Lewis B Posted February 5 Report Posted February 5 Some top quality pieces going under the hammer in 2 months. https://www.sothebys...-davidson-collection 1 Quote
Stephen Posted February 5 Report Posted February 5 So Louie you have to register to view the sword I don't see how to look at them Quote
Lewis B Posted February 5 Author Report Posted February 5 I'm sure the catalog will be released in due course. Here are a few images from Facebook. Niji Kunitoshi Chu Aoe School Rai Kunitoshi Tanto 2 1 Quote
Gakusee Posted February 5 Report Posted February 5 Out of the above three, the tanto is the best. Mind you, the Yoshioka Ichimonji is also gorgeous but the price estimate is extremely ambitious. Dare I say, unrealistic. Quote
Lewis B Posted February 5 Author Report Posted February 5 Yes the Yoshioka Ichimonji is a beaut. Whats the estimate? 3 Quote
Gakusee Posted February 5 Report Posted February 5 1 hour ago, Lewis B said: Yes the Yoshioka Ichimonji is a beaut. Whats the estimate? look up the auction sale poster and you are in for a surprise…. Quote
Stephen Posted February 5 Report Posted February 5 29 minutes ago, Gakusee said: look up the auction sale poster and you are in for a surprise…. What I tried to find Quote
Gakusee Posted February 5 Report Posted February 5 Just now, Stephen said: What I tried to find Ok Stephen, grand old royalty like you deserve to be given the info. This is said not in jest but with my best sentiments. This is from the NBTHK magazine. 3 2 Quote
Lewis B Posted February 5 Author Report Posted February 5 $300k? Its not even ChinChin ChoCho Seriously though $300K for a TJ is not crazy if it was a big name. Mumei Yoshioka Ichimonji not so much. Quote
Gakusee Posted February 5 Report Posted February 5 1 hour ago, Lewis B said: $300k? Its not even ChinChin ChoCho Seriously though $300K for a TJ is not crazy if it was a big name. Mumei Yoshioka Ichimonji not so much. Talk of someone who wants to play in the big boys’ playground Frankly, the prices of top pieces have nothing to do with chin chin or not. 1 Quote
PNSSHOGUN Posted February 5 Report Posted February 5 Is the auction catalogue available to those who have registered to bid, or is it still being finalised? Quote
Lewis B Posted February 5 Author Report Posted February 5 17 minutes ago, Gakusee said: Frankly, the prices of top pieces have nothing to do with chin chin or not. I think you missed the laughing emoji. Quote
Stephen Posted February 5 Report Posted February 5 Thank you Michael it's not like I could afford them anyway so why give a link to Facebook Quote
Stephen Posted February 5 Report Posted February 5 26 minutes ago, PNSSHOGUN said: Is the auction catalogue available to those who have registered to bid, or is it still being finalised? What I asked guess I'm just a bit slow Quote
Gakusee Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 7 hours ago, Lewis B said: I think you missed the laughing emoji. Your are right. But it is OK. I am also having a laugh. Joking aside, it is a great blade but I am not sure what their pricing thinking has been lately. There has not been a wider benchmarking of the global market, which they ought to do…. Quote
Matsunoki Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 With Sothebys, their pricing has absolutely nothing to do with any perceived “market value”. Their target market is not sword collectors. Their target market is rich investors with no knowledge who are prepared to buy whatever their Sothebys “personal shopper” tells them is “really good” 6 3 Quote
Gakusee Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 Well, good luck with the sale in any case. For those in NY, please go and see the swords. It is a great visual treat. Quote
Lewis B Posted February 6 Author Report Posted February 6 I'm curious to see where the market lands for these highend TJ blades. I often hear dealers quote past sales at Bonhams et al as the benchmark for a particular smith eg Norishige. But as Colin says the hammer prices bare only a passing semblance to the real world Nihonto market and I believe a correction is due after the craziness of the Covid years. That said anyone care to guess the consigners asking price for this TJ Norishige Tanto? 1 Quote
nihon Posted February 6 Report Posted February 6 23 minutes ago, Lewis B said: I'm curious to see where the market lands for these highend TJ blades. I often hear dealers quote past sales at Bonhams et al as the benchmark for a particular smith eg Norishige. But as Colin says the hammer prices bare only a passing semblance to the real world Nihonto market and I believe a correction is due after the craziness of the Covid years. That said anyone care to guess the consigners asking price for this TJ Norishige Tanto? Seen this on a website called katanahanbai https://katanahanbai.com/en/katana/ My guess is around 150-200k usd Quote
Hoshi Posted February 9 Report Posted February 9 It's one of the top 3 Norishige tanto in existence. For items at this level, price = n/a. It's whatever a whale is willing to pay for. This is the sort of item that doesn't make it to the internet, so I can only presume that the whales made offers, offers got rejected by consignor, and now it hit the broader internet. It's very rare to see such a piece being sold openly. Quote I'm curious to see where the market lands for these highend TJ blades. I often hear dealers quote past sales at Bonhams et al as the benchmark for a particular smith eg Norishige. But as Colin says the hammer prices bare only a passing semblance to the real world Nihonto market and I believe a correction is due after the craziness of the Covid years. At the end of the day it's not far away IF you eliminate the irrational outliers (anyone remember the octopus tsuba?), account for auction house fees, and apply the appropriate forex correction. If you do it, then it's a pretty good correlation. But what is often forgotten is that these objects are not commodities, a TJ norishige's value is not the same as another TJ norishige's value. Each item needs to be examined in the context of the smith's corpus, and appraised for its strength and weaknesses in its specific category. Ladder theory exerts a "Pull" - low TJs and TJs+ tend to cluster together on price. Don't fall for the pull. 1 Quote
