paulb

struggling but those that made the greatest impact 1. Yukimitsu Tanto 2. Ko-Bizen Tomonari 3. Awataguchi Norikuni 4. Chu-Aoe katana all very different but superb examples If I were to broaden t a little further Sa Yukihide katana Inoue Shinkai katana

RIP Roger. We will miss your posts. Condolences to his close family and friends

Over the years I have often read and indeed written that the quality of works of a particular school diminished in later generations. A posting today on Aoe-Art's website illustrates an exception. Mainline Hizen work has been incredibly consistent for 9 generations and I think this is clearly demonstrated here with a work of the last of the line. While there was some fluctuation in quality between various generations it remained remarkably consistent and followed the classic Hizen form with only minor reference to the changes in fashion and trends of the time. I have been a Tadayoshi fan for a very long time (as have many others) and I think this sword can help illustrate why they remain so popular.

Before this topic turns in to another self righteous witch hunt of amateur polishers can I point out that this gentleman has attended numerous training seminars in Japan and had his work accepted and recieved commendations in NBTHK polishing competitions. It is impossible to judge the quality of his work from the images (no disrespect Jon, capturing detail is difficult ) he has done excellent work for many. His work is nothing at all like the US. Gentleman mentioned previously

Good Morning Bryce, Just some thoughts/opinions and I am sure others may have alternative ideas. As a non-practitioner of any form of martial arts nothing I say is based on practical experience. On the basis that "form follows function" we assume that the basic shape of the nihonto developed through the smith's attempts to improve performance. What we see today goes well beyond functionality and as you suggest I think it has a lot to do with aesthetics and to a lesser extent personal taste . ( I think a shape can look right and good even if I don't particularly like the blade). So a good shape results from all of the elements within the construction working together in harmony. Its like a well composed painting or photograph where no specific subject stands out but all come together to create a beautiful whole. In the case of a sword the balance between length, sori and kissaki, if there is a hi does it fit naturally to the shape and add to the overall aesthetic of the blade. Is everything in proportion. is it in harmony. Of course there cant help but be an element of subjectivity in assessing this. Regarding the gassan images I don't think any of them have a bad shape and all look to be good. If I was being picky (which I am) I like the last one the least. I think the hi, especially the short soe-hi look a little fussy and clumsy and the sori is a little too deep. As said I'm being picky and that has much more to do with personal preference than pure aesthetics.

Hi Paz, I have sent you a pm

Hi Jesse, That must have been some years ago. I'm glad you still have it and are enjoying it. Best Regards Paul

Over recent year I have been very lucky and friends and colleagues within the Token Society of GB have loaned me swords to study and write up. Many of those write-ups are stored here and on the token of GB website. One of the advantages of this is that I am often presented with work that I haven't previously studied or only looked at in a limited way. they also force me to confront so of the many prejudices I have built up over the years regarding certain schools and periods. I have often said that my period of interest is the Kamakura and early Nambokucho periods. I still regard this as the golden age of sword manufacture. However that doesn't mean there weren't good swords made at other times and in other places. I have recently studied two Sukesada blades dating from the last quarter of the 16th century, A mumei sue-Seki work and a Gendaito made in Seki during the second world war. In all of these cases I anticipated that I would not like these works. I expected to see at best bland semi mass produced bundle swords and more likely crudely forged with bad shape and lifeless hamon (I did say I had prejudices) . Well I was wrong on all counts. Each of these proved to be far better than I anticipated and all were of very good quality. I felt suitably chastened. Once again I was given a stark reminder not to prejudge swords. This is especially true when we seem to increasingly rely on soundbites appearing amongst the mass of information on the internet. Each sword should be judged on its' own merits and not dismissed because we "think" pieces made in a certain place and time were less good than others. There are some staggeringly good works in existence from all periods and traditions. What we need to do is study more to be able to identify what features make a sword "good". Also remember not liking a sword doesn't make it bad any more than liking it necessarily means its good. We all bring our own preferences, likes and dislikes to the table and need to take that in to account when assessing a sword.

