. These are also available at a fraction of the price of a top regarded school. While not cheap this Enju sword sold for a fraction of the price it would have commanded as a Kunimitsu. There are extremely fine works floating round the market to be studied and enjoyed. All we have to do is find them! The Enju blade will never get near to the monetary value of even a poor Rai work, it just the way the market is, from an appreciation, study and enjoyment level it offers far more than many higher priced work I have seen. 5 Quote
Marius Posted August 25, 2015 Report Posted August 25, 2015 Paul, Just one word (two, actually): "brand name". Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.