ZENGIN Posted November 3, 2012 Report Posted November 3, 2012 A friend of mine brought me his grandfathers wakizashi he aquired from WWII. This thing is pretty rough, but the first thing i noticed was the tsuba. It looked like a very old iron tsuba that was very well made, it had a cherry blossom cutout but unlike some of the other iron tsuba I have seen (very few) it had some depth to it and i could tell it took some work to make. The mei only has 3 kanji, and i am unaware of how to read it. Anyone that could would be very helpful, but also since this is a wakizashi Im a little confused about a few things. Where wakizashi stamped in WW2 also? Judging by the tsuba and the fact there are no stamps on the blade i would say this is pre ww2, can anyone tell me if this is accurate? Any information would be helpful and thanks in advance! -James M Martin http://s9.postimage.org/6bzkat4i6/2012_11_02_17_46_29_497.jpg http://s10.postimage.org/dvi00c3aw/2012_11_02_17_47_25_126.jpg Quote
cabowen Posted November 3, 2012 Report Posted November 3, 2012 The blade is signed Seki Magoroku Appears to be a fake signature. Quote
ZENGIN Posted November 3, 2012 Author Report Posted November 3, 2012 I also should point out I dont require a translation (although it would be nice) per my last post. I am more concerned about the age of this blade, and if there is any way to tell based on the mei and or any charateristics of the blade itself. My observation is based soley based off of the tsuba. -James M Martin Quote
ZENGIN Posted November 3, 2012 Author Report Posted November 3, 2012 Thanks for your help! How can you tell it looks fake? It would be really wild if it was as I seen a picture taken in the 40's with my friends grandfather holding this blade (along with a Japanese flag). -James M Martin Quote
cabowen Posted November 3, 2012 Report Posted November 3, 2012 The Japanese themselves have been putting fake signatures on their swords for 800 years or so.... Quote
ZENGIN Posted November 3, 2012 Author Report Posted November 3, 2012 Ok, understood. What makes it look fake to you? Having that knowledge would possibly save me alot of frustration down the road As for this sword, my friend was just wanting to know who made it and where it came from. Im glad I checked here first, i was about to offer him a couple hundred just for the tsuba as it looked authentic and old to me (based on my limited knowledge). As for the blade I just wasnt sure, it is very well made but I had no way to tell its age or authenticity. -James M Martin Quote
ZENGIN Posted November 3, 2012 Author Report Posted November 3, 2012 Also, to respond to the picture comment. What i ment by that is that i would find it odd that someone would fake a mei on a blade only to run out and die on the battlefield and the american that killed him take it... -James M Martin Quote
cabowen Posted November 3, 2012 Report Posted November 3, 2012 It is the name of a well known, 16th century smith. Real blades by this smith are worth considerable sums of money. That is what drives the fakers-profit This sword may be several hundred years old. Can't really tell too much from the photos. Quote
Grey Doffin Posted November 3, 2012 Report Posted November 3, 2012 Hi James, There was a very famous smith who worked in the 16th century and signed "Magoroku Kanemoto." He was the 2nd generation of Kanemoto. I think the 3rd generation signed Magoroku also. Your sword is signed Magoroku but it looks nothing like it should to be a real signature of either of these smiths. If it can't be a real signature of these smiths it has to be either someone else or a faked signature of the real smith. There is no record of anyone else signing like this so you have a fake signature. Forged signatures on Japanese swords are very common; a large majority of signatures of important smiths are forgeries. Not unlike forgeries of oil paintings: there is money to be made from the unsuspecting. The forgery could have been done hundreds of years ago; most likely not done during WWII. You haven't shown us enough of the sword for us to tell you much about it, but being a wakizashi with a gimei (forged signature) it likely isn't much to get excited about. You haven't shown us the tsuba at all so nothing to be said about it. Grey Quote
ZENGIN Posted November 3, 2012 Author Report Posted November 3, 2012 I see, this is interesting to say the least. I didnt realize old fakes where as common as new ones. I will get some pictures of the tsuba. Ive heard the name Kanemoto plenty of times, its a shame its a fake Thanks for your help guys, ill have to break the bad news to my friend tommorow -James M Martin Quote
Brian Posted November 3, 2012 Report Posted November 3, 2012 News isn't all that bad..doesn't make the sword a fake, just you have a real sword signed with someone else's name. Some very nice swords out there with gimei signatures. Like having a nice painting, but signed Picasso. The painting is real, just not made by the claimed artist. There are probably hundreds of thousands of gimei swords out there. Brian Quote
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