Polishers Signature

[bone]

I've been wondering. Is there anyway to figure out the polisher from the stripes he leaves behind?

[Gabriel L]

Nagashi / togi-mei / kesho-migaki.

 

The answer is… sometimes. Maybe.

 

http://web.archive.org/web/200807201336 ... migaki.htm

[bone]

Thanks! Maybe... I think. :D

[DGuertin]

This has been an area of cosiderable debate for qute some time, the majority opinion for the longest time being it was meaningless. I did see a proper kao on a blade in Houston back in the 90's, though...

[nagamaki - Franco]

With study, familiarization, it is possible to recognize a polisher's marks. On several occasions I've had more than one polisher and other artisans that handle a lot of swords tell me that they recognized who the marks were made by. Heck, one can even begin to ID the polisher of a sword by the polish if you've seen enough examples of the polisher's work.

[Stephen]

Is there a scan app for that?

[Brian]

Yes, but only for Japanese cellphones, which are far more advanced than ours.

 

Brian

[kusunokimasahige]

He said....

[bone]

The one who polished one of mine did a pretty poor job. I'd like to turn Brian loose on him with that trout!

[Ted Tenold]

So many varieties. I've seen kesho migaki that included signatures (one was in very nice sosho), kao, dates, wood burl designs, and some just plain weird. Some are so bad, they're just an eyesore. Top craftsman's are amazingly precise and accent the polish magnificently.

 

Here is an interesting and unique combination.

 

[bone]

That. Is very cool. What's the signature?

[Ted Tenold]

Hard to make out a couple of them. The kaisho on the right looks like Masa Ki(?) Shige..Yoshi(?) The katakana on the left looks like maybe Mi Ka(?) ...(?) Te(?) :?

 

Maybe Morita-san can offer a suggestion?