Marius Posted April 23, 2013 Report Posted April 23, 2013 Gentlemen, on behalf of a friend I am asking for your opinion regarding the sword. It is a massive sword - the blade is wide (need to get the mihaba) and has a nagasa of 74.6 cm. It feels very heavy in hand. Any ideas on period and school? I have my own ideas, but I would be grateful for an opinion of far more knowledgeable members. Thank you for your time Quote
Marius Posted April 23, 2013 Author Report Posted April 23, 2013 Here are some pictures of the nakago and a few more of the sword. Please forgive me, I have blurred the mei, I will show it later. Quote
runagmc Posted April 23, 2013 Report Posted April 23, 2013 Just from skimming past the pics I would guess Kanbun shinto, if not later... Quote
cabowen Posted April 23, 2013 Report Posted April 23, 2013 runagmc said: Just from skimming past the pics I would guess Kanbun shinto, if not later... What makes you think Kanbun Shinto? Usually Kanbun Shinto blades are quite straight with a rather small kissaki.... Quote
Mark Posted April 23, 2013 Report Posted April 23, 2013 I think no older than Shinto. I agree, not Kanbun. The condition of the nakago looks Shinto, it is hard to judge with the mei blurred. The length of the blade could be Shinto or Shinshinto. The length of the nakago leans more to Shinshinto style. The yakidashi makes me think Shinto but I guess a few Shinshinto guys did that. So 1700-1860 is as close as I can guess from the pictures mark Quote
Marius Posted April 23, 2013 Author Report Posted April 23, 2013 Mark said: The condition of the nakago looks Shinto. it is hard to judge with the mei blurred Sorry about the mei. I just wanted to avoid a shoshin/gimei discussion at this stage. I will show the mei later, of course Quote
Bruno Posted April 23, 2013 Report Posted April 23, 2013 Mark said: I think no older than Shinto. I agree, not Kanbun. The condition of the nakago looks Shinto, it is hard to judge with the mei blurred. The length of the blade could be Shinto or Shinshinto. The length of the nakago leans more to Shinshinto style. The yakidashi makes me think Shinto but I guess a few Shinshinto guys did that. So 1700-1860 is as close as I can guess from the pictures mark I agree with Mark, early to mid shinshinto at a guess. Quote
Ron STL Posted April 23, 2013 Report Posted April 23, 2013 At first, seeing the overall sugata made me think "very old tachi," but seeing more, that's not the case. The size and apparent weight (denseness) of the sword and seeing the beautiful choji mixed hamon brings me to either sue-koto or shinshinto work. The boshi carries on the hamon, a koto style and shinshinto style. The clear and strongly carved long mei and a date (so it appears) looks more shinshinto to me. The jihada does look more koto to me, but you do see this in shinshinto, too. Adding all this up in my aging mind, I suspect this is shinshinto and by a follower of Masahide. It'll be interesting to see more opinions and then what the mei and date is. All in all it looks like a very beautiful and impressive sword! Ron STL Quote
Alex A Posted April 23, 2013 Report Posted April 23, 2013 Hamon reminds me of genroku kaga kiyomitsu, allthough sori says otherwise. Alex. Quote
davidtorez Posted April 24, 2013 Report Posted April 24, 2013 I'm guessing Shinto, nakago too long for koto, even though jigane looks like koto, koto tang usually about 6 inches long. It appears too much polished for shinshinto, I may be wrong however. Looking forward for the mei and other anseers from the experts. cheers, Dave Quote
Marius Posted April 24, 2013 Author Report Posted April 24, 2013 OK guys, sorry it took so long... Before I post the mei here, let me give you all dimensions: Nagasa - 74.6 cm Sori - 17 mm Motohaba - 32 mm Sakihaba - 24 mm Motogasane 0.8 cm Sakigasane 0.55 cm This is a beefy sword Quote
runagmc Posted April 24, 2013 Report Posted April 24, 2013 cabowen said: What makes you think Kanbun Shinto? Usually Kanbun Shinto blades are quite straight with a rather small kissaki... I guess I should have said Kunbun Shinto at the earliest... that's why I said "if not, later". That being said, I have seen many Kanbun katana that have similar sori to this one. Anyway, I would probably lean toward later 1600s... Quote
Marius Posted April 25, 2013 Author Report Posted April 25, 2013 OK, gentlemen. Here is the mei (sorry for the pictures, but these are the most legible). The mei indicates that the sword was made by SENDAI YASUTOMO as a collaboration project with the daimyo DATE TSUNAMUNE, the 3rd lord of the SENDAI fief. Given that the sword has no papers and the patina does not look that old, I think it is safe to assume it is gimei. Chris's attribution to one of the Bizen Yokoyama smiths is very interesting - I used to own a Bizen Yokoyama sword, which had a very similar hamon and sugata. Thank you for very much your input Quote
runagmc Posted April 25, 2013 Report Posted April 25, 2013 Most of the Yokoyama swords I have seen have tight and small hada, and don't have the nie that this sword looks to have. Also I think they usually have a sugu-boshi, and a pretty distinct nakago style... the suguta and shape of the hamon are similar though... Quote
Marius Posted April 25, 2013 Author Report Posted April 25, 2013 Thanks, Adam. I will ask the owner if the hamon is nie or nioi-deki. I cannot see it from those pics. Sugu-boshi? Not always so. Nakago? This seems to match. Here are a few Bizen Yokoyama swords - in some of them you will see that hada is not so tight and boshi is not sugu: http://www.aoi-art.com/kantei/kantei184.html http://www.japanesesword.de/?site=sword ... hqsfgfdpg5 http://www.nihontoantiques.com/fss439.htm http://yakiba.com/Wak_Sukenaga.htm http://www.nihontocraft.com/Bizen_Yokoy ... ekane.html http://www.samuraisword.com/nihontodisp ... /Sukenaga/ Quote
cabowen Posted April 25, 2013 Report Posted April 25, 2013 There were many smiths in the Yokoyama group and a bit of variation in the deki, forging, boshi, etc. is seen-they are not all per the textbook. When altering a blade to make a fake, the only thing that can't be changed is the hamon and the forging, though the forging can be played down or brought out, depending on the polish. The general size and shape of this blade points me to shinshinto. Those making choji with a yakidashi are usually tied to the Yokoyama group. Based on the limited info available in pictures, that is my guess. It is just a guess.... Quote
Marius Posted April 25, 2013 Author Report Posted April 25, 2013 cabowen said: The general size and shape of this blade points me to shinshinto. Those making choji with a yakidashi are usually tied to the Yokoyama group. Based on the limited info available in pictures, that is my guess. It is just a guess.... Of course, Chris. A guess, and a very appreciated one. Quote
Marius Posted April 26, 2013 Author Report Posted April 26, 2013 Many thanks to all who have taken the time to look at this sword. Your kind help is very appreciated. Quote
Alex A Posted April 26, 2013 Report Posted April 26, 2013 Cheers for puting it on Mariusz... Alex. Quote
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