French nihonto

This is happening more and more often. I wonder what happens to all these blades…

Thank you all for your answers. Yes, indeed, Jussi. That's what I saw, and I have to admit that a lot of the characteristics match, the Jigane is really magnificent. As for the signature, even if it looks old compared to the patina of the whole, it seems clumsy to me. The problem is that there aren't many examples of signatures from any generation on the net. Does anyone have a book with more examples? Another interesting Kantei point that I hadn't noticed at first (shame on me) is that the Sengo school is known to have an identical or almost identical Hamon on omote and ura. After checking, can we talk about quasi-symmetry in this case?

Thanks Brian. Yes a tanto with a nakago with a nice black patina, a Showa 26, and a good polish. Despite the fake signature, the quality takes over. The question, is it so easy to remove the signature and what would be the result of a shinsa according to you?

Hello gentlemen. I recently acquired a tanto signed "Heianjyo Nagayoshi" obviously gimei, but the quality looked interesting. And a little bonus: a Torokusho Showa 26 certificate. The price wasn't too high, so I decided to take it as a study blade. Once in my hand, I have a feeling of Oei, or perhaps fine nanbokucho. I'm not in favour of signature overpressure but this time I think it could be beneficial for the blade (only fools don't change their mind). I'd like your thoughts on this piece? Nagasa : 28.1cm sori : 0

I wonder about this line. It looks a lot like a nakago welding mark

It's really difficult to say. I have the impression that the steel has been heated with something. I hope it's not that because that would be irrecoverable. Or burnt by a chemical element

Oh, dear. It's a shame, that's what I do for a living. Maybe I should think about doing something else. Tanto or Wakizashi is not the point. I had forgotten the size of the blade written in the first post, which I read yesterday quickly between 2 trains. That doesn't make me someone who is bad at physics, at best someone who has memory problems I grant you. My suggestion was just a basic comparison of weight between 2 blades of the same size. If it's silver, you'll immediately feel it on such a 'large' object. But we know here that it's not silver. Sincerely

Not easy to do, I agree, but it might be the least invasive solution, apart from the spectrometer. But much less expensive

Compare this with a tanto tradionel, which is about the same size. If it's silver, the difference will be significant.

I really doubt it's silver. The simplest test would be to weigh it. Quite simply, silver has a much higher density than steel, aluminium, and so on. Weigh the blade, and you'll see straight away if it's silver or not.

Very probably Gimei. and for the quality it is difficult to say with these photos. you say that the mune was altered? how is it altered?

It's more than a mortal default. It's an earthquake fissure.

I've already had this kind of mark on one of my old blades. It's hard to tell from the photos if it's exactly the same on this blade. But sometimes the Shirasaya is a bit too tight and causes blackish rub marks.

I completely agree with you, but is it the blade that is fundamentally dishonest, or is it the merchant who decides to be dishonest? I'd like to cite an example of a sword that everyone here knows. Kondo Isami's katana. It's well known that the Kotetsu of the Shinsengumi chief is actually a fake. But at the time, Kondo simply liked the blade because its steel was pleasant and it cut really well. And it wasn't until the Meiji era that the sword was established as a Gimei. By the end of the Edo period, it was considered Shoshin. Now what do we do with these blades? Which belonged to these great figures in Japanese history. Because I don't think Kondo was the only big name to wear a Gimei. And even though they knew swords well, many wore this kind of blade, Gimei but effective in combat. These blades are historically important, effective in combat and therefore well made. But it's impossible to find a piece of paper confirming that they're worth keeping, or else you'd have to remove the Mei from this kotetsu? Or give it to a martial artist to train with?

I don't think our own collection has anything to do with this debate. We're just proposing a solution to preserve as many blades as possible for future generations. Just for the study of fake signatures, why they were made, at what time, by whom, for whom? etc... questions that are not yet fully answered. Or do you think the signature is more important than the blade? So a very nice blade with a fake signature shouldn't be studied, nor preserved? It's a question of study and preservation, not of personal materialism and pecuniary reasons. In any case, there seems to be no end to this debate.

This chagal and most other fake chagals come from a single person, a copy artist who has since served time in prison in France. Most of copy date back to the 1970s. So considered the modern age. The decision to destroy the work was made to deter current forgers. I've already seen an interview with this men who put away the brushes long ago. And he says he sees a lot of these counterfeit paintings in big museums, obviously presented as the real thing.

A word of clarification. This law is used for modern objects, to protect the very frequently copied luxury goods market. But they won't destroy a 19th-century painting that's a copy of a 16th-century one. It's not used for ancient objects.

The uda school especially, and a little Ko-Uda as well, was the easy attribution for the blade that have a difficult reading. And there are many more uda and ko uda attributions than actually created works. Kunifusa's works are the most highly rated, I think. The Ko-Uda school is relatively good (often a little underestimated, I think), while the Uda school produces rather scholastic blades with less charm. I own a Ko-Uda Tenshō-suriage (type of suriage applied to blades generally appreciated) paper attributed to Kunifusa, and it's a nice work.