Geraint

Saw a fascinating programme a while ago which looked in detail at the Chinese fake porcelain market. Two experts, both Chinese, one a collector and one a dealer explored the fake market and found out some interesting things. The quality of what is being produced at the top end was so good that neither of them could tell which was genuine and which was fake even after detailed in hand examination. As the market for high end Chinese porcelain has gone through the roof recently it was worth the fakers time to produce forty or fifty trial fakes of a specific piece in order to get one that was just right. It would then find it's way onto the open market via a western auction house where silly money would be exchanged for it and it would be brought back to China to reside in a collection or museum. Several years ago there was a bit of a furore in Japan when a number of very early swords started turning up in remarkable condition, many of which were papered. As I recall questions started to be asked and a symposium of experts and smiths discussed these swords and recognised the hand of a fellow smith. Very close to where I live there was a very gifted metalworker who resented the old saying, "You can't get work of this quality anymore." It was said to him by the owner of a collection of fine antique guns. The metalworker accepted the challenge and made an exact copy. He used the correct materials and made it just as the original would have been made. The collector was impressed, so much so that he couldn't resist the urge and asked the metalworker for some more examples. You can guess where this is going, can't you? Before long they were entering the market and a well known and respected local dealer who did not spot them had traded many of them all over the world. An expert at a major London auction house finally spotted something fishy and when it all came to trial the local dealer testified that if the man had lived in the 18th century he would have been acclaimed as one of the great gunsmiths. As it was he ended up in court. The point of all this is that what we love is the product of human endeavour, albeit sublimely skilled. Given enough determination and skill there will come a time when we really won't be able to tell the difference. Some of us have spent many thousands of hours getting our eyes tuned in and can spot the fakers relatively easily still. However this particular forge is making quite a bit of money, presumably out of people who have not quite got their eyes tuned in. Given a year or two the swords will have acquired a bit of age and will be harder to spot. Makes for interesting times, don't you think? All the best.

("Name please". It's at the top of his post Grey.) Michael, lots of Japanese swords have no signature for varoious reasons so don't believe all you have been told. Grey has given you the answer, it's a genuine sword though it has been mistreated. Follow his link and see if you can get ti to one of the sword society's for someone to have a good look in hand. Take care of it and don't be tempted to have a go yourself. Here is an example in good condition, https://www.aoijapan.com/wakizashi-tango-daijo-fujiwara-tsuneshige/ Just to get you interested. Welcome to NMB and this crazy world. Enjoy. All the best.

Dear Chris. I love the description of sun on frost crystals and yes, ji nie can appear all over the blade, hence the name. You may enjoy this, http://www.ksky.ne.jp./~sumie99/terms.html Scroll down to Jinie and see what you can see. All the best.

Dear Jeff. Well, we are all looking forward to seeing how this one turns out. Keep us posted and welcome to the board. All the best.

Hi Graham. I think I can make out Bizen kuni ju Osafune but I can't do the last few which would be the smiths name. Others will help you out with the rest but you might try some different shots with slanting light or a bit of a close up of the last few kanji. Looks like koshizori which would fit for Bizen blades. (By the way, popping this post in the Translation section might get more people looking for you.) Nice one. All the best.

"Brian?....Brian?...........!" Papered shinogizukuri tanto! (I know, I know!. It's the exception that proves the rule.) All the best.

Hi Jeff. Hard to see from the photos but what we can see is that it is o suriage, shoirtened from the tang, with the possibility of being originally several centimetres longer than it is now. If you look at the kissaki, Tip, you can see that the hi, groove, runs almost into the plane of the kissaki. This suggests that the kissaki has also been polished down and would have been larger than it is now. to summarise the shape of the sword now is not what it was when first made. You can find a Chikakage here, http://www.nihonto.com/bizen-chikakage/ The first thing to look at when examining a sword is the sugata, the shape. I'm sure you already have some books but as you are in London the first thing to do is join the Token Society of Great Britain and take this along to one of their meetings, lots of experienced collectors who can look at the sword in hand and help you out. Someone has labled all the jpegs as Chikakage so what were you told and does it have papers? Enjoy. All the best.

But not with s much detail!

Dear Chris. I can't see what you refer to but the sparkles sound like ji nie. Any help? All the best.

Dear Roy. Nice find. There is a very real possibility that this won't be your last matchlock All the best..

Looking nice! Good choice of colours to go with the copper fittings. Enjoy! All the best.

