Jussi Ekholm

I might have worded that bit foolishly. I was meaning that for me the fact that the tsuba came from collections of Sasano & Kremers and if Eckhard authenticated it at Ashmolean event these combined with NBTHK papers would give it a very strong provenance in my opinion. Of course the exact year it was made will probably always be up for debate. I was surprised at n.5 too. However I think it is not always black & white and someone is right and other one is wrong. I think Darcy has written a very good piece regarding how NBTHK attributions are not set in stone and should not be taken as absolute facts. NBTHK shinsa panel just offers one of the best opinions in the world. Sure some things are very stereotypical and attributions are easy to accept (it does help a lot if you are agreeing/hoping for certain attribution). However there are plenty of things that can be either or, and without a working time machine we will never know for sure. Attributions by experts are the best possible method of authentication, and of course it is completely possible that different experts see things differently.

Thanks for this Grev, it was really fun. Personally I'd give great value to comments from Sasano & Kremers.

Would make more sense. Nagahide is listed in Sesko index for Bun'an and his entry to Bungo Taikan I believe says that there is and example that is signed 豊後州永秀作 / 文安三年二月吉日. I think he is very unknown smith.

I wouldn't immidiately think it is a fake. I think it reads 豊後州秀行 / 文?五?? Bungo shū Hideyuki / Bun ? 5 ?? I believe this Bungo shū is the most uncommon start of Bungo signature, but I looked at Bungo Taikan and found one tachi, where 豊後州 is signed above the ana like in your sword and signature continues after the hole. The Hideyuki listed in Bungo Taikan seems to be Kanbun period smith, same that Markus has listed in his smith index.

1.? 2.? 3. Ko-Tōshō 4. Akasaka 5. Tōshō / Katchūshi

Amazing report team Italy!

I am not a tsuba guy but I'd think you are seeing the remnants of amida yasurime, you can see example at Grey's site here: http://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/tsuba-%26-kodogu/t250-tosho-tsuba-amida-yasuri

I think this is just fun & games more than hardcore serious kantei. I can tell that my initial guess was Sekishū Sadatsuna, which is incorrect. However here is a fun thing that was steering us to our guesses I think, based on gut feeling and some statistical data. It is really easy one and might be too obvious.

Sounds like pretty solid deals could have been had there. This is just so minor hobby and you need to have the right buyers at the right time. I'm glad to hear some Token GB members scored nice deals at the auction, and hopefully NMB members too.

Just noticed that my copy of vol.2 seems to have similar checkerboard over some images that Chris showed in his pics. I hadn't even noticed that before as I hadn't read this volume as much as the 1st one. It's a minor detail but of course it can be bit annoying. I am not too bothered about it.

I am too good at finding the actual swords... I wish my ability for kantei would be as good. But I'm a good sport and keep it secret, unfortunately my initial guess was off. I love the shape of this, moto & saki are very wide, spectacular sword.

I might be going against the common consensus but I do not like that sword. I do not like the size and shape of that sword in it's current state. And for me that is the most important part of the sword, as I do not have too keen eye on artistic values. I was talking with Graham Curtis briefly at Utrecht about statistical approach to swords, I enjoyed his lecture greatly and I felt bit similar mindset to my own. We discussed a bit (among few other things) how you can imagine how the sword is by just looking at the numbers. As I've been working on my own databases I've learned a lot about my own preferences. So as crazy as it is by just looking at the numbers of that sword I would know that sword does not fall among those I like. This comes round to that what Paul B. said in his lecture about good swords vs. bad swords and personal preference. I understand that the Ichimonji Fred has is a good sword, I just don't like it. I do like many swords of much lesser quality but that does not make them as good as this one.

I remember I had posted about this subject earlier so I found it by searching, this might give some insight on regional tamahagane: http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/23184-steel-analysis-of-different-regional-schools/ Unfortunately I don't know anything about hammers. Would be nice to hear about it from modern swordsmiths/blacksmiths.

Not a Bizen expert but I believe they are two seperate schools. Wake smiths lived in Wake (和気) and Kokubunji came from Kokubunji (国分寺), hence the names I believe. I think the lineages and histories vary from source to source. And you have to also think about the geographical locations as many of the famous bizen locations are within a 10 km circle around Osafune. For example Wake is about 10 km north of Osafune along the Yoshii river. I believe at least by one version Wake school is connected to Saburō Kunimune and his school worked in Osafune. One version of history for Kokubunji is that he was son of either Sukemura or Nobukane from Fukuoka Ichimonji school. He first lived in Tōjō in Bingo province but later moved to Ashida district where he established a school in the remains of local Kokubunji. So I believe one of the current theories is that Kokubunji Sukekuni is a Bingo smith with Bizen background. Here are links to 2 Wake blades I have stored up. Wake Shigenori: http://www.kusanaginosya.com/SHOP/489.html Wake Shigesuke: https://www.touken-sakata.com/%E5%88%80%E5%89%A3%E4%B8%80%E8%A6%A7/%E5%88%80-%E7%84%A1%E9%8A%98-%E5%92%8C%E6%B0%97%E5%BA%84%E9%87%8D%E5%8A%A9-%E5%8F%A4%E5%88%80-%E4%B8%8A%E4%BD%9C/

I've always thought (maybe incorrectly) that if NBTHK specify Magoroku (孫六) in brackets then they are meaning the Magoroku, and later Kanemoto generations get sometimes kodai (後代) etc. in brackets. But it is probably most common for just Kanemoto without specification in brackets. So that is why extra added Magoroku is "significant".

