Rare tanto published in 1935 was discovered in my collection

leo · December 20, 2014

Interesting reference piece, Darcy!

This sort of mei is called kakikudashi-mei (書下し銘) and there is a very interesting article by Markus referring to this: https://markussesko.wordpress.com/2014/08/

Apparently this mei was used during Kamakura and Nanbokuchyo era, in Yamato province mostly on tanto and with the name coming after the date.

Best, Martin

Darcy · December 20, 2014

Good find Martin.

I saw this once before myself on an Aoe Tsugunao which had been in Dr. Compton's collection. So I see in Markus' article that it is found a lot on Aoe. Interesting.

This tanto below is also interesting. It is the only dated tanto by Awatauchi Kunimitsu and the date is split over two sides, with the mei coming after the month and day.

Markus writing about Samonji's predecessors, Sa split his signature over both sides of the blade usually, writing Chikushu Ju and Sa on the other. Sometimes only Sa. Sometimes a date on one side and his signature on the other. With tachi, there are old tachi in oshigata showing the same signature pattern splitting the signature on both sides. The Kosetsu Samonji though has its signature on one side and the other blank. There is a Juyo Token signed Samonji tachi with half the signature remaining. It would seem to follow this pattern too. Lots of unanswered questions on why they did the things they did.

zentsuji2 · February 15, 2015

Thanks for sharing the image,I'm glad people still have the luck to find rare swords like this.

How was it rarity missed?

Was it purchased from Japan or elsewhere.

It's a lovely tanto.

Regards

Ian Bellis

Jamie · March 21, 2020

I am sorry to here he passed. I haven’t seen him at the last few shows and wondered why. I didn’t know him well however I will say he showed me a few nice pieces. He made me kantei them to see them not under glass. The one I remember most was a ko mihara blade with outstanding asayugi

ROKUJURO · March 21, 2020

AYASUGI HADA?

BIG · March 21, 2020

Legacy.com...

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/christian-chaffee-obituary?pid=194212081

Best

george trotter · March 21, 2020

On 12/10/2014 at 1:42 AM, Christian Chaffee said:
I found a painting at the Long Beach outdoor antique show for $80, and to make a long story short, it has been authenticated by the foremost expert on the artist, and professionally appraised at $600,000 to $700,000.

Wow,,,well done! That's a lot of money, Maybe you haven't heard yet, but there is a guy named Brian who needs a few donations to help him get to the DTI in Japan this year...so,...maybe...?

Brian · March 21, 2020

Folks...this has been necro-bumped from, 2015. And Christian passed away, so fairly sure no funds will be coming from him. Don't think he was the type to give anyways.

Jamie · March 21, 2020

I am sorry to here he passed. I haven’t seen him at the last few shows and wondered why. I didn’t know him well however I will say he showed me a few nice pieces. He made me kantei them to see them not under glass. The one I remember most was a ko mihara blade with outstanding asayugi

george trotter · March 22, 2020

On 3/21/2020 at 4:12 PM, Brian said:
Folks...this has been necro-bumped from, 2015. And Christian passed away, so fairly sure no funds will be coming from him. Don't think he was the type to give anyways.

2015!!!...didn't even notice the date...and now he's gone...well I sure look foolish. Nothing offensive intended though...just a gentle hint to all you millionaires to help NMB and Brian where you can. I'd like to donate more to his trip but now that the Aussie dollar is so devalued a $100 dollar contribution from here wouldn't even buy you a run & coke in America.

Ah well, I'll try to notice little things like being 5 years out of date next time...

Regards,

Peter Bleed · March 22, 2020

Does anybody know what happened to Christian's stuff - including the mystery treasure he was pimping in this thread?

Peter

Blazeaglory · March 22, 2020

Wow! I enjoyed reading this thread tho

Oshy · March 22, 2020

I hope his collection went to well informed family or friends. Too bad it probably won't stay within the NMB community.

Surfson · March 23, 2020

I wasn't aware that Christian had passed away. He was a character, i will tell you, having met him several times over the years. I bought several things from him over the years, and sold him a few things as well, but he made his business selling all sorts of antiques and drove a hard bargain.

Most recently, (maybe a year or so ago) there were a number of things being sold by him on ebay and I bought quite a few. I only communicated with his wife at the time, and she told me that he was not well, but didn't go into any details.

Chrisitian always did have a flair for his special version of marketing, as you can see from this whole thread (which I had missed at the time and was interested to read belatedly). On one visit to meet him in San Diego, he took me out to several antique stores and demonstrated that he had tremendous knowledge about a great many things from crystal to asian art. In fact, he told me that he had bought an old trolly system that had been in operation in San Diego a half a century ago and was doing a $1M deal with the city to sell them back.

I am sad that I will not be crossing paths with him again.

R.I.P. Christian.