A True and Real HOKO - for sale

[Peter Bleed]

Japanese sword collecting used to be easier. A guy could spend weekends scouting out "bring-backs" and other old stuff. And then you could "study" it with the rather limited sources that were available. And then a couple of times a year you could go to a "sword show" and get rid of the stuff you didn't want to keep. These days, both buying and selling is more difficult and less fun than it used to be.

I am felling the need to do some selling and that is the point of this post.

I have a wish to sell...

   what i think is a real and true HOKO. Please see the attached images

I've owned this blade since shortly after I bought my copy of Raold Knutsen's book. It is a post-War veteran bring back from Japan and to an archaeologist's eye, it is certainly very old. It is an "antiquity" and an "artifact" that wears great age. The blade is out of polish and seriously but not deeply pitted. I see no hamon or other evidence of hada. The blade is 10 1/4" (26cm) long with a side blade extends 5 1/2" (4.5 cm) outward. The blade has a diamond cross-section with a maximum thickness of about 5 mm. The nagako is apparently ubu. It is heavily rusted, unsigned, has two holes, and is 12" (30.5 cm) long. It is mounted in what looks to me like a fragment of a legitimate old Japanese oak pole. The nakago is set is a deeply carved groove covered with a wood splint and held in place with a very old iron ferrule. The whole rig looks very old, but I would have no way of guaranteeing that it dates from the Kamakura period. I also emphasis the condition issues.  It is not in polish and I doubt that it ever will be polished. It is a solid, intact, "artifact" that reflects a rare and very old type.

I want $1500 for this blade. Buyer pays the freight and tips the NMB. I will ship it on approval to a NMB member. I would welcome trade for Sendai shinto, Ainu items, or - well - other neat stuff!

Peter

 

[ChrisW]

Now there's something you don't see every day! Neat item!

[Ken-Hawaii]

Looks like it spent some time in salt water, Peter. Don't think I've ever seen a "sawtooth" pattern on a yari.

 

Can't be newer than Nanbokucho, because that's when yari took over as battlefield weapons. But you knew that.

[Brian]

Damn...if I had the funds I'd jump on it. Love yari and especially unusual ones.
Anyone want to tag Steve Ingall? Don't know if he's a member.

[Baka Gaijin]

Smart looking item to be sure.

 

[ChrisW]

Ken, I think the 'sawtooth' pattern you are seeing on the lower portion of the yari is just an optical illusion that is a result of the reed mat its sitting on.

[Bugyotsuji]

Shades of Kato Kiyomasa and his kata-kama yari.

https://japaneseswordlegends.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/the-spears-of-kato-kiyomasa/

[Ken-Hawaii]

Didn't think it was shiny enough, but the reed does match. Good catch, Chris.

[Peter Bleed]

Yep. The serrated edge - or the appearance of one - is due to the fact that I used a tatami-kaya as background. And that speaks to my point about how the world used to work. Sword shows used to be an easy way to present stuff for sale.

Peter

[ChrisW]

Point well taken Peter! I haven't even been to a proper sword show. Always wanted to go, but never been able to. All my buying has been done online or in small antique shops. To whomever picks this up, congrats!