Thanks for your detailed analysis Michael, I'd trust your eyes over mine.

Just few thoughts, even though I am not as well versed in European medieval swords I still know a bit about them. That sword is one of really famous group as I recognized it immidiately, the Alexandria Arsenal XVIIIc's. I think this will explain the estimate bit more as another Alexandria Arsenal sword sold for 380,000£ few years ago. https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/arms-armor/a-fine-rare-italian-medieval-broadsword-5967645-details.aspx?from=salesummary&intObjectID=5967645&sid=6ee1f107-256f-4ed5-ae99-f6e31b77b540 So I'd say the Alexandria Arsenal XVIIIc's are something like Tokubetsu Jūyō or Jūyō Bunkasai. There are only a small number of them remaining, and it is very rare for European swords as I believe they can be accurately be dated to have been added to the arsenal from 1414 to 1419. I found a good portion for quote from the lot information as it describes just how rare similar swords are.

Here are some additional thoughts about the event. Like others have said before me the amount of fine items on display was amazing. As has been said there were 100+ fine tsuba, I'd say that is enough material for 10 sword club meetings in tsuba alone... Then if you add all the swords and fittings + armor pieces and suits that were at dealer booths the combined numbers are massive. I can say for the 12+ hours I was in over the 2 days I had only enough time to focus on the swords as display pieces combined with dealers there were well over 100 swords at the show. I think dealers had hundreds of tsuba & other fittings combined, unfortunately I did not have enough time to enjoy their fittings departments, or the armor pieces they had. There was just so much stuff to see. Everything went super smoothly. I guess we have Eddy to thank for this. All the presentations, displays, booths, everything in show was set up very well, everything happened on time. In overall there weren't any problems that I would have noticed. Like Dave said earlier the city of Utrecht and Jaarbeurs center were also top notch spots for an event like this. Schipol airport is a major hub and transportation to Utrecht was very easy. And I was stunned that Mayor of Utrecht came to visit the show, I think it was really nice gesture and I really liked his speech too. So hopefully we can continue the Dutch - Japanese relations on this field. I really enjoyed this kind of take on kantei, I had never experienced this before and I can explain it briefly to those who did not attend. Like Francesco said earlier there was a clock and only minute to see the sword. Then after everyone had taken their turns on the blades (there were a lot of participants) we gathered back and there was really interesting way of getting to the correct answer. Eckhard and Paul were asking the crowd what we saw and they took us to answer the important things about the swords to arrive at the correct conclusion. I must say I enjoyed this greatly as it was amazing to see how much the experienced people were able to see in the swords in that one minute. I understood what important clues I totally missed and the ones I saw. I hope everyone interested would get to experience kantei in this style too as it was really fun.

Nice find Rayhan, so my babbling above wasn't all that crazy as seems it is already Jūyō.

I think one dealer had a tachi koshirae like this at Samurai Art Expo. Unfortunately it didn't intrest me so I didn't look it, don't know who had it and don't know if it had a blade in. I just remember seeing a tiny tachi koshirae on Friday in one of the booths.

It was an awesome event, I was very happy I visited. For me the best part was meeting other people in there and I met a lot of old friends and some new ones too. I am starting to realize how small this hobby is in the Europe as you'll often mostly meet familiar faces. I was thinking this would be the event to really gather up masses of collectors together however unfortunately the attendance did not get to levels I expected. Organizers did an amazing job to bring us wide variety of lectures and great bunch of dealers together. I was really happy that Nick came across the Atlantic and we got 5 Japanese dealers to attend the event. I kept wishing the dealers would have gotten good sales during the event. Here are some hopefully helpful thoughts. I enjoyed all the lectures as well I am totally hooked on this hobby. Later during the Saturday I was thinking there could have been maybe 1 beginner level lecture at some point? For example something briefly telling about different types of Japanese weapons etc. I am not sure if the organizers are gearing to get new collectors in or mostly gearing it to more senior collectors. Likewise for the amazing items on display there was very little information on them. Sure us sword geeks know the "common" stuff but I would have thought for new collectors there could have been some kind of explanation cards near displays? For example when there were the 4 Ichimonji there could have been a brief description about Ichimonji and those 4 specific swords, for Ko-Aoe & Chu-Aoe small history of Aoe and the measurements of the swords, for Shikkake and Hōshō there could have been a brief description about Yamato 5, I think you catch my drift here. I strongly think we have to also focus on the new collectors to provide some basic material for easy study. I know this because I must admit I couldn't fully enjoy all of the tsuba because I did not have enough information to even properly understand what I am really looking for. Of the dealers I must give special credit to Giheiya as I thought they had a great inventory for the event. They had several modern swords (1900's) that I think would have been perfect for martial artists, it is not too common to have several affordable Japanese swords to choose from for martial arts purposes in Europe. I know how important it is for martial artists to get the feel of the sword, and here were multiple choices for very reasonable prices + no taxes, no wait, no postage etc. I had 2 great days in the Netherlands thanks to all the people and great items. I hope we will have a similar event in the future too.

Happy to see you all in there, feel free to come and chat even if you do not yet know me.

I think it is this one. I know I would have guessed the period about correctly but anything after that would have been too difficult.

I guess I can't make a guess as I think I know what sword it is.

Is the blade length c. 92,5 cm like in your picture?