Very Unusual Gunto Koshirae

[Drago]

Hi guys

 

check out this gunto koshirae! http://www.ebay.com/itm/iida-style-Gunto-exterior-/301764946453?hash=item464297aa15

 

I've never seen that locking style that also doubles as a sayaguchi cover before!

 

Price might be a bit far out tough...

[SteveM]

Looks legit. Interesting.

 

http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/mononofu_hayate/57303194.html

[pcfarrar]

I've seen a few in the UK at fairs or in Bill Taggs shop. Definitely uncommon, but that one on eBay is very overpriced.

[Drago]

(btw. There's a saya like that on yahoo auctions for 269000 yen!)

[brannow]

Sorry but it does not look legit to me.  I should elaborate.  It looks put together.  The tsuba is missing a key feature and the fittings color would be a closer match.

[SteveM]

I definitely defer to the gunto experts (which I certainly am not). My comment was more along the lines of "I didn't know such a thing existed".

But for sure an interesting innovation. Must have had a problem with the sayas accumulating dirt and water during the war? Interesting piece.

[mauser99]

I saw a naval example posted by a young girl with that same mechanism on the scabbard.  And it was legit.  This one looks machinist made to me..Recently......   I will see if I can track down the photos of the Naval version I saw.

[Shamsy]

Wayne and bill have made good guesses and there are a few good indication that should make one wary. The polished saya mouth cover and tsuba stand out as a means to cover the fact something has been recently altered. The characters carved on the saya mouth cover are also not consistent with other examples I've seen.

 

Having said that, this is a known and perfectly legitimate pattern of saya retention. It's documented in Military Swords of Japan F&G. A hard call honestly. The kuchi-gane looks quite legitimate and the raised section would be somewhat problematic to manufacture I imagine.

 

I'd go with legitimate, though the highly polished tsuba and unusual cover would prevent me purchasing.

[mauser99]

here are some of the photos of the  Naval gunto  posted on a forum earlier this year.   I was un-successful in buying it from her.

[mauser99]

here are the rest..   Interesting that in only has one mount on the scabbard.   It was found in a relatives house and she was looking for info on it.

[Kai-Gunto]

Sad about the missing saya parts. That is otherwise a very nice and rare koshirae.

[Kai-Gunto]

Looks legit. Interesting.

 

http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/mononofu_hayate/57303194.html

That tassel is one of those from Parkistan.

[wbt]

This one may interest you. It is in my collection and was acquired from a family in Japan many years ago. It was taken to Iida Koendo (well know craftsman in sword world) and he recognized the Koshirae as having been made in his fathers shop. He then introduced the current mukansa fittings master who is the son (Miyajima-san) of the fitting master who made the fittings. They shared family photos of the shop and various saya and fittings makers, many of them well known in the sword world. These types of Koshirae were often special order, but well know at the time.

 

Enjoy,

Brent

[Ed]

Ye, they are indeed legit.  They were invented by Iida Kunitaro. When open the flap fits through a slot in the guard. 

 

For more info and photos see Dawson's "Swords of Imperial Japan", pg. 169