Surfson

I'm not sure that is a dimple. There are round dew drops found on other parts of the tsuba, especially on the back.

Well, I see that some of you are voting Big Belly Flop! Well, I will have a close look at it once it's in hand. If I still can't tell, I will have Miyano's team from NTHK NPO look at it next time they are in town. If they say it's a fake, then maybe it's time for a new hobby.

I have found a few variances from the one in the book, so they are not identical, but nearly so. The photography is very different, and it is difficult to tell about patina, so I have looked primarily at the carving. I doubt the mei was stamped, and couldn't find any evidence that the one on Yahoo was cast.

That is an oft asked question Dave, but sometimes dealers don't want to spend the money or the time to put a sword or tosogu through shinsa. I tried to judge it by the work, as well as the mei and agree with you that it looks ok. I'm hoping that there is a Sekibun aficionado on the NMB.

What makes you so sure David?

Here are photos from the book (sorry about the resolution - as it happens, I have the book and the tsuba in the book and the one above are identical, other than the use of gold for the whiskers of the dragon).

Just saw this sell this AM on Yahoo.jp for less than $550. My study of the mei was equivocal, just using Markus Sesko's book on sword fitting signatures. I did happen to stumble across an example of nearly the same tsuba in a book on 100 tsuba that is nearly identical (see the next post). Would love to hear opinions about whether this tsuba is shoshin or not. It has no papers. My take is that if it is gimei, the maker must have had a tsuba like the one on the next post right nearby since the two are nearly identical in every aspect.

I look forward to seeing them Tony. There were some nice pieces in the auction.

Very interesting!

Good luck with them Tony!

Hi Tony. I assume that you bought them from the Sofe Auction yesterday. Although I didn't get the only sword I bid on yesterday, I have bought a few swords from them in the past. I had no trouble with the shippers that they recommended. You probably have special requirements due to shipping into the UK, where modern sharp swords are illegal as I understand it. I suggest that you talk with one of the UK collectors that often ship swords into the UK to find out the best way to avoid problems at customs (Michael for example).

Mihail. I am glad to hear that you like it and are thrilled. If you continue your interest in nihonto, you will get even greater thrills as you pursue it!

埋　This is the typical ume kanji

I'm no expert in tosogu, no doubt, but it could be older. Many early ones get hitsuana added later. This one seems to have escaped that since the sukashi design uses up the room for ato hitsu ana.

Hahah, yes, and I am among those ranks (of the fallible). I can't see the mei on the tsuba well. The papers clearly don't say Umetada however....

Or the polisher(s) polished into the top part of the nakago (I have a couple swords on which this has occurred).

By the way, it looks like the sword had at least two more holes in the tang - you can see part of them on the folded part of the mei. By my count, there were six holes at least. This is a good sign of a well loved and often remounted sword. Sorry, I just noticed that Ray already flipped the photo. In any case, since the length is currently 29.5 inches and based on the last hole (the distal one in the orikaeshi mei), it wouldn't surprise me if this sword was 34" or more (86-88 cm), quite a large sword!

John, I agree that it is orikaeshimei. Because of this, when the sword is photographed upright, the mei is upside down. If you rotate the photo of the mei 180 degrees, some of our great readers of obscured meis (I am thinking Ray Singer here...) may be able to give you a reading of the mei.

Hi Mihail, and welcome to the NMB. It's a little hard to tell from the photos, but my guess is that this is a genuine Japanese sword that has recently been in the hands of an amateur restorer. Rather than being polished, my sense is that a previous owner put the blade through abrasive cleaning (maybe sandpaper) and perhaps buffing. This shinogi line is rounded, which is always a clear sign of this. Is this your first sword? If so, welcome to the hobby. When you have learned all that you can from this sword, hopefully based on a lot of reading, you will hopefully be able to get most of your money back to apply to the next study piece.

Are you sure the papers say Umetada? If so, the first kanji is atypical.

Also the Bohi goes into the region that should have the boshi.... I do have a sword by this guy, but haven't studied the mei on yours.

My sense about tsuba like these is that the thinner they are, the older they are, and 3mm is fairly thin. Also, the carvings get a certain amount of wear to them so that the cuts are very much rounded off.

Bruno, FYI, there is a tsuba that is square like this listed as the first figure in Sesko's "Japan's most important sword fittings" book, that is Juyo bunkazai and listed as Ko-katchushi. I am not knowledgeable enough to tell you the era in which yours was made.

I like the tsuba Bruno. How thick is it? If quite thin, maybe it's Tosho? Although admittedly, it would be an atypical design.

Wow Michael, that is quite an elevation, from Oei Bizen to Yoshioka Ichimonji!