It's probably 18th to early 19th Century, but the scabbard is 20th Century, he told the owners, Julie and Charlie Wolf of Wethersfield. "It's worth $300 to $600."
The sword was one of several items the Wolfs had brought to Antique Appraisal Day in the garage at the Kellogg-Eddy House last Sunday.
Burda was the resident expert in antique weapons for the day, but fine art specialist David Kimball couldn't resist coming over for a look and adding his comments. Japan was a warrior culture and these swords were a badge of rank for a military officer, although this one may not necessarily have been carried in a war, he noted.
During the American occupation of Japan after World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur had samurai swords collected and destroyed en masse, the two experts told the Wolfs. "There are more of these in this country than in Japan now," Kimball commented.
"I come by my expertise by accident," he explained. "My mother was a bonsai expert so I was raised with a lot of Japanese items and my father collected samurai swords."
This is the fourth year the Newington Historical Society has held its local version of the Antiques Roadshow.
A panel of four appraisers were on hand: Granby resident Kimball, who mostly appraises paintings; Burda, also from Granby, who specializes in precious stones in addition to weapons but considers himself a generalist; Tami Zawistowki from East Granby, an expert in rare books and documents; and Lamont McEvitt from Farmington, an expert in furniture, and brass and iron ware.
"These four volunteer their time every year, they're wonderful to us," said Dorothy Abbott, historical society director. "This is one of our two major fundraisers. The other is our huge tag sale."
The event officially started at 11 a.m., but Abbott said people started showing up with their items 20 minutes early. "We let them in, we were ready," she said. "We see such interesting things that come through this door."
In addition to the sword, the Wolfs brought in a violin, which had belonged to Mrs. Wolf's grandfather, and an early Edison gramophone known as an Edi-Phone. One of the wax cylinders that went with the Edi-Phone is a recording of her grandfather playing his violin. Burda the generalist examined the items.
Turns out, the violin is not an especially valuable instrument, but the Edi-Phone is worth several hundred dollars, with some minor repairs.
Across the room, Zawistowski looked at a small, leather-bound book brought in by Marie Vailonis of Rocky Hill.
"It's early an American imprint, 1798, from Boston. It's a poem about Joan of Arc, in decent shape," she said. The owner brought it in wrapped in plastic to keep it clean. That's fine, said the appraiser, "but you don't want to seal it in plastic. Moisture gets trapped and causes mildew."
"There's some really good stuff at these events, but most of it's quite common," she said. For research, she has her laptop and Blackberry set up on her table but the wifi connection in the garage is unreliable, so she has a reference guide of 25 years of auction records for rare books from major auction houses stored on a portable memory stick.
She and the other appraisers periodically volunteer to do these charitable events together. They'll all be participating in a big one in November at Mohegan Sun as a fundraiser for CPTV.
"I always liked books," she said, "and I learned about them through a lot of trial and error."
She used to have a bookstore in Springfield, Mass., but now mostly does business online at www.resourcebooks.net, keeping 13,000 books in stock. "We've got books from 1516 to 2007."
They're not all expensive rarities, there's lots of $20 books, she said. A new-looking cookbook can make a nice gift that's less expensive than a new one, and Julia Child is very popular now, she added.
At his table, Lamont McEvitt examined a small metal statue of a spear-carrying warrior on horseback, brought in by Red Leiner of Newington, who said it was a treasured memento from his childhood home.
McEvitt is a member of the International Society of Appraisers, accredited in Fine Art & Antiques and Residential Contents. He said he has to get re-accredited every five years and he visits lots of museums to stay current in his field. "You have to go to museums," he said. "You have to touch it, feel it, taste it. You never stop learning."
It's mass produced, American or it could be English, he said about Leiner's statue. He turned it over and read the bottom markings: M. Mullers & Sons, 1887. "It's pot metal - reinforced lead -- but it's still nice. It's period. It's worth about $110 to $120. This is not for someone who could afford bronze but the casting is nice."
There's a break on one of the horse's legs but that doesn't hurt the value, he noted, telling Leiner not to polish the metal.
Kimball, who is not just an art appraiser, but an art conservator too, is an expert in restoring damaged paintings. At his Stagecoach Gallery in Granby, he said, "I handle things that are worth a couple of million dollars, and things that were painted by someone's grandma with her toes."
"Most people think you have to be an artist to restore paintings, but the background you need is chemistry, biology, some engineering," he noted. "It's not creative it's analytical."
At these appraisal events, he sees mostly mass produced prints of no value. "But on occasion, there's something nice," he said. I just saw some lovely English watercolors, worth about $1,500."
He opened a big hardcover book, "2009/2010 Davenport's Art Reference and Price Guide," and turned to the entry: "Richard Bonington Sr., ? to 1834, English."
Appraisal is an educated guess, he explained, but an experienced appraiser who has had a shop for 30 years can give you a more accurate opinion at a quick glance than a young and inexperienced assistant at Sotheby's, who's just looking things up on a computer out of sight of the client.
"Somebody like John or Tami has seen all the fakes, they know what to look for," Kimball said.
He also pointed out that many people don't have any idea of the value, or lack of value, of their possessions. "Often the most valuable thing in the house is in the basement, and it's the worthless things that are up on the walls and on display," he said. "And there's no correlation between wealth and taste."