Ian B3HR2UH

Could I thank members for their input and advice on the last piece that I posted . Can I ask for opinions on this piece . It is very showy and probably quite late . The blade is however shinto , of good quality and in good condition . I have little doubt that the blade is genuine although the horimono may be added later . What do members think this might be worth . To some extent I am asking so that the owner will get a feel for the accuracy of the prices that I gave him . Ian Brooks

Thank you all for your comments . I said to the owner that if it was mine and I put it in an auction then I would be pretty disappointed if it only made $ 1500 AU and really happy if it got to $2500 AU . To some extent I based this on a Kai Gunto in the big Lloyds auction which sold for $3500 AU . That sword had a good old blade and superior mount on it and was, I thought, a far more desirable piece than this . I was the underbidder . I also recall a nice Kai gunto with a Koto Sukesada blade that despite being a reasonable price sat in the for sale section here ,unloved for a long time . I might however be showing my bias towards old blades and my disdain of Showa To here . Steve's assessment might prompt the owner to test the waters on this site . I will post the other one soon. Ian Brooks

A collector out here has recently gone into aged care. Fortunately he has left descriptions of his swords for the family . I saw his son last week and looked at the swords . His son asked my opinion on prices which I tried to give . This is difficult as pieces in some auctions seem to sell for silly amounts whilst in other auctions they sell for very little . I hope to post a couple of pieces here and to compare what I thought they were worth to what other members here might think . The first is a Kai gunto with seki stamped blade by Kanenao . All in good condition with two really unusual features . The sarute has the wings motif which is only the second one that I have seen . The same on the saya has been lacquered black but never filled or polished back which is something that I have never seen before. . The notes are the owners. What do people think such a piece might be worth with a willing seller and a willing buyer ? Ian Brooks

Last week I saw an interesting , to me , sword. It was a kai gunto with an old mumei out of polish kanmuri otoshi shaped blade, unfortunately with a large kizu in it .There was an old paper tag typed or printed in English with the owners name Air Commodore Cooper and the former owners name Petty Officer Fukuda on it. The attached photo shows the name on the kabuto gane which I read as Tokuji . O'Neil says that this is a place name and my quick research shows that it is also a personal name . Do I have the reading right as Tokuji and is this a surname , personal name , place name or something else ? Under the fuchi Tokuji is written on the left hand side and Fukuda at the bottom. Do the katakana on the right side read mumei and can anyone make anything of the rest of the characters? The piece is interesting as it confirms that the names written under the fuchi are those of the owner and not that of the person who bound it or put it together. Ian Brooks

I have come across a few swords , wakizashi usually , with cast tsuba on them . Poor or gullible samurai must have been using them.

The tanto is a Chinese fake and the wakizashi is signed Echizen ju Shimosaka

Hi Bob, attached are the entries from the Milward Catalogue . The Clement Milward collection was sold by Sothebys in two parts . The first part was on the 27th of june 1967 and the second on the 11th June 1968 . There were 69 swords and 361 fittings lots . The latter is somewhat misleading as many of the lots had multiple items in them . For example lot 420 contained 14 sets of fuchi kashira . Mr Milward had some really fine pieces in his collection . Many of the pieces list their provenance ie ex Peak , Bradshaw Joly and Naunton collections . This is something that I like about many of your pieces where you have also set out their provenance.

Fake Fake Fake

Hi Bob , I will take photos of the Milward catalogue entry and post them. My technical skills are a bit limited so it will take a few days. Ian Brooks

These were being faked so a purchaser would be taking a huge risk buying this on the strength of a sarute . I have seen one real one in fifty years ! Ian Brooks

That is a great kozuka Bob . I had a look at it in the Milward and Monzino catalogues and whilst the Milward cat described it as a masterpiece you would hardly go out of your way to buy it based on the catalogue photos . In your photo though it is really something else . Thanks for posting all of your pieces. Ian Brooks

Hi John, I wonder if this is an homage to a traditional tachi sarute where there is a v shaped scroll where the shakudo section meets the gilded part ? Regards Ian

Unfortunately it is an oil quenched Showato Jon . Ian Brooks

Hi Sam , go to the Nihonto information section on this site and then go to research and then to to Fake Japanese swords . You will find all the information that you need there . Ian Brooks

Unfortunately it is a modern Chinese fake Ian Brooks

Save your money Mark . It has NO chance of being by Horikawa Kunihiro. Ian Brooks

I cannot get this piece out of my mind . What on earth possessed you to buy it ? The only value it has as a study piece is to teach you not to buy junk like this again . There are board members in the UK who know what they are about . Why not seek their advice before you make your next purchase. Ian Brooks

Hi Alexi , as no one has stuck their neck out on the blade I will . I think it is shinshinto at best and probably from the Showa era . These swords with the hada that looks like it is made from two steels mixed together I have heard described as half swords . My understanding of this is that they are only partly made using traditional methods . This conclusion would be strengthened if the piece had ububa and a Showa era habaki . It follows that I think that you should save your money on the Shinsa . There I have stuck my neck out , what do others think? Ian Brooks

Almost all Naval swords that I have seen have the blackened tsuba and plated mounts or at least show vestiges of these . Does anyone else think that this one may have been heavily "cleaned" and "improved" by the addition of the brass strip Ian Brooks

I always thought that the reason for the pins was to keep the Kabuto gane on when it would otherwise fall off . You see them ( rarely) when the ito doesn't go over or through the kabuto gane and where the barrel that the sarute goes into is not part of the kabuto gane .The use of pins then stops the Kaboto gane falling off . I can only recall seeing four pins on each side in these and not six on each side like on this one . Given that both the ito and a barrel through the kabuto gane would hold this kabuto gane on these pins are not necessary and I wonder if they are later additions . Ian Brooks

I think you are all dreamers ! Why "cut" off one tassel and not the other ? The Japanese only had to surrender their swords which is why we don't see many belts or hangers with them . Why not simply take the tassel off as well . Perhaps that is the explanation for why we see so many swords without tassels on them , the Japanese took them off prior to surrendering the sword !! ( I am not being serious here). Is a more likely explanation simply that the tassel became unstitched or wore out. ? Ian Brooks

Hi Brian , i purchased a set in Japan about three years ago for thirty or forty thousand yen . These were from a sword book dealer so that price is about the market price. Ian Brooks

I too would describe it as a katana , based on the mounting. Ian Brooks

You hit the nail on the head Bruce . Some of these have probably been through numerous hands since the war and who can say what is original and what is not . The attached one came to me ,many years ago ,from the family of the man who bought it back, so it is almost certainly original . The blade is koto and signed Kunitoshi . The green cord was also with it . Ian Brooks

Hello Adam , I agree with all that Paul has said . To say that it looks like others by the same smith online is pretty unhelpful . You need to look at lots of genuine examples in books and to compare the way each character is cut on the genuine ones with the way that the same character is cut on yours .For example if you look at the Kami character on genuine ones the " box" part of the character on the real ones is generally much longer and narrower than the "box" part on yours . The absence of visible filemarks on your tang is also a worry . These mainline Tadayoshi nakago are always really well finished and you would expect to see yasurimei on the real thing . Ian Brooks