Dear Jim. As I am sure you already know from the answers to your previous post this is a genuine Japanese sword, there is no question of it being a replica. There is the question of whether the signature is genuine or not and for that you really need to get it to shinsa, either in the States or by sending it to Japan. There are one or two people who offer a service to import your sword for you and see it through shinsa. No western opinion is going to carry marketable weight, though showing it to someone expert might get you an idea about whether to send it to shinsa or not. To start with have a good look here, http://www.nihonto.com/11-7-17/ Bear in mind this is a sword already papered and in polish, neither of which applies to yours. It is also in rather fabulous koshirae. It might be worth it to you to have the sword imported by an agent in Japan, polished and put into shirasaya and then sent to shinsa but the money will start adding up. You might prefer to keep it, safe in the knowledge that it is genuine but without authenticating the signature. Your sword, your call but I have to admit I would be very tempted to go for the polish. Just make very sure that you only use a trained polisher, some of the people offering this in the West will ruin your sword and charge you for doing it. Ask here for recommendations, this is not the time to think about saving a few dollars. Nice sword, enjoy. All the best.

So to summarise. We have a fairly random set of fittings of which the menuki are the only thing resembling a daisho and they seem to be modern at best. We have not seen the backs of these. We have some tsuba, not sure how many because one which is built upside down , seems to be cast and has some chisel marks added does not appear in the fittings set. We have seen no images of the sayas but the fittings are all lose so it hardly matters. If the image that Brian shows in his last post is of the wakizashi then the peculiar machi make it junk whatever it is. The katana may or may not be Japanese, we are doing kantei of unpolished blades form photographs after all. The very best conclusion is that someone has thrown together an odd assortment of low end fittings which don't go together, added a couple of junk blades and called it a daisho. Which it isn't and never was. If the buyer can get his money back then he should consider himself fortunate. I wonder what images were provided by the seller? All the best.

Does he also raise a nice shine on the bronze sculptures? As he has conscientiously stripped the original patina off the fittings I suggest you take away his polishing materials. All the best.

So given that the blade is Chinese fake and the furniture is Chinese fake and it all fits together then the story about the furniture being replaced in the 70's is.......? All the best.

Dear Stephen. I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news but this is a fake. At least all of the furniture is modern Chinese made. Modern of course is a relative term but nothing about this is Japanese. Stories about where and when swords were acquired are always hard to prove and subject to confusion but they don't change the facts of the sword. All the best.

Smith name Kanemoto?

Jean. Thank you! Looking forward to seeing this one when John gets a chance to show us. All the best.

Dear ?. How have you got to 26 posts without someone telling you to add your name to each post? That aside pictures will do a power of good with this question. Look forward to seeing them. All the best.

Hi Grev, Nice! In answer to your question look closely at the way the monkey masks are rendered, same guy do you think? All the best.

"Don't buy OSuriage Shinshinto or Shinto swords unless you absolutely must have it. " But of course it's not o suriage, ugly yes, but not osuriage. All the best.

Dear Mark. This is papered so no doubts about who it is by, the condition of the nakago would bother some collectors so this shouldn't fetch top price but it's a nice looking package and should be affordable because of the reshaped nakago. If it doesn't bother you then go for it but be aware that when time comes to pass it along some may be put off. All the best.

Dear John. (By the way, please add your name to your posts). Ed asks a pertinent question. Usually one of the give aways for a fake is that the machi, or notch, on the back and at the edge do not line up perfectly. However it is possible that the ha machi, notch at the edge, has suffered some damage, ie been chipped. You are right that the mounts are not standard military ones but as Brian said sometimes a mixture of mounts occurs and sometimes a civil sword is simply given a leather cover and a hanger to use as a military one. However the tsuba is suspect and the fact that there is only one seppa, washer, which is slotted for a spring catch makes me wonder. Are the tsuka and tsuba a good fit on the sword? If not then it might be an assembly of parts to complete a sword. Have a look inside the core of the tsuka where the blade slides into it. Can you see any separate shims of wood added or any signs of it being modified? If so then there is no way of knowing when this was done. Ideally you should get this to a sword group or show where someone can give it a hands on look but the workmanship of the nakago and the shape are all a bit suspect. I do not think this is a modern Chinese fake but it does look like it was made somewhere other than Japan. There are some swords made in theatre in countries where WWII was fought and it might be one of those but I don't know too much about them. For the display you mention it will be fine but if you want to be sure that you have a genuine shingunto then you need to look elsewhere I feel. Hope this helps. All the best.

Dear Miguel. The tsuka and tsuba are indeed tachi style mounts of a type quite commonly seen and assumed to be late 19th or early 20th century. I can't see enough of the saya to suggest that it is civilian under a leather wrap but from the images I would think not. Assuming that the tsuka and fittings fit the blade well then it is reasonable to assume that they were mounted with the blade when it was made and carried in WWII. Have a close look at the end of the tsuka where the blade fits, if you see signs of slivers of added wood or some other form of adjustment then it might be that the tsuka was added to the sword to replace a damaged or absent hilt after the war. First impressions are that they all belong together. Enjoy! All the best.

Dear John. I am afraid that I am the bearer of bad news. Your sword is a recently made Chinese reproduction of a Japanese shingunto. Sorry. All the best.