Fake or Real (anyone had business with dealer).

[Henry Stewart]

Gentlemen.

I forget where the original thread was or by whom, but it was about a Wakizshi for sale by an Australian gent,where every member who commented cried fake. When I mentioned I had a parrallel collection of fakes,apart from one reply,there was an embarrased silence,you could almost here the thought vibes "poor old sod's lost the plot".I have my reasons believe you me.Quickly followed by a cryptic remark from Brian who suggested we move the thread from where it was to another place;

The only reason for this entry is to let anyone know who is interested that the Australian gent says its now on its way to me so any moment now we should find out the truth of the matter,unless the customs ask me is it a genuine antique? The nearest truthful answer would have to be its resemblence to 'the curates egg'.

 

Henry

[Brian]

Henry,

Same reason I moved it now :D

It's Nihonto-related for now. If it arrives, and it is indeed traditionally made, then we can move it to Nihonto.

The collecting of fakes, as in your case, as part of research into an existing Nihonto collection for whatever reason can be understood. Just don't want to promote the idea of a sole collection of fakes as a substitute for the real thing for those who think they can't afford it or don't want to take the time to learn the intricacies of Japanese swords. That would be seriously flawed logic.

Let us know the outcome.

 

Regards,

Brian

[Henry Stewart]

Brian

 

Perish the thought. They are indeed wanted for research as against the parallel collection of genuine nihonto ergo comparative analysis. You surely do not mean that someone would collect fakes as opposed to the real article; sheeesh wouldnt that constitute a monumental waste of time. One of the interests I have is the material used and probable time consumed in manufacture. Some of them are very good.

Thank you for your kind attention to the thread; as you rightly surmised I couldnt place a lead as nihonto, as I dont know until it arrives. I fully intend to place the results.

[Henry Stewart]

Gentlemen

 

Guess what,I'm now searching both on NMB and elsewhere for one Daniel Fox,the Australian dealer gentleman who sold me the sword 3 weeks ago, accepted the cash and now seems somewhat shy about answering e-mails.

Needless to say, no sword yet,no further contact and according to GPO UK no sign of anything entering the country;

I continue but thought should bring the thread up to date 19/12/2008.

 

Henry

[Henry Stewart]

Gentlemen

 

The sword has now arrived finally ,in the hands of a private courier Ive never heard of before;

Only problem is Ive never seen anything like it; There will be a pause in proceedings whilst I spend time photographing it.

 

Henry

[loiner1965]

Gentlemen

 

The sword has now arrived finally ,in the hands of a private courier Ive never heard of before;

Only problem is Ive never seen anything like it; There will be a pause in proceedings whilst I spend time photographing it.

 

Henry

not sure if thats good or bad news henry

[Henry Stewart]

Steve

 

Me neither,however time will tell. My first observation has to be unfortunately it is not Nihonto,so I wait to see where Brian moves the thread? More to come.

 

Henry.

[Henry Stewart]

Gentlemen

 

I now have the weapon and all of the papers concerned in front of me. THIS IS NOT THE SHIRAE. THIS IS NOT THE s WORD ADVERTISED BUT A TOTALLY DIFFERENT ONE, BOTH BLADE AND KOS A POOR COPY OF A Japanese SWORD. The blade is stock bar steel,with an added hamon (not very well at that). Furniture poorly manufactured modern metal composition. The two menuki are stock on with impact adhesive despite having screw holes.They are not genuine anyway. The Tsuba cast brass or gun metal,machine traced, not older than 15 yrs. If you are new to Nihonto I can well see a novice being taken in.There is not much point in going on.Clearly the photo is a "come on" to send your cash, and you get tripe in return. I think Ive cocked the printing up. If you g near this dealer you need your bumps feeling??

 

Henry

[Henry Stewart]

Gentlemen

 

As a Post-Scriptum-- I retain hard copy of this individuals EBay ad; inluding the description and photos and packing with all labels.and as to the original question which started this thread "Fake or Real"---FAKE.

 

Henry