Help with gendaito signature request

[Lance]

Hello all,

I recently picked up sword in worn gunto mounts, dragon and bonji horimono and a well finished nakago, but the signature's got me stumped. After staying up late trying to figure it out the only thing I was able to come up with is maybe the last character is tsugu? pics below of the tang as well as a couple of the rest of the blade, thanks in advance for your time

 

Regards,

Lance

[JDinMT]

First kanji perhaps, Kane?

 

John D.

[cabowen]

Kanetsugu. The nie all over indicates a traditionally made blade....兼継

[Lance]

Thanks guys,

I was toying with the idea if the first character being Kane, but it was missing the 4 strokes on the bottom I usually associate with ths kanji and (too quickly) disregarded it.

I wish I could have captured better images of the hamon, aside from the nie there's all kinds of other activity running through and above the hamon.

 

P.S. Would I be correct in assuming it's not Imai Kanestsugu (John Slough's Oshigata book page 71) since the kanji used are so different? Extremely grateful for any pointers in the right direction.

 

Thanks again,

Lance

[runagmc]

Hi Lance, what's the quality of the horimono? Any better pics of it?

[cabowen]

Doubtful it is Imai Kanetsugu. He usually works in more of a Bizen style and has a long mei and date....

 

Probably a Seki smith. Looks above average for the usual Seki WWII blade with cheesy horimono.

[Lance]

I don't believe it's Imai Kaneitsugu either, but my thinking was the workmanship looks good enough (to me) that he might have been of some note instead of one of the many anonymous Seki smiths.

Below are some images of the (cheesey ) horimono, I do think it's step or two up from what's usually found swords from this period, but obviously nothing like the level of some of the examples listed in this topic:

 

http://www.nihontomessageboard.com/nmb/ ... 88&start=0 or this

http://www.sabakusamurai.com/sale/consi ... orSale.htm

 

Certainly better than this one though (also last pic posted)

 

http://www.antique-swords.eu/ww2-japane ... imono.html

 

 

Regards,

Lance

[cabowen]

I wasn't calling the horimono on your blade cheesy- I was commenting on what one usually sees on WWII Seki blades. This is definitely better than the norm....

[Lance]

Sorry Chris, my mistake.

 

Regards,

Lance

[cabowen]

not a problem.....

[w.y.chan]

Horimono of this standard are seldom seen in WW2 let alone Seki blades but from your pics the horimono look remarkably fresh.

[Lance]

Yes, it's probably one of the better horimono I've come across on Seki work (emphasis on Seki, not the higher level Gassan or Okimasa which is a much higher level, but from my experience this is very well done) and was part of the reason I purchased it. That and I like good Seki Gendaito (when I come across them) One of the things that was most striking to me when I first saw it was that the parts of the head and legs' frosted look was produced by a series of super fine punches. Overall the blade is actually pretty "fresh": the flash highlights the scratches more than it does in hand, and looks to have been given a much better than usual polish with very crisp shinogi and slightly faceted/beveled shape to the kissaki instead of it just having a "cosmetic" polish to the point, seen on many Showa period swords.

 

(No big deal, but from your question I'm assuming you're suggesting the horimono aren't original?)

 

 

Regards,

Lance