Curran Posted February 12 Report Posted February 12 On 2/6/2025 at 3:35 AM, Matsunoki said: With Sothebys, their pricing has absolutely nothing to do with any perceived “market value”. Their target market is not sword collectors. Their target market is rich investors with no knowledge who are prepared to buy whatever their Sothebys “personal shopper” tells them is “really good” Pretty much. Referencing some Christies Auctions, I've seen tsuba go for $80,000+ when I would have hesitated to pay $800 for them. Sometimes just for something that happened to photograph nicely. I once was consulted on a koshirae at Bonhams. I thought it worth $35k-$40k, with opening bid somewhere in the $20k range. The wealthy foreign buyer seeking the consultation went on to pay over $200,000 for it. These are amounts that make us go "whoa", but the billionaires don't care. 3 Quote
PNSSHOGUN Posted Sunday at 12:03 AM Report Posted Sunday at 12:03 AM The catalog is now available online, many interesting pieces. https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2025/important-Japanese-swords-and-armour-from-the-paul-l-davidson-collection?lotFilter=AllLots 3 Quote
nulldevice Posted Sunday at 12:15 AM Report Posted Sunday at 12:15 AM That unpapered Bizen tachi in Koshirae is interesting. It stand out as being an old tachi but much lower in price without papers whole the rest are all juyo+ The Kunitoshi tanto is probably my favorite. If I was closer to NY, this would be an amazing exhibit to go and see. Quote
Lewis B Posted Sunday at 09:39 AM Author Report Posted Sunday at 09:39 AM It will be interesting to see where the market is for these notable and high quality pieces. That Yoshioka Ichimonji..... Quote
Gakusee Posted Sunday at 10:44 AM Report Posted Sunday at 10:44 AM Note that some of the initial estimates have sensibly been revised lower for the formal auction. Still some pieces are rather highly estimated (and it is up to the buyer to figure out why etc) but others seem attractively priced…. Just a word of caution to potential buyers: obviously, with Paul’s connections and friendships with the NBTHK, what could have been papered probably got papered… Sometimes, people believe they find gems in auctions etc that are undiscovered and hold a potential for this or that…. So, buyers need to factor in papers, provenance, sayagaki, estimates, hammer taxes, value added taxes, insurance and shipping etc etc Good luck to everyone (sellers and buyers)! 2 Quote
Lewis B Posted Sunday at 11:22 AM Author Report Posted Sunday at 11:22 AM 35 minutes ago, Gakusee said: Paul’s connections and friendships with the NBTHK, what could have been papered probably got papered… Does that potentially extend to the level of papers? Asking for a friend..... Quote
Gakusee Posted Sunday at 12:10 PM Report Posted Sunday at 12:10 PM 45 minutes ago, Lewis B said: Does that potentially extend to the level of papers? Asking for a friend..... I am sure the friend already knows the answer 1 Quote
Kotetsu1959 Posted Sunday at 05:02 PM Report Posted Sunday at 05:02 PM Paul was incredibly generous, and would often invite friends to examine his treasures in hand. He was also generous about loaning pieces for sword study events. With a collection like his, it was a considerable effort to pull out all his amazing pieces to share. I was fortunate to be invited to his home, and to bring a Japanese American engineer friend. On that occasion also present was the late Professor Arnold F, among the kindest and most sophisticated men in this field, who with Paul's permission brought another friend. Paul had prepared for this visit by having all his best pieces laid out, including his impressive matchlock collection. He and his wife hosted us all for dinner. They went to a great deal of effort to create this opportunity for us. Paul spent a lifetime carefully studying nihonto, honestly and generously sharing what he knew and what he found. Hearing Paul describe the process of purchasing the Norishige tanto, with other interested parties trying to convince him it was a gimei piece he was crazy to throw his money at, was by itself a fascinating treat. He trusted his own judgment, while at the same time realizing his judgment was fallible. Also memorable was how Paul would happily admit to being much impressed with some swords that Tanobe Michihiro would dismiss as completely unworthy of a man with Paul's exceptional collection. Paul never lost his enthusiasm for nihonto, or his generous spirit towards others who shared his interest. Paul's loss is a great loss for all who were fortunate to know him, and to our field of interest. He was an amazing and modest man, who patiently built a truly incredible collection. We can only hope that some of his treasures are acquired by people who possess Paul's generous spirit of sharing this art. 5 5 1 Quote
Hoshi Posted Sunday at 11:40 PM Report Posted Sunday at 11:40 PM A beautiful tribute @Kotetsu1959 This is what matters, in the end, friendships, sharing, learning and memories that live on. Paul has left a big mark on our field. This auction is a tribute to a lifetime of passion, discovery and careful curation. I wish for this auction to be a big success. Quote
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