Art of Samurai Bonhams Online Auction

[Soshin]

Just a quick community notice about the Art of the Samurai Bonhams Online Auction. Here is a link to register: Bonhams : Arts of the Samurai. I have already registered for this auction. Highlight of the auction include A Kotō Tachi made circa Kamakura period (1185-1333), 13th century attributed to Shinsoku with Shinsoku orikaeshi mei. The tachi is honzukuri, iorimune, ko-gissaki configuration with a strong koshizori curvature, forged in mokume hada with a ko-chōji tempered edge and midarekomi bōshi, ō-suriage tang with kiri file marks and four holes, orikaeshi mei Shinsoku, with a one-piece habaki, 26 1/2in (67.2cm.) long, in a wood shirasaya storage scabbard inscribed Matsudaira-ke zō (Matsudaira household collection).

 

Here are some interesting provenance notes from the Bonhams website. 

 

Provenance
Sold Christie's, New York, September 15, 2003, lot 384
Walter A. Compton Collection, sold Christie's, New York, Japanese Swords and Sword Fittings from the Collection of Walter A. Compton, Part II, October 22, 1992, lot 207
Tokugawa Ienari (1787-1837, purported)
Matsudaira family (purported)
Iwakura Tomomi (1825-1883, purported)

The shirasaya bears an inscription claiming that in the early days of the Kamakura shogunate, in the second month of 1252, Prince Munetaka, son of the Emperor, went from Kyoto to Kamakura to inaugurate the government and was attended by Kiyohara Noritaka Sagami-no-suke Mikawa-no-kami, of the rank of Daiki Shōgo-i, to whom he gave this sword.

With an origami (photocopy only) bearing the seal of the eleventh Shogun Tokugawa Ienari stating that the blade had been given to the Matsudaira family, and an origami (photocopy only), dated Meiji 9 (1876) and signed by the Iwakura household, stating that the blade had been given (to Prince Iwakura Tomomi) by the Matsudaira.

 

Feel free to discuss it politely. Thank you. 

 

 

[BjornLundin]

Oei bizen tanto is tempting, from photo. Price point unknown for yasumitsu compared to the other two Oei bizen smiths. 

 

https://www.bonhams....333-1573-circa-1400/

 

Omiya bizen,

 

I honest dont know about this one. It doesnt feel great but there is something that interest me. New polish or better photo... Is it really from the Omiya school? Someone please educate me about this one! Price point on the border.... 

 

https://www.bonhams....3-1573-16th-century/

 

[Baba Yaga]

21 minutes ago, BjornLundin said:

Oei bizen tanto is tempting, from photo. Price point unknown for yasumitsu compared to the other two Oei bizen smiths. 

 

https://www.bonhams....333-1573-circa-1400/

 

Omiya bizen,

 

I honest dont know about this one. It doesnt feel great but there is something that interest me. New polish or better photo... Is it really from the Omiya school? Someone please educate me about this one! Price point on the border.... 

 

https://www.bonhams....3-1573-16th-century/

 

Hope you aren't buying the papers.  "Nihon Bijutsu Tōken Hozon Kyōkai (Society for the Preservation of the Japanese Art Sword), dated July 17, 1976"

 

See the price in the upper right - That plus all the fees is the "reserve price". 

 

 

[Tanegashima]

The Taxidermy Horses with riders are simply fabulous, reminding me of the Samurai Mannequins in the Victoria & Albert Museum.

[Soshin]

19 hours ago, BjornLundin said:

Oei bizen tanto is tempting, from photo. Price point unknown for yasumitsu compared to the other two Oei bizen smiths. 

 

https://www.bonhams....333-1573-circa-1400/

 

I agree this does look like a nice tanto from the photos.  

[Jussi Ekholm]

I think dealers and sellers will probably hate me... but it is so easy to track down items that peak my interest

 

This is the Yasuie wakizashi: https://tokka.biz/sword/yasuie.html and after Tokka it has at least once appeared on eBay too. Interesting thing is that when you look at the item it now the koshirae has been tweaked since when it was sold in Japan. You can see that it has been rewrapped and kozuka has been changed.

 

This is the Yasumitsu wakizashi: http://nihonto.us/YASUMITSU HIRAZUKURE TANTO DS.htm not much more to add to that

 

The Gassan katana has been sold twice quite recently in Japan by different dealers. I think the estimate for this one is super wishful thinking.

 

Personally I would not put much faith in the Shinsoku sword. Smith is kind of like an unicorn and I would at least add 0 and most likely more than that to the item if genuine by that smith.

 

I think the Ōmiya sword could be plausible to the old NBTHK attribution. Would need better pictures and dimensions of the item to guess more.

[Soshin]

17 hours ago, Jussi Ekholm said:

I think dealers and sellers will probably hate me... but it is so easy to track down items that peak my interest

 

This is the Yasuie wakizashi: https://tokka.biz/sword/yasuie.html and after Tokka it has at least once appeared on eBay too. Interesting thing is that when you look at the item it now the koshirae has been tweaked since when it was sold in Japan. You can see that it has been rewrapped and kozuka has been changed.

