Bishu Osafune ???

[Kronos]

Can't get the last 2 Kanji, Might possibly be Ie something...

All help is appreciated.

 

[Bugyotsuji]

James, you have obviously tried to get the definitive shot, but can you get another couple from different angles in different lights? Thanks.

[Kronos]

I wish I could but won't have it in hand until tuesday. The signature isn't really important as I like the sword but just thought I'd post on the of chance someone could give me a head start as you guys are wizards where all I can see is chisel marks.

[Kronos]

So the auction was today and unfortunately I couldn't attend but left an absentee bid on this. For some reason my bid wasn't executed which is extremely disappointing given the very low price it went for but the auction is ongoing so I'm in conversation with the auction house to see what they can do as reauctioning it is a possibility under their T&C's, will know in the next few hours. It's a nice Oei Bizen Katana so hopefully I can work something out.

 

On the bright side I managed to pick up a nice Bizen Morihisa Waki and some other stuff. It looks legit (without checking the signature against a reference) so if anyone has some examples I'd be very grateful.

[Kronos]

It's dated 1377 btw so I presume it's Mor59...

[Kronos]

So just got these home tonight, I'm fairly certain after a good conversation with Darcy that the Morihisa is most likely correct although there doesn't appear to be any examples in books. Here are a few more shots of the Katana mei in the album below, I've tried to be as thorough as I possibly can without a good camera setup. I've been told it may be Iehisa but cannot confirm this myself and it doesn't look right.

 

http://imgur.com/a/SrUph#0

 

Click view full resolution in the top right to see a big image.

 

Here's a couple of the blade, I'm really quite impressed with the Jihada and Utsuri, the Utsuri really pops out which I couldn't even see in some Bizen swords I looked at in some museums recently. I think I may of captured it pretty well in some of the shots despite not being in the best polish.

 

Please forgive the dirty cloth it's on

 

[cabowen]

This blade appears to be signed Bishu Osafune X mitsu (maybeeee....)

[Kronos]

Thanks Chris, Mitsu is one of the more likely Kanji, I think I've got it down to about 4 or 5 but this is alot harder than I thought it would be. Hopefully Morita san sees this topic and can use his phenomenal kanji reading ability otherwise I may not know until it goes to Shinsa. The other option i guess is to attempt to go the Kantei route which I think I've got down to early nambokucho Soden Bizen but even that's stretching me.

[Robert Mormile]

James:

 

I predict that an in-hand examination will lead us to see Sukesada:

 

祐

定

 

As suriage took some material off the mune of the nakago the right side of the characters have been compromised. The sword itself is handsome. Best of luck with it.

 

Robert