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As most collectors must know, the Compton Collection is the finest sword collection outside Japan, a collection that no one ever thought would be sold at auction. This is the Catalog of the Exhibition held in March, preceding the first auction sale in New York. It is a superb production showing forty-two swords and fifty-eight other pieces including tsuba, mitokoromono and mountings, these latter in color.
The blades seem to be mostly Juyo Token and each blade has four pages devoted to it, three of photographs and one of description. These are of high quality but fail to show much detail of the hamon due to the kesho finish. There are full page plates of small sections of most blades where fine details of the nie and nioi in the hamon can be seen.
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The fittings are mostly tsuba, and by kinko artists: schools such as Ishiguro, Omori, Yokoya, and good late Mito. There are iron tsuba by Hayashi, Matashichi, Rakuju, and Jingo of Higo, Kunitomo Teiei, and other tsuba-ko. The strength of the fittings collection lies with the Goto family which is well represented by small fittings.
Each piece in the catalog has a brief description in kanji and a comprehensive one in English, describing the piece in detail and giving a biography of the maker, and when known, the providence. Those of the blades by Martin Lorber, and of the fittings by Robert Haynes, who is recognized as the leading authority on fittings outside of Japan. |
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