signature on broken sword

[David McDonald]

Dear All

 

The image is from a katana that has had 1/3rd of the blade broken off (tip part) and then reshaped. So is a dead sword. But it had a nice copper habaki.

But I can not work out the translation. I almost think this is 27th generation Kaneko Kanemote

but maybe not.

 

Any ideas what the translation is or who the smith is?

 

Later

david mcdonald

jswords@mcn.net

[Gunome]

Hello

 

3rd and 4th kanji must be reizen 冷泉

[george trotter]

Dave,

The first two kanji are Suetsugu, the next 3 are (I think) Reizenshi, and the last? is dai. I may be wrong. Is there any more inscription?

If correct this would place the blade among the Suetsugu line of smiths in Fukuoka in Taisho-Showa. They were of the Fukuoka Ishido line I think. The Reizenshi looks like a title "cold water spring generation" or something.

The best known is Suetsugu Shigemitsu and his brother Suetsugu ?mitsu. (not sure of the reading of ? Moto, Yoshi, etc etc). I once had a blade by Shigemitsu and it had a stamp on the jiri with the characters saying "shiren"? which are the kanji tsugu (I think-hard to read) and ren (as here)...so this may be a blade by Shigemitsu himself...hopefully a more knowledgeable member will comment and correct my probable errors. Or, maybe this was an early blade of one of them or a pupil...just don't know.

I haven't been able to find much...sorry. Pity the blade was abused...may have been a good one.

[David McDonald]

Dear Sebastian and George

 

Thanks for looking and the leads.

 

later

david mcdonald

jswords@mcn.net