Somewhat Odd Choji Hamon

[tokashikibob]

Gents,

    Acquired this mumei wak recently with the initial impression it was a probable shinto kabun era sword due to it's straightness and all it needed was some tsukamaki repair.    After having some time to study it the last few days, I think it may be quite older suriage koto piece.

 

   It sports a gunome choji hamon that gets pretty loopy the nearer it gets to the yokote then  is pretty even in the boshi.   The gunome temper can be seen back into the nakago somewhat where a smith reworked the blade putting in a different yasurime on the bottom forth.

   Fittings are pretty nice with a bronze over silver dual habaki, 3 metal signed tsuba and tiger fuchi.  Too bad someone cut out the menuki, they must have been pretty nice.

 

   Hada looks to be ko mokume and is very tight with a few very small openings around the blade.

 

Osafune school?  What do you think?

 

Best Regards,

   Bob

  

[Stephen]

Dont think Choji, look to mino please

[Bazza]

Takanoha yasurime + sanbonsugi hamon + sugu boshi = Mino Kanemoto ca 1600???  Tsuba signed KANEIE may be Saga Kaneie.

 

BaZZa.

[Stephen]

 

look up sanbonsugi

[Stephen]

Looks like Bazz did the work for you, agreed 

[hxv]

Choji would look like below.

 

Hoanh

 

[nagamaki - Franco]

Hello,

 

Based upon what is shown in the images must wonder if this is a real hamon.

"Older suriage Koto", based on what evidence?

[Ken-Hawaii]

I see itame hada, Bob, but no ko-mokume. Hamon does look Mino, but it's difficult to tell if that's hadori over something else.

 

Ken

 

[Stephen]

Really? Classic Mino!

[tokashikibob]

Fellas,

     Thank you for the info on this sword,  I thought sanbon sugi was regular pattern in threes but I should have looked it up,  I was using Markus's hamon reference book  & Nakayama and didn't find much of a match.   The hamon does not have any major points to talk about except that it has that holographic quality as you turn it to light.   Maybe it is hadori over suguha?    

 I agree it seems to be mostly itame but there is a at least two spots you can see that have the small ko mokume circles,  it needs a finish polish to get a good read on what's there.

    I'll look for some menuki's in Chicago and probably put it in the available section.

 

Best regards,

   Bob

[Ken-Hawaii]

Bob, here's a big hint: don't look for the few spots of mokume, or anything else. Look at what pattern makes up the majority of the jihada. Otherwise, you're really missing what the smith was trying to do.

 

Ken

 

[Gunome]

Hello,

 

For me too, it is classic mino gunome.

I Wonder if the oil had been removed before taken photos ?!

[tokashikibob]

Man, you guys are really good!   Bravo!  5 Stars! taihen jozu!  Wunderbar!

   This blade Danny had is right on the money as far as characteristics.

http://www.nihontocraft.com/Kanemoto_Koto_Wakizashi_K.htm

[Ray Singer]

As I mentioned to Bob offline, I know this sword and encountered it in person a couple of months ago. It came out of the same collection as the Dotanuki Genzaemon katana I purchased in February. My impression at the time was Sue Koto Mino Kanemoto. The sanbonsugi seen in the photos is the real hamon, definitely not an artifact created through hadori. I felt it was worth collecting and the fact that I did not try to purchase this one in addition to the Dotanuki was more a reflection of my finances at the time.

 

Best regards,

Ray

[Jean]

I'll say kodai. Not necessarily Kanemoto. There were other Mino kaji who were forging in sanbonsuji. Concerning hada, in Mino. They have mokume/itame/ itame nagare or masame.

[Darcy]

Agree with the Mino statements. First thought was it looked like a Kanefusa a friend had a long time ago.