 

This is the Yasumitsu wakizashi: http://nihonto.us/YASUMITSU HIRAZUKURE TANTO DS.htm not much more to add to that

 

The Gassan katana has been sold twice quite recently in Japan by different dealers. I think the estimate for this one is super wishful thinking.

 

Personally I would not put much faith in the Shinsoku sword. Smith is kind of like an unicorn and I would at least add 0 and most likely more than that to the item if genuine by that smith.

 

I think the Ōmiya sword could be plausible to the old NBTHK attribution. Would need better pictures and dimensions of the item to guess more.

 

Thank you @Jussi Ekholm. This is an example of a thoughtful, informative, and importantly polite critique of some of the pieces up for sale at Art of Samurai Bonhams online auction. I was told on Sunday that one Japanese sword lot from this auction would help support the New York Token Kai. If I receive a follow-up confirmation email from the club officers which lot it is, I will post it here.        

[Matsunoki]

If only we all had the detective ability of Jussi…..and the determination to do it. Sometimes a reality check is very necessary.
 

its all too easy to get carried away with the hype that these big Auction houses create with their flashy sales and marketing. That includes the big London boys as well.

 

Sometimes it’s worth asking ourselves…..why are these items in a auction where the auctioneer is going to take somewhere around 40% of the sale proceeds and yet the vendor is happy for that to happen. 
 

Could it just be that these things have failed previous sales attempts elsewhere? Why are so many entries imported (often from Japan) to be sold over here? Can they not be sold in Japan? Why have they not sold in Japan?

 

The auctioneers often use coded symbols to denote whether an item has been imported for sale (usually necessary for tax purposes) by they are very small symbols and you have to search to find their meaning…..how often do we look and investigate?

 

The auctioneers really don’t care where the things come from ……they are driven by their “bean counter” masters and the bottom line is simply £/$. 
 

most of my experience is from 40+ years in the UK markets but I’d bet the same “issues” apply equally in the States. 
 

it pays to be suspicious and a good dose of cynicism is always helpful……and don’t forget the huge buyers premium that you will pay the auctioneers who haven’t told you the full story of what you are buying.

[Soshin]

7 minutes ago, Matsunoki said:

The auctioneers really don’t care where the things come from ……they are driven by their “bean counter” masters and the bottom line is simply £/$

 

All these auction houses are for profit businesses driven by bottom line. I work in a business as a scientist. Its collective actions and my actions as a scientist are driven by the bottom line.   

[Matsunoki]

10 minutes ago, Soshin said:

All these auction houses are for profit businesses driven by bottom line.

True…..and that puts huge pressures on the various Head of Depts to meet their sales targets. That in turn could lead to items being accepted/entered for sale that have an undisclosed history of previous failed sales attempts….either retail or auction. Often their jobs/careers hinge on hitting these targets and thus the onus is on us to know and understand what we are seeking to buy…..they are under no obligation (unless anything illegal is involved eg art trafficking) to tell us anything negative about any particular  Lot. They probably haven’t asked too many questions. They are however very keen to trumpet any potentially genuine provenance or any previous favourable sale results. Their conditions of sales carefully protect them from just about everything.

once the hammer drops it’s too late…..it’s yours……often at a scary price including premiums….too late if you then find it’s gone through assorted dealers/auctioneers/eBay/etc etc  beforehand. 
All I’m saying is be careful…….all is not always as it appears to be.

 

[Gakusee]

What I find bewildering is that NY and London have competing auctions within a few days of each other. In this way Bonhams is cannibalising its own outcome and should have spaced them further apart. 

[Baba Yaga]

It must be pretty slow out there for people pushing Auction Houses. If in doubt one can always use search. 

[Matsunoki]

32 minutes ago, Gakusee said:

should have spaced them further apart. 

Agree Michael, but that would require joined-up thinking. The different international arms of Bonhams operate independently under different directors. Still I guess we should at least be grateful that Bonhams still operate in the Japanese market. Sothebys and Christies both dumped that sector…….not enough money in it. You can understand that when one small impressionist painting generates far more income than a whole series of Japanese sales. 
The Bonhams sales seem to be getting weaker and weaker with swathes of unsolds…..often the result of over ambitious estimates on misdescribed/over-restored items. Yet then see something that is obviously superb and quite important given a derisory description/estimate that goes on to make serious money.

Anyway, that’s my 2p worth!

 

 

[Soshin]

Here is signed and papered Japanese sword and Koshirae being sold at this online auction to benefit of the New York Token Kai.

 

Bonhams : MINO KUNIMUNE (ACTIVE LATE 16TH CENTURY) A Mino Wakizashi with Koshira-e Muromachi (1333-1573) or Momoyama (1573-1615) period, late 16th century