M.A. Quigley Collection Information

[Soshin]

Does anyone know who M. A. Quigley was? There are three kanji associated with his name that I don't know off-hand without checking my kanji references. Attached is a image for reference. I am researching piece that is new to my collection. Any information would be helpful. Thank you very much.      

[ROKUJURO]

I know him from the cinema. He made a film when he was in Australia and became famous for making holes in a bucket.

[Ray Singer]

Perhaps Mike Quigley. 

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=Mike+quigley+site%3Awww.militaria.co.za&client=ms-android-google&hs=1mBB&sca_esv=0237a3a71ba987c6&sxsrf=APpeQnvBsQ8VIWBQ7rLDp0Wp7TXMjEqIOA%3A1787834335409&ei=3y-QaubTGOCxur8PhdOzyQI&biw=411&bih=753&oq=Mike+quigley+site%3Awww.militaria.co.za&gs_lp=EhNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwIiVNaWtlIHF1aWdsZXkgc2l0ZTp3d3cubWlsaXRhcmlhLmNvLnphSJUcUPwNWOUZcAB4AJABAJgBP6ABwwOqAQE4uAEDyAEA-AEBmAIAoAIAmAMAiAYBkgcAoAdgsgcAuAcAwgcAyAcAgAgB&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp

[Brian]

https://www.igavelauctions.com/auctions/japanese-swords-and-asian-works-of-art-from-the-collection-of-michael-quigley
https://jssus.org/1976_Bulletin.pdf

[neo1022]

From ChatGPT, so would need to be confirmed:

 

M. A. Quigley was Michael A. Quigley (also appearing as Michael J. Quigley or simply Mike Quigley), a major American collector and organizer in the postwar Japanese-sword community, based in San Antonio, Texas. He was not merely a casual collector whose name happens to appear on old papers: the evidence places him among the important American nihontō collectors of the 1960s–2000s.

His role in the early American nihontō community

The strongest contemporary evidence is in the archives of the Japanese Sword Society of the United States (JSS/US). In 1974, Quigley served as Manager of Shinsa for TOKEN KAI-1974, held in Newport Beach. This was only the second formal Japanese sword shinsa held in the United States, following the 1972 Dallas event. Quigley himself wrote the retrospective account, “Reflections on a Shinsa,” published by JSS/US.

That is quite significant. Organizing an American shinsa in 1974 meant dealing directly with the small circle of Japanese experts and senior American collectors who were establishing serious nihontō study in the United States. This was the generation of American collecting associated with figures such as John Yumoto, Walter Compton, Robert Benson, Albert Yamanaka, Robert Caldwell, and others.

Quigley was also sufficiently connected to the Japanese collecting establishment that he attended NBTHK activities in Japan. A 1976 JSS/US account of the 25th NBTHK meeting notes that only six Americans attended and specifically names R. B. Caldwell and Mike Quigley among them.

 

He was a serious fittings scholar as well

Quigley apparently developed particular expertise in Jakushi tsuba. The 1976 JSS/US Bulletin contained his article:

“Jakushi Tsuba: An American Collector’s View”

and the society subsequently retained the photographs used for the article in its library.

This wasn’t forgotten. A later specialist dealer description of a Jakushi tsuba with 1976 NBTHK papers explicitly describes Michael Quigley as a “renowned collector of Jakushi tsuba.”

That suggests he was not simply accumulating swords indiscriminately; at least some areas of his collection were systematic study collections.

The scale of his collection was remarkable

His collection eventually became enormous. When Lark Mason/iGavel dispersed a large portion of it in 2023, the auction house described Quigley as a lifelong Japanese-art enthusiast and sword collector whose collection contained more than 1,000 objects, accumulated over more than 60 years. He was also described as instrumental in organizing the San Antonio Sword Show.

The September–October 2023 sale alone contained more than 400 lots and included substantial swords and fittings. Among the highlighted pieces were:

• an Echizen Sukehiro katana dated 1666, NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon, estimated $25,000–35,000;
• Jūyō gold menuki by Hagiya Katsuhira;
• a handachi daishō with aogai lacquer saya and shakudō nanako fittings;
• numerous other swords, fittings, militaria and Japanese decorative arts.

The auction archive itself survives:

Michael Quigley Collection — iGavel auction archive⁠