SAJSS

As I had planned to be in Zurich I thought it might be worthwhile attending the auction to be held by Kunsthandel Klefisch in Cologne on the 28^th March 2009. I arrived on the day preceding the sale and spent the better part of the day viewing the items on sale and talking to fellow collectors.

My interest prior to the sale was in a Yukihiro blade with a cutting test (saidan mei ) and a wakazashi by Harima Daijo Fujiwara Tadakuni which came with Hozon Papers. Yukihiro is a brother of Masahiro and highly rated by Hawley and a well known smith in the Hizen school.The mei had not however been authenticated and although the cutting test compared favourably with others of the test cutter of the well known family of Yamano Kanjiro Hisahide the gold inlay inscription appeared marred by the post application of the yasurime as pointed out by Brian in earlier discussions.The decision not to bid however was really based on the existence of deeply embedded rust lines especially at the cutting edge which I felt would not be removed in polishing.The blade was knocked down at 3400 euros (about R41200)

The blades that caught my eye were a 72.5 cm katana by Kanenobu of the Naoe Shizu school that sold for 3000 euros (R36480) and a 71.5cm katana with NBTHK papers by Kiyomitsu which came in koshirae (tsuba missing) but otherwise in excellent fittings and polish which sold for 3400 euros (about R413500) In my opinion these were two very good buys at well below market values.

The other very good buy was a 71.2 Sue Koto blade by Sukemitsu that sold for 2200 euros (about R26752) The in house expert thought it Nanbokucho period .An absolute bargain bought by a first timer who was delighted with his purchase.

I would have bid on all three of the swords but the one that attracted my attention was later in the auction and I needed all the ammunition I had available and more !

The best sword on display was undoubtedly the Hizen no kuni ju omi daijo Fujiwara Tadahiro which came in arguably the best koshirae I have seen.As a package it was great The Tadahiro was a later generation but in good polish and with NBTHK papers.To cut a long story short there were only two bidders and I was not successful.It was knocked down at 8500 euros ( about R 107000) and I had the pleasure of having dinner of sushi with the new owner that evening.It transpired that he was a collector of some 25years from Austria and that he possessed some very nice pieces including a daisho from the Compton collection. The Tadahiro was his 50th sword.

Before I could recover my senses the Tadakuni wakazashi had been knocked down at the bargain price of 2100 euros (about R25000) and we were into the smalls.

Not wanting to come away empty handed I bid on a Tanto with a very nice blade with hitatsura and quality fittings in a makie finish saya.It is in fact my first tanto an in truth I think with a new ito wrap it will be a most attractive piece.

Win some lose some.I did not exactly come away with what I wanted but I made the acquaintance of a serious collector and the in house expert who hails from Paris with whom I will maintain contact. All in all a most worthwhile experience.

By Peter Quin