Sword In Market

[Jon MB]

Hello,

 

Any mei assistance appreciated.

 

Fujiwara..? (Seller's words)

 

Pics from phone, terrible I know..

 

Many thanks for any assistance...

 

Jon B

[Ray Singer]

Jon, the first portion is Ryokai Fujiwara...

[John A Stuart]

I am thinking Ryokai Fujiwara Kageyoshi 了戒藤原景能 John

[Ray Singer]

能 makes sense. Was frequently used in the Ryokai group.

[Jon MB]

Thank you very much for the Mei assistance Raymond and John.

 

 

 

The seller's offer of $1000 did not excite me.  I was indeed guessing a Kanbun era smith or similar.

 

Happy New Year (soon) to all!

[PNSSHOGUN]

 

The seller's offer of $1000 did not excite me.  I was indeed guessing a Kanbun era smith or similar.

 

 

[Peter Bleed]

Maybe a bit high on the Ryokai -, but what was he asking for the painted saw?

Peter

[Stephen]

Heck long yari...

[Jon MB]

Peter, in the name of science, I will ask the price of that fine saw.

 

The pointy thing is a rapier blade, probably French, late 17th C.

I think.

[Jon MB]

Wildly off-topic, nihonto-wise, but a shot of some European pattern-weld steel work, from an early 19th C. piece I found in the same market.

[Stephen]

Jon i was thinking sword as well, its just the tang is very long!

[Jon MB]

Sure thing Stephen. I overcame the impulse to buy, it was cheap enough to be tempting. Just to examine it in detail.

[Peter Bleed]

Jon,

Thank you for this thread. It is great fun and has provided an opportunity for those of us so inclined to crack wise. Beyond that, I think this thread exactly presents an important aspect of "Non-Japanese Japanese sword Collecting".

In Japan, if a person wants to collect swords he joins a group and visits dealers. Those sources guide a newbie into the topic. "Japanese" collectors, thus, learn to use the well-organized information.

Outside of Japan, Japanese swords are presented in a much more chaotic nature. Due to the way Japanese swords have traveled internationally, great blades can end up right next to painted crosscut saws. "Non-Japanese Japanese sword collectors" have had to learn to deal with this complexity. We had to learn where dealers might put Japanese swords, and how they would be treated and valued. To do that we also had to learn about things like painted saw blades. (And actually, I mentioned the saw because I was really interested in the GREAT rapier blade. I suspect that that was the "bargain" on this table, But Stephan already made that observation.)

That old style Japanese sword collecting is passing, but I have to admit that I still love 1) the complexity of the old stuff market, and 2) the adventure of discovery that is part of "non-Japanese Japanese sword collecting..

Peter

[Stephen]

I miss finds like this, never seen in DM anymore. Too many treasure hunters.

[Jon MB]

Peter, Stephen, thank you for your comments. Sometimes I want to mention on this site that newbies could benefit from getting used to handling not only old swords, but also antiques in general, to get a feel for  how objects undergo subtle changes as they age and how patina develops, experience that can assist in evaluating swords or fittings in less than mint condition.

 

Peter, very interesting observations on the Japanese sword world and the distribution of Japanese swords in the rest of the world..

 

 

So we like the rapier?...It was $100...

 

 

 

Btw, Diagonally across the swords, in pic 1, is a handy multipurpose narwhal ivory.

[PNSSHOGUN]

For $100 I'd give it a go. At worst you have a good looking wallhangar.