Jonathan Taylor with one of a collection of nine ancient Japanese swords built up over four decades which is to be auctioned tomorrow. Picture – Kris Miller.

Potential purchaser flies up from London to see part of historic weapon assortment

A collection of historic Japanese swords built up over a period of 40 years has attracted strong interest from across the UK before their sale at an Angus auction.

The traditional weapons, in varying conditions, have all come from a single collection believed to have been kept locally and will be sold at Taylor’s Auctions Rooms in Montrose tomorrow.

One of the nine distinctive swords has generated a huge amount of interest and has a blade which dates from the Edo period in Japan, which stretched from 1603 to 1868, when the samurai were at the height of their powers under the rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

However, other fittings on the sword date from Second World War, including an officer’s knot at the hilt, raising the possibility the sword may have belonged to a samurai family and been carried to war, where the heirloom was ultimately taken as a trophy or surrendered.

Reece Jamieson, weapons specialist at the auction house, said: “We have had a huge amount of interest in the Japanese swords, but the one with Second World War fittings has attracted significant attention, with one potential buyer flying up from London to see it firsthand.”

“These swords came from a private collection in Aberdeenshire that was built up over the last 40 years and we expect a lot of interest in them from across the UK and the wider world.”

Several of the other items date from the 19th Century, with guide prices ranging from £600 to £1,200, although it is believed they could sell for much higher sums in a market known for its discerning collectors.

The iconic curved blades have become synonymous in the west with the legendary samurai warriors, who traditionally carried two swords, a longer one called a katana and shorter one called a wakazashi.

Genuine historic examples remain highly sought after, especially where the blade is signed and the weapon has some provenance.

A treatise on sword fighting called The Book of the Five Rings by 17th Century samurai Miyamoto Musashi was widely adopted by western businesspeople, who took Musashi’s teachings on conflict and applied them to business.

Mr Jamieson added: “The thing is that thanks to the internet, people can see the items for sale and bid on them from anywhere in the world.

“After a sale we can be sending out hundreds of parcels nationally and internationally.”

Pictures: Kris Miller. Top and above: Jonathan Taylor, sale room manager for Taylor’s Auction Rooms, with a samurai sword with Second World War fittings. It is one of nine to go under the hammer tomorrow.