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Katana and an Axe

Posted: 04/10/17 (15:40pm)

It has been a hectic week! I've loved it!
Those of you who follow me on Facebook will know that last Thursday I flew down to London to attend an auction. I left home at 3am in order to catch my flight from Edinburgh and be in London for 8am. It was well worth it.
I went with a reasonably long list of wants, knowing that I was never coming home with everything on the list and hoping that I would at least be able to buy my top three. In the end I was able to buy only one of the swords I wanted. The prices were very high. 

So what did I buy? A Japanese WW2 Type 95 NCO shin Gunto with over 80% of its original paint on the scabbard and hilt and with matching numbers. It is a beauty! 

It was after midnight when I got home from London and after a short lie-in, I was off again, by car this time, driving down to Cambridge. Those of you who know the UK will be wondering why I didn't just go from London to Cambridge, but this trip was more of a family affair than a business one. It was my older brother's 50th birthday and Sue and I both wanted to be there, so I had to return to Scotland so we could travel down together.

As luck would have it, there was a huge antiques fair in Peterborough so on Saturday, Sue and I paid it a visit. I am very glad we did. I managed to do some networking and even made a sale! I also came across the mint condition US P1917 bayonet which I have just listed.

Another of my purchases was something completely different. I thought long and hard before buying it - not just because of what it cost me, but because of what it is and represents. I am talking about the massive executioner's axe which I have just added to the site.
As a collector and dealer in antique edged weapons, I know that it is highly likely that some, maybe many of my items will have taken life. The taking of life in combat, against a similarly armed and atavistic opponent is however very different to the cold blooded killing of a condemned individual, someone whom the state has decided (for whatever reason) to kill. Especially given that many of those poor souls were guilty of nothing more than having offended a local aristocrat or fallen out of the king or queen's favour. It still gives me pause even now despite the fact that, as a dealer, when the time came to act, I bought it. I hope it sells soon - it's not really my cup of tea!