Re why would anyone produce a gimei. Basic answer is to survive. For example Naotane and Naokatsu were both highly regarded Shin-Shinto smiths who made copies of earlier work but also, according to some authorities, were not above making copies and putting a false mei on them. They did what the market asked for to survive. Re your blade, I re-read what I and others had written and I didn't see anything that criticised the blade, quite the opposite, most prefaced their comments with the fact they thought it was a good piece. No one here has sufficient confidence (or at least they shouldn't) to say whether a blade is genuine or otherwise. All they can do is look at all the elements they can see and express an opinion. that is very different from seeing it in hand and people are, quite rightly in my opinion, cautious. The only real way to progress this is to submit it to shinsa. I think it is a good sword. Roger R is the go to person in the west for Tadayoshi and if he believes it could be right his opinion is worth far more than mine or anyone else's here. However I do think it valid to ask why a blade in such good condition has come out of Japan without papers. Was the seller ignorant of what they had? had it been submitted and failed? we will never know but until you submit it for shinsa there will always be a niggling doubt. Otherwise accept it is a nice work and enjoy it for that.

Hi George, I have sent you a pm with some contact details. please feel free to get in touch

Gentlemen, For the sake of transparency I should confirm that I was involved with this auctions and helped describe the swords. Regarding length I would like to confirm the following: 1. The official minimum length for a kata using traditional measurement is 2 shaku which converts to 60.6cm. However over the years this has been simplified and in most modern texts and most modern sellers have rounded this to 60cm 2. More importantly in 1658 the maximum legal length for a wakizashi was specified as 51.5cm (shaku equivalent). This was later increased but was still well below 60cm. This sword as a nagasa of 60cm (or very marginally under). If as I believe it was made in the Edo period it would have been illegal to be carried s a wakizashi. It is also mounted as a long sword. At the turn of the century George Cameron Stone in his definitive work "A glossary of arms and Armour" lists perhaps half a dozen different terms for swords of different length including chisa-katana and uchi-katana which have blades longer than the Tokugawa maximum legal limit but below 60cm. Taking these definitions as a reference your sword might be more accurately described as a chisa-katana but the term has largely fallen out of use. George if it would be of any help I would be happy to discuss your sword with you regarding possible age and origin Regards Paul

Adam, Even if it is gimei (and all you have so far is opinion not necessarily fact) it doesn't mean it is a bad sword. If you think about it if someone is trying to get away with adding a highly reputable name to a blade it has got to be a reasonably good one. there would be no point in putting a famous name on a poorly made piece. I don't think your blade is by Sandai Tadayoshi (but as said opinion) it does look to be a well made blade with good ko-itame hada with masame in the shinogi-ji. I am way too out of touch with current markets to offer a price guide. If the mei is gimei then it effectively becomes a mumei wakizashi as far as the market is concerned and these are generally less desirable (doesn't make it bad just less commercially attractive). There will always be a market for a sword in good polish, which this appears to be and with a reasonable koshirae.

Hi Adam, You are right that the sandai Tadayoshi did produce more variation than some of the other smiths. Unfortunately when when viewing images on line such as those posted what you (I) are seeing has more to do with the polish than the actual hamon. Things to look for within the hamon: 1. The nioiguchi should be bright and thick (belt like) 2. It should have a great deal of ko-nie running through it and activity within it. 3. The Sandai is said to have produced the very best konuka hada, rich in ji-nie and chickei. Yes over the years I have been fortunate enough to have several sandai blades within my own collection at various time and also to have had the chance to study many others, although those were mostly daimei for his father. If you visit the articles section here or go to the resources section and look under swords on the token of Gb website you will see several articles I wrote describing some of these blades. At risk of sounding like the old codger I am doubtless becoming unless the illustrations on the internet are of the Darcy brockbank/ Ted Tenold standard you cannot assess or compare blades in a meaningful way. This needs to be done in hand.

