Katana Taira Nagamori

[Bond]

Gentlemen,

May I ask for your opinion about this katana from AOI ART auction: http://www.sword-auction.jp/english/auction.cgi?acc=disp&no=1394349341&t=1213703271?

Is the kissaki reshaped, or it is some kind of different polishing of o-kissaki? I also think that the fittings and saya looks rather nice.

 

Thanks :-)

 

 

Aleksandr B.

[Mark]

you could ask Tsuruta san, he has always been helpful in the past when I asked a question. The blade looks, to me, to have the original tip. I think it was made that way, it is shobuzukuri

[Robert Housley]

I saw it a couple of days ago and wished I had not spent all of my money;) I have a production shobuzukuri blade that I love. It is an intersting blade and I like the saya.

Robert H.

[Bond]

Thank you Mark and Robert, I have actually also asked Tsuruta san, do you know how fast he would usually reply?

Regarding the smith and the age of this blade, it is advertised as:

Signature : Taira Nagamori

Era : Late Muromachi period. 1590

 

But according to swordsmiths index from Nihonto Club, there was no smith signing mei "平長盛 Taira Nagamori" during 1590: http://nihontoclub.com/view/smiths/meisearch?type=All&mei_op=contains&mei=%E5%B9%B3%E9%95%B7%E7%9B%9B ?

[Mark S.]

I saw that same blade. Hate to make guesses from the photos, but that is all we have right now. I was more interested in the condition of the blade a few inches from the tip. Seems as if the hamon runs very close to the edge (on both sides). Also 'seems' like a patch of the underlying steel is showing through? Possibly a large area of rust was removed from both sides of the blade? A 'touch up' polish for a small cost is mentioned... but is there more going on than that? Hard to tell from the photos.

[Marius]

You don't have to guess as far as the hamon is concerned. You have an oshigata. The sword is tired, look at the hamachi (although kasane is very thick). There are tate ware and shingane.

 

You cannot expect too much at this price - it is signed, ubu, has Hozon, shirasaya and koshirae... Nice package for the price.

 

If someone likes the shape (I know that this plays an important role for some people) but wants something better:

http://www.toukenkomachi.com/index_en_t ... 11113.html