Sofe Designs Auction of Japanese Swords

[matthewbrice]

Auction notice for an upcoming auction that has LOTS of Japanese swords in it (along with Southeast Asian items).  Yes, I personally have a number of swords in this auction.  And yes, I have MANY desirable swords in this auction.  But there are probably 75 more Japanese swords, fittings, kabuto, etc. in this auction.  A great selection.  It's worth taking a look at I think.  

 

Just a few of the swords I personally have in this auction are:

--2 Chinese Army General's kyu-gunto swords (not dress swords)

--a katana by 5th Generation Tadayoshi, papered

--NBTHK papered Nanbokucho katana by Sadanao, polished by Bob Benson, sayagaki by Tanobe sensei

--papered Kamakura katana, attributed to Ko Naminohira

--Yasukuni Shrine sword by Yasuyoshi

--large papered Koto period jumanji yari

--a Naval kai-gunto, Koto period blade, never been to shinsa

--NBTHK papered gendaito by Baba Tsugukiyo

--polished mumei wakizashi with exceptional fittings, and spectacular lacquer-work saya, never been to shinsa

--etc.  

 

Here is the link to the auction site:

 

https://bid.sofedesignauctions.com/

 

 

Again though, there are LOTS more Japanese swords and Japanese art in this auction.  It's a loaded auction!

 

 

 

 

--Matthew Brice

[singh13]

I will definitely be checking this out, thanks for the link

[matthewbrice]

No problem!

 

 

 

—Matt

[John C]

Matt:

Is the Mantetsu (item #215) yours?

John C.

[matthewbrice]

Hi John.  You’re right—I forgot about that one.  Yes, that sword is mine as well.  😁

 

 

 

—Matt

 

 

[singh13]

I'm looking at the 5th generation Tadeyoshi, and it was papered at 40 points in the description. Just want to confirm if that's true as I'm new to Nihonto and thought NTHK starts at 60

[matthewbrice]

If the description wasn’t noted correctly (I hadn’t looked)—40 pts. was the smith’s rating in Hawleys.  👍🏻
 

 

—Matt

 

 

[PNSSHOGUN]

Some very nice swords available, thanks for the heads up.

[rematron]

Yes Matthew, thanks for posting this!  A little overwhelming how much goodies are listed! 

Is this a yearly thing or how often do these auctions happen?

[Jussi Ekholm]

I can't afford to buy anything but I will comment on few items that I looked briefly.

 

142 - I believe this is signed Jumyō (寿命) and is later sword, not Kotō.

143 - I think signature is Hizen jū Yukihiro (肥前住行広) and is later sword, not Kotō.

144 - I think signature is Shigetsugu (重次) and to me it is later sword, not Kotō.

145 - This one I think is Kotō but later than the 1350 attribution. I would rather think something common like Bizen instead of quite obscure Kongōbyōe school. Signature is Morimitsu.

159 - Signed items by Sekishū Naotsuna are extremely rare, so IF the signature is genuine it should be valuable item.

163 - Quite interesting package to my eye.

169 - Signature is Bishū Osafune jūnin / Yokoyama Kōzuke no Daijō Fujiwara Sukesada (備州長船住人 / 横山上野大掾藤原祐定) if the signature is genuine sword in not Kotō.

171 - Decently interesting item due to its size

172 - I see this as possibly questionable item.

173 - Signed Chikuzen kuni jū Nobukuni Yoshinao / 1856 (筑前国住信国義直 / 安政三年八月日), the second kanji of period is written in weird form where two parts of character are underneath and not side by side, I would look into other works of this smith on how he signed.

187 - Best item in my opinion... wait it seems to be a reworked Paul Chen katana, made in China. The tsuka is from Paul Chen Tsunami Katana but I am not sure if Tsunami was ever done with hi, so they might have assembled it with other Paul Chen blade that has hi, Chinese repro tsuba and slapped on PC Tsunami tsuka on it.

210 - Sadanao (貞直) tachi is in my opinion actually the most interesting item in the lot. NBTHK attributes it to early Muromachi, unfortunately I can't read Tanobe-sensei sayagaki from the pictures provided by auction house. This smith is unknown to me but very interesting item.

212 - I'll just say I am often quite confused by NTHK, and leave it at that

217 & 218 - Quite interesting spears

 

I admit my view is skewed as I do look only very high quality items in references and online most of the time for research (no I don't collect at that level). I think the Sadanao tachi and 2 spears are maybe the most interesting items that I saw. Granted I know pretty much nothing at all on late items so wartime stuff might be more special than the trio I am interested in. As Matthew was very open in providing list of items he has up, with quick eye I would see that many items that I see as higher quality items in the lot are from Matthew. Yasukuni & Mantetsu etc. are definately going to hit wartime collectors.

[Brian]

Thanks Jussi, excellent reviews and summaries there.
So you mean that 187 isn't worth chasing then?
There really are some superb ethnographic edged weapons on offer there. Especially for the Keris collectors. Very impressive lineup.

[vajo]

Wow Jussi - great!

Lot 187:

 

Here the eagle Tsuba 

 

 

 

[matthewbrice]

Hi Jeremy.  Sofe Design Auctions features 20-50 Japanese swords probably two times a year.  This is a bigger one of the biggest ones.  

 

Thanks Jeremy!

 

 

 

--Matt

 

 

[rematron]

Thanks Matt!  None of the three shikomizue listed blow my socks off but it's good to know they pop up like this. 

