paulb Posted April 30, 2014 Report Posted April 30, 2014 Earlier this year I did a brief write up on a tanto by the above mentioned smith (possibly). At the time I had just had it polished but only had two post polish images which appear in the article. All others were taken before it's recent polish and I said I would post more when I had them. As an interim step I have the two pictures below taken by a friend. They show the activity in the jigane well but not the clarity and brightness of the hamon. I will take more over the next few weeks which I hope will give a more complete view of what I am finding an increasingly beatiful little blade. Quote
Stone Posted April 30, 2014 Report Posted April 30, 2014 Hi Paul, Love it look forward to more pics. Tony. Quote
takakage Posted April 30, 2014 Report Posted April 30, 2014 Hi, Me too. Maybe we could add masame hada from koto to shin shinto ? Quote
paulb Posted April 30, 2014 Author Report Posted April 30, 2014 Thank you for the enthusiastic feedback I am away for the next week so wont be able to do anything until I return. I will post more as soon as can Best Regards Paul Quote
raven2 Posted April 30, 2014 Report Posted April 30, 2014 Very nice, Paul. Beautiful hada. if the hamon is as nice, I am truly impressed. Quote
runagmc Posted May 1, 2014 Report Posted May 1, 2014 Love good full on masamehada... Hosho, Kanewaka, Gassan... Quote
Jean Posted May 2, 2014 Report Posted May 2, 2014 Kiyondo too, I have seen also in the style very good Masahide blade. Quote
paulb Posted May 2, 2014 Author Report Posted May 2, 2014 interestingly it has been attributed to almost every period and school but surprisingly not Kunekane which with the pure masame would be a logical thought. Since being polished the amount of jinie and chickei has become clearer. There is an area where a sheet of very fine ko-nie forms nie utsuri. As I said in the article while I believe this sword to be a financial disaster in that I have no hope of recovering the money invested in it I am increasingly intrigued by it. It really is a beautiful piece of steel and I am beginning to believe it is what it claims to be, albeit heavily messed with. As the old saying goes if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, chances are it's a duck. More images in a week or so Best Regards Paul Quote
runagmc Posted May 2, 2014 Report Posted May 2, 2014 Kanewaka school from Mino to Kaga... I'm not sure how much pure masamehada they did (haven't seen so much from the school), but the few examples I have seen were pretty unusual and attractive to my eyes... but yes, I like Sendai Kunikane school masame, too... it had slipped my mind at the moment. Anyway, I just like pure masamehada. Seems like there are other fans of it here, too... Quote
takakage Posted May 2, 2014 Report Posted May 2, 2014 Hi, Don't forget Norikatsu. http://www.cmmilitaryantiques.com/gallery.php?arid=8007 Quote
Jean Posted May 2, 2014 Report Posted May 2, 2014 Be clear, scores of smiths have one day or another tried their skill at pure masame. Quote
Peter Bleed Posted May 3, 2014 Report Posted May 3, 2014 Pretty sword! The masame is broader than I'd expect for the Sendai Kunikanes. My guess would be shinshinto. Peter Quote
takakage Posted May 3, 2014 Report Posted May 3, 2014 Hi, Masame hada of norikatsu and kunikane are more tigth. But you can find some sample as paul's blade on some shin shinto swordsmiths as http://www.aoijapan.com/tanto-mumei-aizu-michitoki Quote
paulb Posted August 13, 2014 Author Report Posted August 13, 2014 Dear All Apologies that I did not add to the images of the hada as promised. I have had little time of late and the few poor attempts I made added nothing to what was already here. I will try and get more done now I have the blade back in hand. I mentioned I was having a koshirae made for it which has now also been completed. I have attached some images of the complete set below. At about the time I was having the koshirae made I came across an old (19th century) box for magic lantern slides. For no reason other than I thought it worked I had the box modifed to hold tanto inshirasaya and Koshirae. No attempt to pretend it is an authentic box ( it has nails in it apart from anything else) but it just felt sort of right and a neat way to store the tanto. See what you think. Quote
Grey Doffin Posted August 13, 2014 Report Posted August 13, 2014 Hi Paul, Can't tell from the pictures what wood the box is made of. If it is oak or one of a few others that have a natural tannic acid content you might want to lose it. Otherwise looks fine. Grey Quote
