Vermithrax16

This fits my last post.

No expert at all, but this is a fine era piece in excellent condition. Perhaps not date or smith rare, but some people like me just want to buy this sort of thing to admire, not try to make money back later on.

Thank you Brian.

Thanks for the great and fun post. Seeing something like this come back to life is really worth the study of the nihonto blades.

If one wanted to get 3 kinds of reference, which would the forum suggest for: 1. Geberal reference 2. Kanbun era swords and smiths 3. Smith family lines

Yes, sorry, I thought I saw that in the post but guess not.

I guess I am more of an admirer and have a lot of respect for the craftsmanship and soul that went into these swords all those years ago.

See Bazza's post above?

Excellent piece!

Great thread, amazed at the knowledge base many members here have.

Japan should have a "repatriation tax holiday" where the swords could be declared at some low tax rate. Bring these pieces into the light.

The only thing I would add here, and up front total neophyte, an aspect of my post was meant to direct towards the "known" of what swords are still alive and well. But what about all we do not? 20 years a molecular biologist and now fascinated by these questions.

I do ask because there was a listing on Aoi-Art that was gimei signature but was certainly Tameyasu made sword. Wonderful work. Was gone a few hours before my email was seen

Raymond, First off, that is SCARY amazing that you had that ready to go that fast............ Second, thanks. I see it now. I was looking over the tables and having no luck. Exactly what I was looking for.

I have the book "The Connoisseurs's Book of Japanese Swords" but I am not finding anything on this smith. Can anyone point me to a resource or offer some information on this maker? Any help is appreciated.

I wasn't driving at anything. Looks like a nice piece at a nice price.

That's horrifying!

Great discussion. I meant it mostly as a thought experiment but some great posts here.

Wow, great reference and post! Thank you! Assumes most smith's made ~ 400 blades each. So maybe 1/10th of all time still are with us. Way more than I would have thought, but not unreasonable.

I had this thought the other day and could not even make a guess. It's very interesting. When you think of the fossil record, the work is based on what, 0.001% of all animals actually becoming fossils to be found later and studied. I would think Japanese swords are orders of magnitude higher, but anyone want to guess how many swords made from say 1400-1850 are still with us? Fascinated by this question.

Forgive me if this is not the correct forum section or if this does not fit the posting rules (I read them, seems relevant to this section). If Admin wants to remove I have no issue. I saw this listing on Ebay (I know, but I do like to look around there and see whats going on) and it's a papered by NBTHK Uda School katana. From the pictures there are several flaws; some in the bo-hi and what seems like delamination in at least one place. Still, to my novice eye I think I must be missing something. It's unsigned. http://www.ebay.com/itm/192056995827?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Not trying to knock the listing, for all I know it's fine, just asking.

Loving the size of this blade, very nice offering.

66.6 cm.......... man that's creepy

Hello all, Mostly a lurker, the knowledge here is intense, so I try to be quiet and learn. What confuses me is the wild price escalation on auction sites (Ebay, et all) for what I would term "project" swords. Bad finish, rust, maybe some level of damage, need of a new polish, old WWII fittings you get the idea. Long time coin collector so I get the games that get played. I have recently added a nihonto sword to my collection and it's magnificent. It excites me so much. I actually am afraid to touch it much (nitrile gloves) and I don't want to take it apart to study. I was looking for even a Showa sword that was not machine made with full fittings as a project sword to learn from. The pricing gets out of hand so fast, I may as well just go full out for another fine piece. Is it the featuring of these artworks in films, or what else? Seems many are in on this and not for collection. Sorry for a somewhat rant, just confused.

No expert for sure and can't read the glyphs good geometry but yes another polish maybe brings out hamon. Beautiful sword.