Kamakura Sword On Aoi

[Vermithrax16]

Papered to Sueyuki and from 1300 AD! Tired blade but that this sword made it to now is remarkable:

http://www.sword-auction.jp/en/content/as17662-%E5%88%80%EF%BC%9A%E6%9C%AB%E8%A1%8C%EF%BC%88%E5%B1%B1%E5%9F%8E%E3%83%BB%E5%B9%B4%E4%BB%A3%E6%B0%B8%E4%BB%81%E9%A0%83%EF%BC%89-katana-sueyuki-0

[Katsujinken]

It’s got no hamachi left. Not surprisingly, this blade is dead center in the $10k-20k danger zone.

 

I also appreciate the miracle that the blade still exists at all, but one could make a better choice in my opinion.

[Vermithrax16]

I highlighted here due to the age of the blade. Always a pleasure to see something this old.

 

The hamchi is about gone, but it has not been moved up over time. I have seen many Nanbokucho era swords with a hamchi notch that looks great, but they were moved up within last 200 years.

[Jussi Ekholm]

I think there are two approaches to this. Of course high end art collectors might not enjoy the sword too much but historical fanatic such as myself might be really drawn into it.

 

As Michael said earlier about the price range, this is not really a "gem" price as it's been recently discounted at Aoi and was listed some years earlier by another Japanese dealer at 1,4M yen. Condition is of course what would be expected at this level but for me there is a huge but that overrides the condition... as it is a signed Ayanokōji school tachi.

 

I have just got info on 2 signed Sueyuki tachi that have been listed for sale in recent years, and here is the other one at 10M Yen: http://iidakoendo.com/4386/

 

So if wanting a signed piece from this school the opportunities are rare and sword like one Jeremiah posted in OP would be a dream come true to collector like me. I would much rather go for a sword like this than a good condition suriage mumei Jūyō. Of course those are just personal preferences.

[Gakusee]

I am with Jussi

 

For the price of a flashy-koshirae wakizashi (there was some recent thread on that), you get a Koto Ayakonoji sword.

 

I have seen Zufu Nado oshigata of some Juyo level ones by Sueyuki and they seem similarly ground down around the hamachi. I am not saying that this sword will go Juyo (it has probably been tried already) but it is a grand old tachi.

 

With some skilful negotiation a buyer could reduce the price a bit further probably.

[seattle1]

Hello:

I am also with Jussi on this one for sure. While the sword shows its age in the photographic image, the group is small, rare, and the sugata is classic. For me the clincher would be the oshigata which shows the boshi intact, not so common as one might think, entirely hamon pleasing, and the length is great. As for the ha-machi I think it could be minimally reinstalled yielding a net plus. I don't like to get into offer prices, much less Juyo hype, but think how about a couple of much less interesting things that could be had for the same asking price.

Arnold F.

[Katsujinken]

Great points Jussi and Arnold.

 

At this budget, this is a much better choice than a random chusaku Shinto piece in flashy furniture.

[Jean]

Remember guys, a few years ago Aoi Art had for sale a tanto by the founder of the Ayakanoji school for about 1,6 M¥. The ONLY existing tanto by this smith. There were 2 known but one disappeared during WWII.believe me or not, it was on the website for at least a couple of months. Should I have had the bucks I would have bought it at once. A fantastic piece of history, nevertheless nobody seems in a hurry to buy it. It was TH, I am wondering what kind of criteria was needed by NBTHK to pass it juyo...

[Ray Singer]

Jean, I go back to see this one often...

 

https://www.aoijapan.net/tanto-sadatoshi-ayakoji/

[Gakusee]

 

Actually, having looked into it, the TH certificate of this tachi was issued at the end of 2015. So it could have been tried at Juyo in 2016 and 2017 but it might have not (probably more the former than the latter). I also bought a TH sword from Aoi which had had TH for a couple of years and then it passed Juyo at first attempt in my ownership. So it is possible to upgrade a sword bought from a dealer.

 

I have been able to identify only 3 Sueyuki Juyo swords, all of which are tachi - two of them zaimei and one mumei. One of them is actually pretty close to this one in weariness, hamon, lack of machi etc. Given the scarcity of this smith, especially signed high level rated swords, I think it is a good investment at this value.

[Vermithrax16]

Great points all, glad this generated some discussion.

[Jean]

Thanks Ray for posting the link