well, it arrived today, so here's some better pics. i've given it a light buff with a brillo pad & some mineral oil.
scabbard is a tight fit, looks like a previous owner has reglued it & bound it with upholstery thread in three places, may need to scrape a bit of glue off the inside. nice figuring on the grip wood & scabbard mouth. not sure if the figuring that appears in the blade is wishful thinking, or just they way it's been polished.
probably the latter.
(just in case anyone is curious, the sundial in my photos is correctly aligned and the gnomon is the correct angle, the 'in hand pic was taken at 15:20, the dial shows 3:16pm. which is correct as the equation of time is 4 min. different for my location)