Help translating tokugawa tanto :)

[bobtail44]

I'm new to Japanese edged weapon collecting and this forum. I just bought this tanto at auction. The second character is "mitsu" but I am not sure of the first one. The mounting hole is through part of the signature. I thought someone with far more experience than me might have seen this style of blade and know what the missing part of the signature is.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Trent

[takakage]

Hi,

 

HISA mitsu, likely a shin shinto smith.

[bobtail44]

Thanks for that

Is he one of the smiths in Hawley? and does anyone have any other info on it or what it might be worth?

 

Trent

[Stephen]

Nice find.

[bobtail44]

It seems weird that there isn't any material on this smith easily accessible online. Maybe this is the wrong section of the forum for info on smiths?

 

Trent

[takakage]

Hi,

 

3 smiths with this name on the hawley's. Not a well known swordsmith .

[John A Stuart]

There were a long line of Bizen no Kuni smiths of this name. As to shinshinto, perhaps Dewa Tenseishi, 'Shimizu Ise no Kami Tenseishi Rai Hisamitsu', Keio period. John

[bobtail44]

I guess the only way to find out who really made it is to compare it to other oshigata. The thing is I wouldn't have a clue where to find something like that when it isn't online.

 

I was told Hawley was a very good reference so I bought it but is doesn't show the actual signature as it was written by the smith.

 

I just wonder how such an obscure tanto ended up in Tokugawa koshire, that seems quite ornate. I paid $1100 for it as it looks quite impressive but I really have no idea what it's worth if someone makes an offer on it. I'm not selling for a to make money, but people collecting where i am make offers and trade etc all the time.

 

Trent

[Brian]

Tokugawa koshirae doesn't mean anything except "export mounts" for the tourist/export trade.

They used all the right symbols back then to appeal to that market, but they have nothing to do with the actual Tokugawa. Yours looks a lot nicer than the usual brass pressed mounts, but don't let that mon lead you down the wrong path.

As for value, I don't think you were very far off. Maybe a few hundred more.

 

Brian

[bobtail44]

If the blade was made for export then why was it re mounted in that koshire? I mean it has just come out of Japan and I wouldn't have thought someone would re mount a blade like that without some personal attachment to it?

Was it common for people to mount personal family items in tokugawa crests? I had a look at export type blades and they seem like that have a lot less personalization to them. The koshire has very detailed flowers painted all over it.

I greatly appreciate the information I am just trying to learn more about it because I spoke to a Japanese sword dealer and they said it is quite rare to find something like that in that style.

 

Trent

[bobtail44]

and I wouldn't sell it to him or my pair of tanba no kami yoshimichi's which he was disappointed about

[runagmc]

I don't think this blade or koshirae was made as a tourist item, but mon are used all the time as decoration and the "Tokugawa mon" is one of the most commonly seen. Brian's right that the presence of a mon doesn't neccesarily mean there's a connection to a particular family who used that mon...

 

Anyway, nice kanmuri-otoshi-zukuri tanto in decent polish with nice aikuchi koshirae for a pretty good price... from what I can see, I would be pretty satisfied...