Help Please (Sword With Beautiful Carving, But Osuriage)

[Vince6]

Hello, everyone 

I have to admit this is a compulsive buying, and I lack of sufficient knowledge to tell the attribution of the sword.  At first, I was attracted by the carving which is an arrow with a symbol of Aisen-Myoo (愛染明王). The arrow matches the symbol because Aisen-Myoo's dedicated weapon is arrow (and bow of course) in Japanese mystery, and this is not a common knowledge so I thought the sword is not a cheap fake iron bar at least. Then I thought of the important smith of Rai-school, Aisen Kunitoshi (愛染国俊), who made a masterpiece of tanto with carving of Aisen-Myoo (his symbol in fact) on it. My rationale told me it can't be Aisen Kunitoshi, but I just couldn't help buying it. There is no paper with it, so would you please kindly help me assess the sword? (I think it is Yamato-school though I really want to believe it is from Rai-school...hehehe) It's nagago is osuriage, total length is 36.8", blade length 25.3" and sori is 0.47", can't really see the type of Boshi in the pictures the seller posted.  Any information you provide will not become commercial use since I will never sell it.  Thank you very much.

 

PS: The pictures are from seller's auction page, and I will post more if needed when receiving the sword.

Vincent

[raaay]

Vincent

 

The Horimono just does not look right to me , don't ask me to explain why ! it just looks odd ! possibly added

very recently ?

 

just my two pence worth ,

[paulb]

Hi Vincent

 I am probably wrong but I feel I know this sword, It might be one I sold for a friend some while ago. I remember the painted horizontal 3 on the nakago

What did the seller say about it?

I think the horimono is a later addition not least becaue of its placement on an O-suriage blade.  I dont believe whatever it symbolises  relates to the smith. While it looks to be a perfectly reasonable blade from the images I dont think it is Rai. I can see why you might think Yamato but would also look at Kongo-Bye as another possibility or other Yamato based schools such as Kanabo.

Regards

Paul

[Kronos]

It looks pre-muromachi and the horimono seems to be added later. The Shiogiji isn't as wide as one would expect from Yamato.

[Marius]

Horimono is low quality, sorry, at least that is what I see in your very small pics. The seller (koushuya) sells... well, lower level items. This is not a Yamato blade, looks more like a Hokkoku-mono/Oshu-mono to me (swords form the Northern Provinces). The hada is large and not uniform.  Usual suspect - Uda.

 

I'd check the hamon, it may be shimi (tired, indistinct) or absent in places (nioigire - this is just a hunch, based on what Japanese dealers often sell on eBay). If you are lucky, it is OK. However, that horimono, which as I understand was the trigger for your purchase should be treated as a flaw.

 

Sorry to be rather blunt... 

[Marius]

One thing I wanted to add - this looks like and old sword ("old" like "older than late Muromachi"). And the hada is something you can certainly enjoy. If you had good pictures of the hamon, I guess some of us here could take a stab at an attribution. Gee, such a pity that they have carved that horimono...

[Marius]

A member whom I consider a friend has just told me in a very diplomatic way that my statement about the blade not being Yamato was perhaps a bit too categoric. He was right, of course, as only shinsa can give an educated attribution. Mine was only an uneducated opinion - one that does not carry much weight   Please do not listen to me 

[paulb]

I think your opinion is always worth listening too and on the plus side I think your Uda suggestion is perfectly feasible so dont be too hard on yourself

[Vince6]

Good morning, gentlemen.

 

I wish I could reply earlier but I was busy wiping my tears  …hehehehe…Well, you guys are like Sherlock Holmes, can’t believe you could even figure out who the seller is. Yes, I bought it from Koushuya, a Japanese seller on eBay. Paul, I am not sure if that is the blade you helped your friend to sell since it seems come from Japan. And if it is the one, let’s hope I didn’t over pay too much…(wiping tear again)

Really appreciate Marius for helping me study this blade, Uda is a good direction to find more pictures and documents for comparison.  Some people may only want to see compliments or positive feedbacks, but only true opinions and thoughts can be helpful.  However, maybe I should post those swords here before bidding next time…

 

 

PS: here are some more pictures with Hamon, maybe still not clear enough. I will take more pictures and post here when I receive it.

Vincent

[paulb]

Hi Vincent

No it wasnt the one I was thinking of. Its a little like being in the same industry for many years you start to think you have seen everyone you meet before!

Thank you for the extra images which confirmed it wasnt what I remembered. I think I would stick with one of the more country schools as have been mentioned previously, Kongobye or Uda are certainly worth investigating but there are several others around the same area and period producing similar. I think you need to see it in hand to understand what is going on with the strong masame running towards the hamon.

I would be interested in hearing more from you as you study it in hand and research it further.

good luck

Paul

[Marius]

Vincent,

 

   

[SwordGuyJoe]

Not a bad pickup Vincent - depending on what you paid. You certainly could've done a lot worse.

[Jamie]

It's in Polish and you have something to investigate and study. Like joe said, you could have done worse.

[Vince6]

just can,t agree more...