Promo

It was exactly my question, what does NBTHK require to paper two blades - without koshirae - as Daisho. It does seem to be very tough, but as the post of Darcy you mention as well as some links have showed, this seems to be possible. To what I was able to gather, the most important thing is that BOTH blades are documented together in the NBTHK certificate, whichever level it may be. Just by browsing around on some dealer sites I found another daisho with both blades on the NBTHK certificate, in that case from Naotane: Antique Daisho signed by Naotane for sale | Samurai Museum Shop

What is needed that NBTHK papers blades (without koshirae) as daisho? Maybe that would be a classification to relate to.

I‘d highly appreciate the translation of this Mei, and if there is anything to be known about the particular smith, then this additional information would be highly appreciated too. Thanks!

Re Saturday: great to have had the chance to also see faces behind nicknames, despite I sometimes felt misplaced among so many knowledgeable people.

Yeah, Ian was already at my home filming stuff from my collection in the past, I know him well. If there is any chance to make it to your museum I‘ll PM you and maybe we can also meet in person!

Just a very wild hint, are you aware that the royal house of Salm-Reifferscheidt, having their home in Schloss Steyregg, just north of the Danube, close to Linz, and therefore about two hours drive from Blatná, have had a Japanese ancestor? Aoki Shūzō started studying at Berlin University back in 1869 and later was Japanese Foreign Minister and was the great-grandfather of the current head of the family. They still have a few items from him in their castle, but of course some stuff disappeared over the decades too. Some links on this (sorry, they are German, you can try Google Translator): https://oag.jp/event...m-privaten-nachlass/ https://www.nachrich...2-Jahren;art4,575690 https://oag.jp/event...1844-1914-im-profil/ It may also have been a potential connection. One would need to research if any of the Salm-Reifferscheidt family has had a Naval function in WWI to see if this theory makes sense. PS: I love your museums website, especially all the very cool and rare weapons (for me: especially firearms) you have displayed there! Thanks for doing this stuff, despite I can't speak Czech! I hope to one day make it there and get to see at least some of them in person.

Bringing it up a last time - hope to see all NBTHK Europe members from this forum in Manching (in Germany) in exactly one week, next Saturday. I'll bring this Masayuki along so that all of you can inspect it in person. Highly looking forward to it!

If there is anything needed to be done in place, then let me know. This is approximately 1.5 hours drive from my home and I go there from time to time anyway. Could check if still there and try to take some pictures. Edit: dug out the old newspaper article on them .. basically it seems they are property of Anton Petermandl, meaning this person seemingly inherited the collection. It is claimed they are all from the estate of medical doctor Albrecht von Loretz, who lived from 1847 to 1884, and had worked in Japan and brought these blades from Japan to Steyr. If this person then handed them over to the museum, idk. I'd assume they did about zero with these blades since 1884, so they indeed have handling issues and maybe are out of polish. If this adds to the provenance .. idk. Judge yourself. https://www.nachrichten.at/oberoesterreich/weihnachten/Schwerter-der-Samurais-zum-Advent;art115283,1244441

Thank you! Spoke with Markus on this signature too, he mentioned that at best the second name was 9 years old when this was a collaboration work, so bit unusual and maybe to help the younger of the two? Unfortunately I only pictured the Mei when I saw this blade at a friends place, so cannot provide additional pictures. Edit, to make it clear: he said the two smiths are Yokoyama Kōzuke Daijō Fujiwara Sukesada (1633–1721) and Genpachirō Sukesada (1712–1743).

I‘d appreciate assistance in deciphering this Mei. Thank you!

I'd need to add to this, attending to this meeting is only possible for NBTHK (Europe) members. But fortunately there is plenty time left to join . https://www.nbthk.net/news

Long time no post .. sorry to bring it up again. I'm planning to attend the NBHTK Europe meeting in Manching in Germany on 28th September 2024, mainly to bring the blade along for anyone interested to take a look at it. For what I was able to understand it will start at 14:00 local time. Would be great to see faces behind nicknames.

@Sutraken I thought your blade deserves a better side by side so I did the attached "enhaced version" of the previous image better (but still a bit "quick'n'dirty" since a bit of the red background is still visible) in Photoshop. Thought you may appreciate it:

Thanks for providing additional pictures! I've did my best in a quick and dirty method and tried to match your two pictures to a single one. The hamon is quite high up in the blade, except for a part of the front half of the blade starting around the middle. @Ray Singer did you actually have the blade with you personally when you sold it, meaning you have had it in hands?

Actually I was thinking the same, even for being a beginner I thought the actual angle and picture size used makes it tough to be able to tell anything. But this should be rather easily solved, maybe Stefan could try and do a few pictures and post those here? Thanks!