Hizen Tadakuni?

[Daniel]

Hi all

I'm really a Gendaito guy so I'm a little lost here.

What do you think? Gimei? If not which generation and of course your overall impression of the blade would be most welcome. Nagasa is about 24 1/2"

Many thanks

Daniel

[Daniel]

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[Daniel]

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[hxv]

Daniel,

 

The hada is a bit rough/coarse for a Hizento. May be gimei as you suggested.

EDIT: Also, it's signed katana mei - another red flag?

 

Hoanh

[zentsuji2]

Nice sugata,and upswept blade,the hada also visible in the ji.

What is the verdict,a mumei shinshinto, with the mei cut in ww2, or a later Tadakuni lineage,i would just like to learn as it's a nice sword in shape and hada,is it the tang that gave this away,or the mei strokes.

Regards.Ian bellis

[Mark]

some short hizen katana can be katana mei, but the mei does not look genuine. I think gimei

[Daniel]

Thank you for your replies so far, so the verdict is Gimei? What do you think about the age? The nakago is much darker in reality, almost black. I found a couple of pics of another sword signed tadakuni. Exactly the same length, signed katana mei, similar shape and even the Habaki looks the same. Just to be clear I bought the first sword from nihonto.au who was very clear he didn't guarantee the mei so I bought it as a good antique blade in good condition gunto mounts. I attach a couple of photos of the other sword(not mine)

 

Regards

Daniel

[Lee Bray]

I won't say gimei or not but a trait of Tadakuni was to shape his nakago with a very slight kink on the ha side.

I've circled the area I mean in the last pic you posted.

This kink is present on the nakago of your sword.

 

[Jim P]

Hi Daniel, You ask is the mei shoshin IMHO, from a quick look. Not the first-generation or 2-gen mei, look at differences between some of the shoshin mei and yours viewtopic.php?f=1&t=15940 or check the web, lots of them. If you want some shoshin mei to look at (Fujishiro's) drop me a line and I will send them to you.

If its Gimei I would have a look at Bungo Takada school this sword looks like it could come from that school maybe ? and it looks shinto from the photos mid to late 1600s is my guess . But I am not good at kantei and from photos so I may be way off

[cabowen]

I would think definitely gimei. The signature is a rather poor attempt. Look at the tada kanji- quite clumsy and misshapen in my opinion. The ends of many strokes have a pointy shape to them- that seems odd as well...As has been said several times, this is not Hizen hada. I think it is a clear fake. Takada is a good call.

 

EDIT: I think they are both fake.

[runagmc]

Daniel, the second set of pics is the same sword, is it not?

[Daniel]

The first 14 photos of the sword in Type 98 mounts are mine. The last three photos of the sword in civilian koshirae are not mine.

Regards

Daniel

[runagmc]

Looks like same sword, different mounts to me... nakago looks like an exact match...

 

Regardless, it looks well made, with nice polish...

[Lee Bray]

I think you're right, Adam.

There are a couple of blemishes to the left of the Kuni kanji which are the same and the rust to the upper left of the nakago ana appears the same.

[Daniel]

So probably a Bungo Takada from the 1600s

Yes it looks like the same sword doesn't it? The blade has been polished recently in Japan. Thank you for your help and response so far, as always I'm very grateful to the kind members of this wonderful board.

 

Cheers

Daniel