Study piece with a fatal flaw

[Veli]

I recently purchased an interesting blade which unfortunately had a hagiri. Luckily the seller was an honest person and we swiftly agreed upon a fair price reduction. The hagiri was very hard to spot, so no blame to anyone, no harm done.

 

Despite the hagiri, I find the workmanship quite unique, and would like to hear your opinions and observations. The blade is not worth much, so the discussion can flow free and relaxed

 

Most of the pictures have a link to a high-resolution image, so please try clicking on them.

 

The pictures can be found here:

http://nihontofinland.com/25

If you prefer, the photos can be freely uploaded on the NMB pages, but due to their size, I decided to start by providing a link.

 

Veli

[Darcy]

Nice activity. It makes me think of Tanshu Kunimitsu.

 

http://www.sho-shin.com/sanin2.htm

[Veli]

Thanks a lot Darcy, Hojoji Kunimitsu did not come to my mind when looking for examples of the same kind of workmanship. There are clearly some similarities in the Hamon outline.

 

One of the most distinct and peculiar characteristics of my battle-damaged blade are clusters of Ara-Nie scattered on the Ji, and on some places also on the Shinogi-Ji.

 

 

Any ideas where I might find examples of similar Ara-Nie formations?

 

BR,

 

Veli

[paulb]

Hi Veli

What period do you think this is from?

The reason I ask is the only examples I have seen of similar very dark nie ( I agree its large but not sure I would classify as ara-nie) are on Satsuma work of the late shinto and early shin-shinto periods

Overall the blades had a strong Mino influence look to them with a very organic flowing midare hamon with nijuba and lots of activity (including very long potato vine kinsuji.) but they also had strong and very dark nie bursting out of the hamon up into the ji-hada.

If you think it is earlier you might think of looking at Uda work whch again has the strong dark/bright nie as a characterisitc.

probalby miles off but worth a thought

[Veli]

Hi Paul,

 

Thank you for your insightful comments!

 

I would like to keep my mind open about the age and maker of the blade until I find examples of similar workmanship. That said, I am inclined to think this is an older blade: The hada and hamon show signs of several polishes; the hagiri looks battle-inflicted (some bending was associated with the hagiri); someone has tried to polish the hagiri out a long time ago, but without success; the patina of the O-suriage nakago looks much older than shinshinto; and the workmanship looks wild and organic, giving a koto impression rather than shinshinto. The original nagasa looks a bit on the long side for this to be a Keicho Shinto blade, although the sugata would match that idea. I do not think the sugata resembles a typical late Muromachi or Shinto sugata.

 

About this blade belonging to the Uda school… an idea worth considering! However, the mihaba is wide, the sori is shallow, and the shinogi is low, so not sure if this matches with a typical Uda Daito.

 

BR, Veli