DirkO

hyotan namazu theme, nice! One of my favourite.

Mine arrived safe and sound. Decided to apply some felt foots to them. For those still on the fence about these they really look great! Easy and quick seller, well packaged,... What's not to like? Yes I admit, those are IKEA Billy!

魚子地 nanako ji 鋤出高彫 sukidashi taka-bori

There's actually a number of smiths who signed 貞次. It's a nice, very good sized piece. My guess would be Momoyama or even later. It has a elongated kissaki, high shinogi, some masame and shows attractive activities - which narrows it down a bit, but not by much. I think your best bet would be Massimo Rossi in Rome to have an in hand appraisal. He can also tell you about a possible polish. I think it would look stunning, but could be I'm overlooking things not shown in the pictures. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Naomichi was one of the names the shodai Kanemichi signed with, so I included them.

Looking at the quality of the plate, the design and the inlay, I would assume early Heianjyo, but not Onin. Nice transitional piece though. I totally follow your reasoning.

Here are some shodai (1st generation) Kanemichi for comparison - to me, yours has a good chance of being authentic, the mei checks out.

"... most of them show a mixed-in o-itame which appears in places as the famous "whirlpool" of Naotane. So it is nevertheless possible like here to read the personal handwriting of the smith" - kantei-point enough? 320.661 Shinto and Shinshinto Kantei-zenshu "That is, Naotane also faithfully copied the shapes of the old blades whose style he tried to recreate. His jigane is either a koitame, an itame, or a masame whereas a characteristic feature of him, the uzumaki-hada, i.e. whirlpool shaped mokume areas, are first and foremost seen in combination with an itame-hada." - From Token Bijutsu 2019-02 "The jihada of such works is an itame mixed with ō-hada and shows mostly a characteristic uzumaki (a conspicuous whirlpool-shaped mokume element). This is one of Naotane´s most typical features and is not only found on works in the Sōshū tradition" - From Nihon-shinshinto-shi The Connoiseur Book describes it as his unique umuzaki hada and the list goes on... He didn't do it always, that's correct - but when you see it and the blade is from the correct era, your first guess has to be Naotane. Doesn't mean all of his blades had it, but it's a definite kantei point.

"When we take another look at the jigane we learn that there are some “unbalanced” areas of mokume within the ko-itame (in particular at the base of the sashi-omote side). These areas of concentrical mokume circles are referred to as uzumaki-hada and are a characteristic feature of Naotane blades." - From Token Bijutsu 2009-03 "That is, Naotane also faithfully copied the shapes of the old blades whose style he tried to recreate. His jigane is either a koitame, an itame, or a masame whereas a characteristic feature of him, the uzumaki-hada, i.e. whirlpool shaped mokume areas, are first and foremost seen in combination with an itame-hada." - From Token Bijutsu 2019-02 "When Naotane worked in the Bizen tradition, he hardened a ha, whose yakigashira appear to “fume” into the ji and connect with the utsuri. Works with a strong tendency towards the Sōshū tradition are generally forged in itame, but also show a unique mokume, which is referred to as uzumaki-hada." - From Token Bijutsu 2022-02 "The jihada of such works is an itame mixed with ō-hada and shows mostly a characteristic uzumaki (a conspicuous whirlpool-shaped mokume element). This is one of Naotane´s most typical features and is not only found on works in the Sōshū tradition" - From Nihon-shinshinto-shi

Those o-mokume whirlpools are uzumaki and actually a kanteipoint for Naotane, however this doesn't change the fact the hada is indeed itame.

