bigjohnshea

Sold

Will add a few photos in case others are having issues.

https://ibb.co/yyxRTCX https://ibb.co/mX3TXK7 https://ibb.co/6N7PvH6 https://ibb.co/M1st6zQ https://ibb.co/dWNnsvh https://ibb.co/pwBx6zK https://ibb.co/92bP0GX https://ibb.co/NWCXCzX https://ibb.co/8KPftBX https://ibb.co/nD7cdhP https://ibb.co/r72VM1M https://ibb.co/nndsBsj

Sold!

Hold PP

Inbox seems to be working now. LOL Apologies...

Even though I cleared out my entire inbox, it keeps telling me it is full. Please email me if you have interest. Sorry for this dilemma. bigjohnshea@yahoo.com

Apparently my inbox was full. Didn't even know that could happen. LOL Deleted some messages. Feel free to email me at bigjohnshea@yahoo.com if you like. Cheers!

This is an exquisite mumei tanto by the Shin Shinto smith Shinkei Tanemitsu. This is an exceptionally beautiful tanto by a student of Taikei Naotane, with equally beautiful mountings made in the late Edo period. Comes with two papers, NTHK-NPO papers giving it to Tanemitsu, as well as dreaded green papers attributing it to the same. Chances are they are both perfectly valid attributions, but you decide... The koshirae has no signatures though is pristine and very possibly the original mounts for this blade, which was also made in the late Edo period. Tanemitsu is also documented as one of the retained smiths for the Tsuchiura clan, though there is no known link necessarily between this blade and the Tsuchiura clan. Just an interesting fact. Midare Gunome with Muneyaki and Tobiyaki Hira-zukuri Nagasa 9.75" SOLD Open to offers. Photos by the merchant I acquired it from. Used with their permission.

If nothing else I'm glad that this thread brought that to Rich's attention. Personally though, disavowed or not, if the green papers from decades ago agree with a good modern shinsa today (not sure it HAS to be NBTHK) then the blade HAS almost certainly got to have the kantei points needed to meet the attribution of the green papers. That's my opinion though. If others disagree, I'd love to know why. Peace!

😂 Okay. Thanks for that, Val. I find it interesting that the paper would still be considered meaningless if another independent shinsa provided the same result. Cheers!

So another paper agreeing, from another shinsa group, doesn't cut it for ya?

When are Tokubetsu Kicho papers considered validated by another shinsa? You'd think if nearly any other shinsa (NBTHK, NTHK, NTHK-NPO) agrees with them independently, then that would be validation enough? Yes? No? Maybe so?

Thank you for that clarification, and a nice oshigata to admire. 🙂

Can't speak highly enough about Paul Martin. He's an incredible asset to us collectors.

FYI, The seller set the duration of the lay away in this case. Just so you all know, that it was not the buyer asking for a long payment plan.

I tend to agree with Babu's post up above. In my opinion this type of praise from a merchant "this is Juyo quality", in a blade they are selling without a Juyo paper, means, "I submitted it already and it failed." or "I'm not going to risk the cost of submitting to Juyo, but you are welcome to." Here is a similar line used by merchants to lure in buyers: "While unpapered, the signature and workmanship suggests it is made by [insert famous smith name]". Or some variation of that. It means: "I'm not taking the risk to submit it, but you certainly can." or "I already submitted it, and it failed, but you should think highly of this." This is especially true if they are in Japan and already an NBTHK member. Not to imply they are all corrupt there, but they have no really good reason not to polish/submit something they think is a Juyo quality blade, or a famous signature. Everything I just wrote can be summed up by the old axiom, "You get what you pay for." Cheers!

Michael, I was under the impression that Yamato Kaneuji was born later in the 13th century. Interesting... I must have been informed wrong. Paulb, It makes sense that trends like this would be a more gradual transition.

Thank you for those insights Jussi.