The shape and the hamon are not typical for the smith. The finish on the nakago and the way the mei is cut also look a-typical. My first reaction is that I doubt it is legitimate. Mutsu no kami spent most of his short life (died when he was 50) making daimei for his father who outlived him. His works are rare and much sought after therefore a target for gimei. For a more definitive answer the blade needs to be submitted to shinsa.

Thank you for the reply George. You can obviously see far more with the blade in hand than I can in the images. personally I find the hamon problematic for Yamashiro. The nioiguchi looks very broad and the overall activity looks far too flamboyant for Yamashiro ( until you get to Kunitsugu with Soshu influence and later). However you have the obvious advantage of holding it and examining in the flesh. It looks to have a very deep sori, especially for a blade that appears to be O-suriage. Is there any indication that t may be Saiha? the crumbly indistinct nioiguchi might point that way but again that could be a result of the polish condition. Its certainly an interesting piece but I am struggling to find an attribution I'm comfortable with

Hi George, Can I ask what is leading you towards Yamashiro? I'm not agreeing or disagreeing but wondering how you came to that view? thanks Paul

Fantastic, thank you Malcolm very much appreciated

thank you Brian

Dear all, Definitely out of my comfort zone and looking for help. I have been asked to look at some blades. One of these was a gunto mounted work signed Kanenobu. Before seeing the blade I had assumed it was by the smith listed in John Sloughs book, however when it arrived the kanji were different than those illustrated. The nobu character is the older style (see attached image). Searching previous posts here I believe this may be by the illustrated smiths father and teacher who signed this way. However I also understand there were other smiths using this mei at the same time. This is a very good Gendaito in excellent Showa mounts with a pierced guard and filed dress Knot. I think t needs polishing (scratched in places obscuring the detail of what looks to be a very active hada. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I received a copy of the book today. Headstamp have done an exceptional job. The quality of illustrations is excellent and offers an incredible reference to those with an interest in this field of collecting. I think it is also a great tribute to its author John Plimpton who sadly passed away prior to publication. The images used are largely taken from his own collection which was regarded as amongst the best.

Hi Jack, I am sorry I don't remember the sword. The problem in identifying the age of an unsigned blade if it is Hizen is that they tended to work in a fairly uniform and timeless sugata rather than following the trends of the time. So a blade from early Edo Hizen will not look greatly different from either earlier works produced in the Muromachi era or pieces made in late Edo (this is a generality there will always be exceptions). As you say later smiths also made copies of much earlier works. Something I didn't pick up in your description, how thick is the blade? The hamon could well suggest Hizen how thick is the nioiguchi? Hizen blades are often described as having a thick "belt like" nioiguchi with ko-nie running through it. hakikake in the boshi and bo-utsuri would move it away from Hizen. My gut feel is that it is likely later Edo and likely Hizen but that is said without great conviction. Sorry not sure if this has been much help

Jack one of the things you need o look for when trying to define hada is the amount of activity within the ji. Nashi, Chirimen, Rai and to a slightly less extent konuka, all have ji-nie and in the case of nashiji a lot of chikei running through them. It is very difficult to photograph but if the source of the images you have used is what I think it is then all of the swords used had profuse ji-nie and activity in the ji and running through the hamon based on very bright ko-nie. In your image I can see what looks like very tight ko-itame but no activity within the ji (maybe photograph or quality of polish). I agree with Franco before trying to tie it down based on jigane try and determine age based on size and shape as a starting point then you can refine the search further.

My Gardner has cost me thousands over the years(thought marrying her would have meant a special rate!!)

Hi John, not specifically aimed at your post but I have generally found the more complex the explanation I make up to make what I am looking at fit my ideas then the less likely it is to be true.

condolences to family and friends