New purchase from yard sale

[bubba-san]

Hello folks , I just purchased this small tanto 8.5 " cutting edge over the weekend . The blade is mumei and seems to be in fine polish no chips or or delamination . The blade has been refitted as there are several (2) mekugi ana .

 

The fittings (tsuba) is shakudo , the fuchi, kashira seems to be Tin but, have same motif as tsuba .

the kozuka /gokatana appear to be shakudo on one side with tiger , on other side it looks to be Mokume

 

The only papers that came with it are faded yellow paper .What do you think of the tin fittings ??

Not used to seeing them on nihonto ? Can anyone express thier opinion about this blade . I paid 150$

for it . The blade is very thick for tanto approx 5/16" . I can add more pictures later upon request.

I also purchased wakizashi earlier from same person . Says her father brought back from Japan in 1960.

the Saya looks like wedding piece (Goshugi) Money.??

 

Thank you very much James

[Jiro49]

Sir, it looks great for $150.00..! All I find us WWII uniforms and such at the local garage sales, I'm envious.

 

The koshirae looks nice, can you tell me why you think its rare?

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

Respectfully,

[bubba-san]

Sir, it looks great for $150.00..! All I find us WWII uniforms and such at the local garage sales, I'm envious.

 

The koshirae looks nice, can you tell me why you think its rare?

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

Respectfully,

 

Hello Sir , I don't know if those type of fittings are rare or not , I was quoting from the small piece of paper that came with Tanto .Paper seems to be old faded yellow .I am not used to seeing tin fittings on Nihonto ?

James B.

[J Reid]

Why don't I find things like this at garage sales? ...AHH THE ENVY!!!

[Hinawaju]

Hi James,

Congratulations to a real bargin find.

I am far from un expert on fittings, but I come to think about Goto Ichio group.

I may be on very thin ice here. But it is a guess as good any.

 

regards,

Guy R.

[cabowen]

Nice score but Goto? Let's not get carried away!

[mdiddy]

The kozuka looks like shibuichi with carving in katakiri bori. Would you post a few more pictures of it including the backside? You may also want to check for a small signature there.

 

Would love to see more pics of the blade and nakago too.

 

Nice find!

[bubba-san]

Thank you gentleman, I appreciate the information . I will take it apart in the morning and post some pictures of blade and tang .Again thank you ... James B.

[bubba-san]

The kozuka looks like shibuichi with carving in katakiri bori. Would you post a few more pictures of it including the backside? You may also want to check for a small signature there.

 

Would love to see more pics of the blade and nakago too.

 

Nice find!

 

 

You are correct Mdiddy, It is shibuichi , It appears to be black shibu . Here are a couple pics . No signature Blade does have a hamon and other side of Kozuka is mokume. The tsuba unfortunately was hammered to fit blade and is in bad shape , I will be looking to replace it or just forge another one . The tsuba is also shibu

lucky I have some plate I made for some other fittings .

Thanks James

[Jorgensen]

Congratulations on your find :D

 

It seems to be in good condition, nice koshirae and with a nice habaki. I looks like an earlier piece from the nakago late 17cth / 18cth. Koshirae seem to be later period too. Looks to be complete and all matching. Fittings seems skillfully made. I have no suggestions on school etc.

 

Really nice find from a yard sale and at a very good price.

[Brian]

Congrats, nice find. A nice honest piece.

Mokume back to the kozuka is a nice touch...don't see that often.

 

Brian

[Ron STL]

What a pleasant looking package. First, I wouldn't be so quick to pitch the tsuba as it looks correct for the mounting and is real; a homemade one isn't "real." One of our local guys has been reading about the use of tin on fittings and that it once was quite rare and exensive to use. Personally, I haven't heard about the use of tin but his finding are correct, I'm sure. It would seem more likely the fittings are silver or perhaps a silver alloy mixture or something (since silver would patinate dark over time). Even the habaki looks kind of special which makes me wonder if it is identifiable to a maker or group. The blade also looks nice, but needs study to figure out what it is. What luck that you "saved it" with your purchase. Too often these are destroyed before they are discovered by someone who recognizes what they are! I'll always remember the fellow who walked into the last (as in final) Birminghan, Alabama, sword show with wonderful, ubu and signed Ichimonji tachi in shirasaya! He had just bought it at a sale for something rediculous, like ten bucks! We met years later and the sword eventually went Juyo! Sorry...just bringing back memories after seeing your tanto.

 

Ron STL :|

[bubba-san]

Thank you folks for helping with the Tanto . I feel fortunate to have wandered by the sale .When I saw it I thought it said 1500$ ? Not sure what the menuki are ? Looks like some kind of bird or snake ??

The Ito cord is very tight but, think it may have some old laquer on it ! might be a pheasant ??

Any Idea on how I should proceed with restoration? The ito is bad shape . Tsuka has shrunk some . Nakago does not go all the way to bottom of tsuka. maybe new tsuka or use knife file to clean out a little . I kind of did some measurements and if I clean out, mekugi pin will fit into original ana on the nakago. Some restorations are difficult and It's best to ask opinions before proceeding . Any advice would be helpful.

Not sure if I posted picture of Tsuba or not ? There are some small chips on saya where someone stood the Saya on kissaki end. Other than that its in very good condition. Thank all of you for remarks and advice

Sincerely . James ...

[Grey Doffin]

Hi James,

Looks to me like the only work this needs is a handle wrap. Use a pro and he can fix the fit of the tsuka at the same time. I can recommend David McDonald in Montana; I'm sure he has a link above and if not you can google him.

Grey

[reeder]

I usually just find junk at garage sales. Only once did I find a Japanese Arisaka Nagoya no series rifle (no mum sadly), a bayonet, and leather rifle case all for $20. That was 2 years ago and have not seen anything cool since. This one is staying with me since it was one of my first military finds and deals. Waiting for the Type 14 to return from the gunsmith (and hoping it's not butchered when I get it back from a missing extractor) and will take a picture of the Japanese collection.

 

Anyways, nice find. If you're like me the thrill of the hunt and finding the stuff out in the wild is just as much fun as researching what you've found and finding all the information related to it. Both have been very helpful to positively focus energy and keeping my mind off of chronic pain and MS.

 

-Brandon