Eric Santucci Posted February 10 Report Posted February 10 (edited) Hi all, Posting a sword here I had up on Ebay the last few days and then pulled down due to a multitude of challenges. I very rarely use Ebay for swords these days; I decided to give it another chance before regretting it after a few days. Anyway, here is the sword with an offer price of $5,000 USD shipped via FedEx Overnight. Shipping within US only (sorry, but I’ve had my fill of shipping challenges to overseas locations too often lately). Donation to the board upon sale (will be coordinated thru Brian per usual) ———— This is a beautiful wakizashi from the Late Edo period, Mito (Hitachi Province) made by Sukemitsu. It is signed simply and elegantly with three kanji exemplifying the smith’s confidence and the endearing power of a Mito region blade. Mito swords have a fascinating history. The Lord of Mito (Nariaki) required the most beautiful and finely made blades for his samurai and appointed Norikatsu as the master of his forge. Norikatsu trained many famous smiths over the years and Mito produced some of the best swords of the later Edo period. Noriaki himself did some level of sword making; it is debated whether he did full forging or just heat treating with Norikatsu. However, given that Nariaki swords often show a unique style of hada (called yokuma-hada) it is believed he actually did forge blades. Nariaki blades are signed with the “clock” mon instead of an actual kanji signature further adding a uniqueness to his work. This particular wakizashi is one of the most beautiful Mito pieces I have seen and owned over 26 years of collecting. Sukemitsu forged this blade in a robust hirazukuri with a length of 14.5 inches, .3 in sori, 1.2 in motohaba, and .3 in. munekasane. The jihada is comprised of komokume with jinie and chikei. The hamon is kugonome-midare with ashi, ara-nie, and nie-suji. The boshi ends in a beautiful komaru turn. The nakago is finely finished – ubu, with kiri file pattern and kurijiri shape. As is often seen with Mito blades, it comes with a beautiful shakudo covered copper habaki. This sword was awarded Tokubetsu Hozon papers on December 3, 2021. Several of the pictures here are courtesy of the original service I purchased the sword from many years ago. I also included my own picture for reference as well (the blue paper with my name and date is my Ebay seller ID). Edited February 10 by Eric Santucci Formatting 1 2 1 Quote
Michaelr Posted February 10 Report Posted February 10 Beautiful. Good luck with the sale MikeR 1 1 Quote
oli Posted February 11 Report Posted February 11 Where is the sword located? Never heard of Location:Northern Va ? Quote
Eric Santucci Posted February 11 Author Report Posted February 11 On 2/11/2025 at 11:17 AM, oli said: Where is the sword located? Never heard of Location:Northern Va ? Expand Northern Virginia, USA Quote
Eric Santucci Posted February 19 Author Report Posted February 19 One and only large price reduction to $3,500 USD. Payment via Wise bank transfer preferred, but PayPal and Venmo also fine. I’ll still do free 1-day Fedex overnight shipping, but if you want to pay via PP you need to cover the fees or use Friends & family. Reminder this is US shipping only for now, thanks Quote
Eric Santucci Posted February 20 Author Report Posted February 20 Just a note this is going back on Ebay shortly with BIN or Best Offer so I can control the responses and vet the buyers better instead of the debaucle of an auction. If anyone is interested here on NMB though, please DM me and do not go thru EBay. thanks 1 Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.