chrisf

Brian,if you check the emails I copied to you,you will see that I did offer to take a reduced refund to cover his expenses which was flatly refused and I have initiated action to recover the money. The sword under discussion is a gendaito made in 1980 and shows a 'dip' from the hamachi into the hamon,which has been polished back so far as to be virtually non-existent and when specifically asked about the condition of the blade the dealer stated that there were 'no problems'. He also said that he received the sword from Mr Otake at the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu but the tsuka is fitted so badly as to make it impractical for serious use. He also posted on Feb 2nd under the name 'krut',unsurprisingly suggesting that further discussion of this type be disallowed but couldn't be honest enough to declare his interest in the matter,pretending to be making an objective comment. I would like to hear from anyone with genuine connections to the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu if they would be so kind.

I sent the sword to a professional sword dealer in the UK who is not known to me personally for his objective appraisal and he emailed me the other day to say that he had forwarded his views and some images to Brian for his consideration. I hope to be able to post further news of my own progress in due course.

I think a lot depends on what you are looking for,I have bought cheap tsuba off ebay to make up a sword where cost and quality were not of prime consideration but if you want to buy tsuba for investment then I think 'hands on' is the best way in order to fully appreciate what you're buying. If you don't have access to dealers or arms fairs there are knowledgeable members here who occasionally sell items.

Thank you all for your kind support and offers of help which are much appreciated,I'm going to try the digital camera route initially in order to post images (and my own education!) but in all probability will accept one of the members offers in order to realise an unbiased opinion.

If the more recent images were inadequate I would be happy to send the sword at my expense to anyone reliable you know and trust in the UK who would agree give you a report on its condition and verify my claim.

A note to all members that I have just bought a sword from this dealer which on arrival turned out to have had almost the entire hamon ground/polished out. He has refused to refund my money claiming that it was from his private collection even though it was on his website and that as it was a 'private' sale was not subject to retail laws.

Franco,the use of Einstein's hackneyed quote would be amusing if relevant but you have missed the point entirely. Cheap swords are a valuable study resource even if in poor condition,sugata,nakago,yasurimei,hamon,hada are all aspects that can be studied in detail in conjunction with good reference books;there is absolutely no substitute for 'hands on' study. Brian,you seem a bit confused.You quoted my post to warn others against mediocrity but then go on to describe your own collection which frankly,sounds mediocre. Japanese swords may be high end art in your opinion which is a very elitist view,I try to keep a more open mind and accept that all art forms have merit at many levels and try to maintain a Western perspective as far as study and research are concerned and not allow myself to become bound up in the quasi-Japanese way that many sword-pseuds have adopted. ps;are you the Brian from 'Family Guy'?

Well said Jock,I'm 100% with you on that and would add that the other thing that your detractors fail to understand is that by buying swords like this you are constantly learning about swords and how to look at them.I dislike the sniffy attitude that some purist collectors show and can remember buying a Koa Isshin at an auction in my early days when I had no idea of the maker but judged it by shape,hamon and how the nakago was beautifully filed and signed.It looked a good sword but I was deemed to be a retard by the looks I got from the 'experts'.Equally I bought a sword with two small but quite obvious fukure with a jammed on semi-civilian wartime hilt but I reckoned it was an old blade and it had a fabulous,big iron tsuba with waterwheels in gold,silver and bronze(?) overlay,sword was 28" and at home after 30 minutes gentle persuasion -' Higo Kyushu Dotanuki Hyobu' was revealed.I sold it to a pal of mine who took it to a well known militaria dealer for 'polishing' and yes, it was ruined. Also there are a lot of negative views based on the images,I have just bought a Horikawa Kunitake gendaito and the hada looks like that in the images but has never been touched and in my view it looks like a good old blade that someone has maybe messed with because it's not 'signed'.Keep buying them Jock and keep on believing in the gunto mounted Masamune!

The sword was sold on Saturday 4th Dec. at Bateman's Auctions in Stamford,Lincolnshire,UK.I had emailed the auction house for images to include a view of the tang,the images I received were not very helpful in determining the quality and value of the sword and I was told that a view of the tang was not available. I phoned and left a bid on sale day and decided to have a browse through NMB and purely by chance (must be 1,000,000 to 1 shot) came across this post and recognised the sword by its surrender tag,tsuba,habaki and menuki and to my amazement the tang and a signature. I phoned back and upped my bid but didn't buy it,I'm sure it will surface at an arms fair as it was bought by a dealer local to the saleroom (I'm guessing maybe Garth Vincent). I'm sure that you guys can see exactly what was going on here without me spelling it out other than to add that none of the information NMB members very kindly supplied reached either potential bidders or the auctioneers that employ the poster.