[John C]

9 hours ago, Jussi Ekholm said:

I will comment on few items that I looked briefly.

Jussi: Thanks! (But you didn't talk about any of the ones I am interested in!!)

 

John C.

[Bridges]

Thanks for the resource, definitely checking it out 

[Tensho]

Does this auction house have hidden reserves? I see starting prices, but this item for example has been for sale for YEARS. And they have been offered more than the starting price for it. 

[TheGermanBastard]

210 The Sayagaki gives the sword to Muromachi. It gives it to a Yamato smith. 

 

Many of the descriptions are misleading or plain wrong. 

 

The supposed Yasukuni blade looks like a most recent Gimei from Samurai Monkeys dremel work bench. 

 

To me the Tadayoshi is the most appealing one but at the estimate plus Premium it is above retail for a perfectly polished one in Japan

[matthewbrice]

Hi Luis.  The Yasuyoshi is legit.  
 

Also, as you know Luis, most auction houses rarely have a Japanese expert on staff.  They accept consignments, and auction off items for sale.  We collectors and dealers do our research on items we bid on ourselves.  This is the case with most auctions that deal in varied collectibles categories.  
 

 

 

—Matt

[TheGermanBastard]

In my cheap opinion the Yasuyoshi mei looks odd but I am not a Shinsa team so take my oppinion for what it costs and everybody do their own research. 

 

Some of the Information given in the auction description is just wrong as also Jussi did state, too. Sadanao is not Nambokucho but Muromachi according to Tanobe Sayagaki

[Rivkin]

Virtually every description is quite... optimistic.

[matthewbrice]

Sorry about the Sadanao time period description.  That shape—combined with a guy that reads a little Japanese (but obviously not well) told me the sayagaki said Nanbokucho.  Here’s what I’ll do to clear up that description—I’ll post the sayagaki photo in the translation section here on the nmb.  Then I’ll get the listing description changed once I get the full translation.  Thanks guys!

 

 

 

—Matt

[matthewbrice]

In fact, I just found the guy’s notes on parts of the sayagaki he thought he could read.  See photo.  

But, as I said, I’ll get some more informed help from a Japanese speaker here on the forum.  

 

 

 

—Matt

[Rivkin]

On 1/6/2023 at 2:13 AM, Jussi Ekholm said:

212 - I'll just say I am often quite confused by NTHK, and leave it at that

I saw the blade. This was 2022 NTHK panel with a new staff. Quite a few attributions to ko Aoe and Bungo Yukihira. Ko kissaki seems to be the thing for all such submissions - and in real life this one did look miniaturesque.

[matthewbrice]

Oou guys, I just found an email from Bob Benson that has reminded me of some background on the ‘Sadanao’.  I have about 100 swords in my inventory at any one time, so I lose track.  Ok—so the signature was decided to be Sadazane by two NBTHK-American branch board members, and by Marcus Sesko.  Then it comes back from Japan—NBTHK decides on Sadanao, and early Muromachi.  
 

Now this is before Mr. Tanobe was shown the sword after the NBTHK judged it…  Bob said that early Muromachi made zero sense to him.  He also told me that it looked like someone had dug around with the second kanji making it look like it had been messed with.  
 

Anyway, I’ve had my doubts about the NBTHK opinion.  But, if I have a photo of the sayagaki here somewhere I can get Mr. Tanobe’s sayagaki translated.  
 

 

 

 

—Matt

[TheGermanBastard]

22 minutes ago, matthewbrice said:

Oou guys, I just found an email from Bob Benson that has reminded me of some background on the ‘Sadanao’.  I have about 100 swords in my inventory at any one time, so I lose track.  Ok—so the signature was decided to be Sadazane by two NBTHK-American branch board members, and by Marcus Sesko.  Then it comes back from Japan—NBTHK decides on Sadanao, and early Muromachi.  
 

Now this is before Mr. Tanobe was shown the sword after the NBTHK judged it…  Bob said that early Muromachi made zero sense to him.  He also told me that it looked like someone had dug around with the second kanji making it look like it had been messed with.  
 

Anyway, I’ve had my doubts about the NBTHK opinion.  But, if I have a photo of the sayagaki here somewhere I can get Mr. Tanobe’s sayagaki translated.  
 

 

 

 

—Matt

 

Was this blade originally coming out of the wood work from a canadian seller on eBay many years ago? 

[Rivkin]

5 hours ago, matthewbrice said:

Ok, so more info on the Sadanao tachi.  There was an early Muromachi Yamato Sadanao working approximately 1338 A.D.--which is... Nanbokucho period.  So that's the swordsmith the NBTHK decided on.  

 

 

I wrote a sarcastic message but then realized where the problem is coming from.

In normal people's textbooks Nambokucho can be part of Muromachi period.

In Nihonto definitions it never is.

This blade by papers and sayagaki is from 1400s, i.e. nihonto's Muromachi.

 

[Ken-Hawaii]

That makes much more sense, Kirill, thanks! I was ready to call Bob & ask him how he read it.

[Stephen]

May i ask the Mantetsu lot #

I get tired eye scroll 

[Mark]

https://bid.sofedesignauctions.com/lots/view/4-8EBE5L/rare-ww-ii-Japanese-mantetsu-sword-for-army-officer-triple-signed-dated-tang-by-koa-isshin-mantetsu-including-mune-markings