Opinions on a Wakizashi

[templar44]

This is a rather small mumei wakizashi. It appears to be mid Muromachi. I believe it is Mino. The temper appears to be gnome midare with some togare. In the right light some of the nioi kuchi can be seen and it appears to be wider than standard Mino. The file marks are takanoha. I was leaning towards a Naoe school with this blade. Any opinions would appreciated. Would like to see if I am off the mark. Sorry I can't give details of the hada as it is to obscured to see. The nagasa is 36.5 cm. The width at the hamachi is 2.7cm and the width at the yokote is approximately 1.8 cm.

Look forward to any responses.

Tony Martin

[templar44]

Forgot to post the photos.

[paulb]

Tony

I dont know if there is much to add beyond what you have already said. Based on what can be seen in it's current state of polish it is an unsigned wakazashi derived from Mino. Personally I would not put it as early as you have (dont know why but it just looks later, I would guess mid Edo but in reality it could be anywhere between 1550 and 1850) As to school or smith I think it would be almost impossible to bring it closer in it's current condition.

sorry probably not much help

best regards

Paul

[SwordGuyJoe]

Based on yasurime, I'd say very late Shinto, but more likely shinshinto.

[Marius]

Mino is a good guess. Too short for a shinogi zukuri blade to be Muromachi, unless o-suriage.

[templar44]

Terrific. Thanks guys. Appreciate it very much.

 

Tony Martin

[cabowen]

Looks a little like Hamabe work from shinshinto. I would bet in polish it would be a very attractive blade.

[mdiddy]

I would suggest Edo period Seki Zenjo school. I have had a couple before with similar gunome midare that reached up to the shinogi.

[cabowen]

There was a time during shinshinto when these smaller wakizashi were popular; that is why I suggested shinshinto rather than shinto.

[mdiddy]

Hamabe used kesho yasuri. Was takanoha yasuri prevalent when these smaller wakizashi were popular in shinshinto?

[templar44]

Again, thanks to everyone. I put this blade on because i was interested in recent post about a wakizashi with a Bishu osafune mei. There seemed to be a lot of back and forth regarding the signature / age of blade with regards to length of blade. It was the first time I had encountered the small wakizashi length / shindig zukuri shape issue. At one point it went to it being a possible boys sword.

The size of my blade is very similar to the other blade and I was curious if the same type of theory's might crop up. I thought the blade may have been earlier but common consensus says no for very valid reasons. Chris I like your positive outlook about a polish because I kind of like this little blade and I hate letting things go without knowing what was really there. I have a katana attributed to Hamabe Toshinori by the NTHK. I know what you mean in your choice. Is the wakizashi similar? Yes in some ways but a polish would really tell the tale. Is the katana Toshinori?

I do not get a great deal of opportunity to talk sword talk so I really enjoy this type of exchange. Thanks for your input and if any more is on the way I look forward to it.

 

Thanks again,

Tony Martin

[templar44]

Matt I have not been able to find specific details or photos of any signed Toshinori blades. I have seen a few examples of his students but I can not remember what the file marks were. Those on mine are sijukai. Like I said previously who knows. I want a second opinion on the sword. The shinza team did spend some time with the blade as it was the first one up in the morning and I was working the show so I watched how long was spent with the blade. It was between 5-10 minutes. A pretty good chunk of time considering the team went through 220 blades after that. Some barely recieved 30 seconds. Anyway, it still proves nothing. It was a fun experience and perhaps the katana was made by someone with some talent.

 

Tony Martin

[cabowen]

Hamabe used kesho yasuri. Was takanoha yasuri prevalent when these smaller wakizashi were popular in shinshinto?

 

Yes, the mainline Hamabe smiths used kesho....not sure who exactly was using takanoha in shinshinto without some research....I was simply noting that the hamon was similar to some I have seen from the Hamabe group and that smaller wakizashi are seen in shinshinto...

[Jacques D.]

Hi,

 

Maybe i'm wrong but from what i can see it seems hamon has a look of hitatsura.