paulb Posted August 13, 2014 Author Report Posted August 13, 2014 Hi Grey Thank you for the advice. It isnt oak, although I am not 100% sure what it is. My earlier post was misleading (sorry) I dont intend to keep either sword or koshirae in it I was just playing with some ideas. You are absolutely right about being careful what pieces are stored in. Best Regards Paul Quote
Darcy Posted August 13, 2014 Report Posted August 13, 2014 I think it bears further research. While yes, shinto and shinshinto and gendaito smiths all made masame, so did Hosho after all My photos are a bit more contrasty which is just from the shooting style, the structure does not look so far away. Not a lot of people have had a chance to handle Hosho blades as they are fairly rare (no more than 60 Juyo daito? If I remember right...?) so it can be easy to put something to smiths who worked in similar styles and as Jean said so many have tried their hands at it. Kunikane's blades in particular are really, really good too. On the old Hosho that I have had my own chance at, I've found that the masame has always been somewhat irregular and one that was signed and passed Juyo had very little masame at all as well. So such a thing I think just needs to be dealt with slowly and with great care. Quote
paulb Posted August 17, 2014 Author Report Posted August 17, 2014 Hi Darcy Many thanks for your images which are a great help in comparison and study. I have attached below some more images of the tanto. I have played a lot with these to attempt to highlight some of the features. Because of this in some of them the contrast between the masame structures looks greater than they do in hand. One thing that did come to light while I was playing was the amount of fine ji-nie which covers the blade. I have no illusions about my photgraphic skill but hope the attached can show some of the features of the blade a little more clearly. As I think I have said before the more I look, the more I see, the more I see the more I like what I am looking at. Quote
cabowen Posted August 17, 2014 Report Posted August 17, 2014 Paul- Difficult if not impossible indeed to tell from the photos if this is an older blade that has a long history of polishing or a later blade purposely made to look older. Good candidate for shinsa.... Quote
paulb Posted August 18, 2014 Author Report Posted August 18, 2014 Hi Chris, For what its worth I think this is equally challenging in hand. You raise an interesting point though. When should you send something for shinsa? Dont misunderstand me I normally rely heavily on something having been papered when buying, especially unseen. However this case is somewhat different and I have to ask what do I want to achieve by having it papered? True I will get a knowledgeable opinion (much more so than mine) but by keeping it unattributed it forces me to look at it, research and study. I am afraid if I had already had it papered my motivation would have fallen off dramatically (in other words I'm lazy!) I am gaining a great deal by the work I am doing on it and if and when I do submit it for appraisal I would hope that the attribution will confirm the conclusion my research realised (or not) I sometimes think we might be getting into the habit of seeking immediate confirmation of school and maker from someone else rather than taking the time to try and work it out for ourselves. This is a great shame as we can learn a huge amount more by trying to make our own attribution before rushing off to shinsa. Quote
cabowen Posted August 18, 2014 Report Posted August 18, 2014 Can't argue your point Paul but I think it also depends on how you perceive shinsa- as the end or beginning.... Quote
paulb Posted August 18, 2014 Author Report Posted August 18, 2014 I am in danger of entering a philosophical debate about endings being new beginnings You are absolutely right the alternative view is to see what opinion comes back as and then try and understand why it has received the attribution it has. I do that with papered swords I buy. In this case I want to take it as far as I can before thinking of sending it anywhere. If a local (UK) event took place I might be tempted but otherwise I have further to go. thanks for your thoughts Quote
cabowen Posted August 18, 2014 Report Posted August 18, 2014 paulb said: I am in danger of entering a philosophical debate about endings being new beginnings You are absolutely right the alternative view is to see what opinion comes back as and then try and understand why it has received the attribution it has. I do that with papered swords I buy. In this case I want to take it as far as I can before thinking of sending it anywhere. If a local (UK) event took place I might be tempted but otherwise I have further to go. thanks for your thoughts Hahaha, yes, there is that danger! I think you will have an interesting and fruitful journey with this....good travels! Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.