Koto Wakizashi Opinions

[jutettsu8]

Hello, last time i had made a topic about the strange mei this blade has, but now i would like  to hear your  opinions about this blade. 

 

According to the seller this blade is from the 14-15th century. 

It has a honor mark on the mune.

The hamon: a midare hamon and on the other side a kobushigata choji.

It has the strange signature saying: Yamato no Kami Fujiwara Daijyo Norishige.

 

The cutting edge is 50 cm (19,5 inch)

thickness 5mm

width: 26mm

 

So i would like to hear your opinions!

( i only started collecting nihonto last year)

Thank you!

 

 

[Shugyosha]

I personally would pass on this one.

 

The "honour mark" may or may not have occurred in an actual fight and might have been put there to make an otherwise poor blade more attractive.

 

The kissaki looks to have been reshaped.  There are some very significant ware, lots of shin gane on display, and there's almost no ha machi these factors indicate that it's a very tired blade and it's also out of polish.

 

These issues alone would deter me before I got as far as looking at whether or not the signature might be legitimate.

 

There are undoubtedly better blades out there and I'd look down the sale or trade section of NMB as a starting point.

 

Kind regards,

[paulb]

As always it depends what you are looking for and what it costs. I understand John's concerns but dont feel quite so negatively towards it.

 

1. at 5mm it is fairly thin so may have been heavily polished. This may be a concern as to bring out the detail it definitely needs to be polished and there already appears to be core steel showing in a small area.

2. The kissaki may have been repaired/reshaped at some point, this is not unusual. The boshi is there, visible, although a little thin, and complete

3. The hamon is very busy, the lack of activity John mentions may be due to the condition of the current polish but I cant tell from the images.

 

Basically it is a fairly standard wakazashi in average condition. I think the 14/15th century dating is a bit optimistic and would place it 16th or 17th.

As said above it depends what you are looking for. I would agree with John before committing take a look at what is for sale on the board and see how it compares value wise

Good luck

Paul

[Shugyosha]

Hi Jonas,

 

I've just re-read my original post which I knocked out in a hurry. Apologies if that came across as a little brusque.

 

Best,

[jutettsu8]

It's okay, apologies accepted  

( even though it WAS kind of harsh   )

But since i am only a beginner, a student and  i can't afford the flawless or the ones with a certificate,(i could have bought one but i was kind of worried about the customs and etc,)

And i think for the price it looked pretty fair 

 

Regards,

[Jean]

And signed NoriShige. Did not find the smith in Markus book.

[jutettsu8]

yes indeed! i find that quite interesting that the mei is so rarely strange

[Shugyosha]

Hi Jonas,

 

Out of interest, what was the price of the blade?

 

Kind regards,

[jutettsu8]

of course,

it was around 600 euros

 

 

Regards,

[Mark Green]

Hummm?, Not sure there were a lot of  "no Kami" signatures on Koto swords. Were there?
 
 The sword looks well used, but Imho it looks good for that price. 
  Nice get!
 

  Mark




 

[Shugyosha]

It looks a lot better when you know the price and it's hard to get any kind of Japanese sword for less money than that,

 

So not so bad after all. 

 

Best regards,