I'll offer up this extreme close-up of inlay that has travelled and expanded a bit. It has been reworked to clearly show the silver expansion. Also I don't know where I read it, but this bleeding of silver is supposedly actually a desired feature amongst collectors.

yamagane (山銅), lit. „mountain copper“): The term „yamagane“ describes raw, unrefined copper, whereas during the Edo period, sometimes relatively pure but already smelt copper was also called yamagane. Until the Sengoku period, the term yamagane was synonymously used for copper which came directly from the mines. This copper varied strongly in colour according to the area of mining. According to analysis, yamagane contains lead, arsenic, and antimony, and this is the reason why it is harder and darker than pure, refined copper. Early yamagane pieces like tsuba or kōgai appear subtle and plain, but this makes the special aesthetical sense of yamagane. Important to note is that copper or rather its patina changes over the centuries, therefore dull and darker copper pieces are not necessarily made of yamagane. So one has to be careful when examining and judging sword fittings. Above excerpt from Markus Sesko's Handbook of Sword Fittings

Hi John, I kinda see where they got it from? Could be a stylised form of the below. Obviously I gladly defer to the papers. It reminded of wada sukashi, but if the NBTHK say pine, pine it is.

https://markussesko.com/2015/07/07/some-thoughts-on-wada-sukashi/ for more info about the sukashi

I would imagine his work will be in the NBSK publications, however I don't have any of the more recent ones. Would also be interested to see the other entries for non-natives.

As stated at the top: https://nbsk-jp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/12_e.pdf Congrats to the non-natives that did quite well: Tosogu: Ford Hallam - Gold Prize (2nd place) Jeff Broderick - Bronze Prize (2nd place) Christoph Kopp - Nyusen(Recognition prize) Saya-nuri: Michael Cummins - Nyusen(Recognition prize)

Here's the kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/japanartexpo/Japan-art-expo-2022?mc_cid=0da49b1820&mc_eid=fbd8a201a3

Like others, I hesitate to comment on this, because of the sensitive nature. I truly believe that Ford is adamant about finishing that book. However, reality is forcing him to review his priorities. For me, I'd rather have Ford and no book than a book and no Ford. This is just my 5p, I respect everyone's point of view in this.

You hardly ever see these for sale - but Sanmei suddenly has quite a range! Just wanted to put it out there for possible interested parties. Although they're mostly linked to sahari inlay (like Hazama) - only a few of these have that feature. http://www.sanmei.com/contents/en-us/d1.html

Not many additions for me. But a few that are worth sharing: Iron Khorin tsuba, which in itself is rare, seeing he usually worked in soft metal. Ingenious way to depict grasses in combination with the gold inlay. A Muromachi Ko-Mino tsuba (TH), these are hard to come by, so pounced when I had the chance. Very nice early nanako, nice floral theme, nice detailing in the ana, what's not to like?

Here's a reference Nobuhisa with similar design. For Choshu my go to book is usually the Iwakuni Museum+Kashiwabara Collection.

some small additions: Regarding jidai: 初期 - shoki - early 中期 - chuki - mid 末期 - makki - late Regarding inlay: 銀象嵌 - gin-zōgan - silver inlay 平象嵌 - hira-zōgan - flat inlay (flush) 据文象嵌 - suemon-zogan (to inlay a separately made design or motif) Regarding openwork: 糸透 - ito-sukashi (line/thread openwork) 小透 - ko-sukashi (small sukashi) Regarding surface: 阿弥陀鑢目 - amida-yasurime - radiating lines starting from the center 時雨鑢目 - shigure-yasurime - slanting lines that resemble rain

I was following this tsuba as well, seeing you don't see good Sendai that often, well done Luca!

Winning Bid: ¥959,000

Gassan is a work of Gassan swordsmith before the middle of the Edo period. In the literature, it is said that the swordsmith of Dewa Province in the Kamakura period * Kioumaru is in charge, and it is also said that the inscription is cut into blades, but the existing works that are sure to be inscribed are still inscribed in SR Saki after the Nanbokucho period. Not found. The works from the Nanbokucho period to the early Muromachi period are called Tsukiyama or Tsukiyama work, but after the middle of the Muromachi period, Kanekuni, Konnori, Toshihisa, Kuri, Kunisei, and Abo. .. Some of them, such as Toshikichi, have been cut off from the author's name, and are even more civilized. Years such as Eisho will also be recorded. Most of the existing works are from the end of the Muromachi period, but they declined rapidly in the Momoyama period, and until Sadakichi Tsukiyama revived the Gassan school in the late Edo period, most of the works of this school were not seen. The above I did with Google translate for android with the scan function. The names you can usually find in the romaji bit in the app.