Ian B3HR2UH

I like Hoshi's theory . One of my blades is by Kunihide and whilst it has bold sunagashi it is far more subtle and finer than the piece that Reinhardt has shown . His piece reminds me of the showa pieces that are produced by the likes of Amahide where the work is much coarser and even more artificial looking. So I will stick my neck out and say it is more recent than shinshinto .

Hi Dale , I think your illustration is from the Red Cross catalogue at which time the tsuba was owned by Mejor Everard Calthrop who was killed in action at Ypres on the 19th of December 1915

How soon we are forgotten ! As no one knows anything about Mr Petersen I will briefly set out what I found out about him. Russell Robinsons 1962 book on the manufacture of Armour and Helmets in the 16th century Japan shows an armour owned by Axel Petersen Copenhagen . I believe this is probably the Axel Petersen born in 1887 who was an electrical engineer best known for his pioneering work in developing " talking pictures " . As part of this process he directed movies in the early twenties . On the collecting front he was purchasing tsuba and other Japanese art at London auctions in the forties and fifties, primarily at the H C Clifford sale in 1947 and the E J L Gardiner sale in 1948 . Sothebys auctioned a few of his pieces at a sale in Dec 1969 but the bulk of them were sold at their auction on the 10th of March 1970 . Four pretty impressive tanto and about 120 tsuba of Petersens were auctioned . The tsuba were top quality and at least one is now Juyo tosogu. Bon Dale the chair of the Token Society , one of my boyhood collecting hero's , wrote the sale up in the Token Society's programme as attached . The Katsuhira tsuba that sold for 1150 pounds was purchased by Peter Hawkins who sold seven years later for over four thousand pounds , not a bad profit ! I wonder where it is now ? The Myoju tsuba that set the London record wasn't owned by Petersen . I wonder if this went on to bigger things . Mr Petersen died the year after his auction

Please don't go Rayhan, the board needs more people who are prepared to tell it how it is . Bon Dale was the leading light of the Token Society of GB in the early days, he tried to educate the masses and was pretty scathing when it came to bad swords . He would be rolling in his grave if he read this discussion . Ian Brooks

Grab it

Rayhans point is that we have to stop giving people false hope when it comes to their swords.This piece is not worth investigating it is a poor quality junker that is beyond restoration

Has anyone thought about the forging flaws in this blade , it is full of them. They seem to be kizu rather than rust pits. It is unsalvageable

And the blade by Masanori

Is this the one?

I recently purchased the 1970 Sotheby auction catalogue of the Axel Petersen collection . It was a great collection of tsuba. Does anyone know anything about Mr Petersen? I suspect he may have been the Danish writer , engineer and film director who died on the 8th of June the following year aged about 84.

These are the Norishige in Umetada Meikan .

Hello Tobi , I have the catalogue and if you let me know which lot number you are interested in I will send you a copy . Ian

This one has the owners details written on it Ogawa group Army Captain Amano Kojiro

Back in the 1970's when I was buying swords off returned soldiers I saw about four of these in one night . I had no interest in them and made no offers . I guess I could have purchased half of them for twenty dollars each . I feel pretty foolish in hindsight .

Hi Hamish , not a "Festing " sword I am afraid but one of my tsuba was sold at this auction .