Bishu Osafune Norimitsu uchigatana on eBay

[Marius]

Dear All,

 

I am sure that the seller (whom I know and respect and from whom I have bought a nice wakizashi in the past) will not mind discussing this auction. He is selleing rarely, but if, then it is rather high quality stuff (my personal opinion).

 

What do hold of this uchigatana? It seems one of the bundle-swords to me and I take don't quite like the hada, which seems coarse. I may be getting paranoid, but was this hada "enhanced" somehow? The mei will not matter at all I suppose - if this is a bundle sword as I presume the mei would be the equivalemt to a "factory stamp". The boshi seems very nice though.

 

Anyway, would you recommend this blade for a beginner? I would fancy it, to be honest....

 

here is the link:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :IT&ih=018

 

 

best regards

[remzy]

I like this hada, it might be the lighting that make it show off brighter than it might actually be, or maybe it got "enhanced" by an unscrupulous togoshi in the past! i still find it goodlooking.

I personnaly wouldnt compare this to a factory stamped/made sword as this was made by hand and traditionaly all the way!

At this price, i would expect it to be papered tho...

 

Remy

[Brian]

This isn't being compared to the WW2 factory mass produced swords...it is being compared with the late Koto warring period where swords were mass produced for battle with more emphasis on quantity than quality. Often termed "bundle swords" or Kazuuchimono.

I'm not qualified to offer an opinion on it, but looks quite nice and healthy to me, and not all the swords during that period fit into the classification. There were some very good swords made during that time.

I might point out that if the hada seems a bit coarse to you, then it will probably bug you for a long time, and you will never really be in love with that blade. If it doesn't draw you in and entice you at first, then you either have to learn to overlook that (hard to do) or wait for one that just calls to you. You have to like the blade..don't let others tell you what to see in it at the end of the day

 

Regards,

Brian

[pcfarrar]

I would urge caution, especially as its in a fresh polish. If it was sent to Japan why would the owner not get papers?

 

I think there is some risk of it being perhaps a Bungo Takada gimei and for $3500 its not exactly cheap.

[Jean]

We are in Tensho 3rd year 8 month (August 1575) not in 1573

 

Blade is not typical in length, starting Tenmon the nagasa began to increase, it is more an Eisho nagasa at 24 inches. In Tensho I should have expected a 70cm nagasa.

 

Fine hada but with some itame nagare, not typical Bizen, ko Nie deki blade (look at the boshi) , typical sue Bizen is nioi deki - cf the Connoisseur of Japanese blades - (even if some blades are ko nie deki)

 

No ashi as far as I can see.

 

Blade with Nengo are usually not kazu uchi mono (mass product)

 

I am not a mei specialist but I shall say, should the mei be genuine, it is a very good deal (some ware but we are in koto) but there is no kanteisho

 

One objection, it is not typical of Bizen school (no visible ashi, ko nie deki, no choji) for we are not far from Shinto.

 

Now, It is incredible the number of blades in late Muromachi which are a mixed of different traditions. It is very difficult to encounter a blade with all the school trade mark it is issued from ....

[Brian]

Thanks for that Jean

I am more than tired right now, and should have looked at the dates closer.

Good summary.

 

Brian

[Jacques D.]

Hi,

 

More than 400 years?

 

 

 

Not sure

[Stephen]

tensho san

[Marius]

Thanks to all of you :-) Again, an opportunity to learn.

 

To wrap up: not a bundle-sword, not quite like Bizen, but cannot be ruled out. Overall, might be worth the risk. Good (Japanese?) polish but no kanteisho should make one a bit cautious.

 

Good beginner's sword?

 

Best regards

[Jean]

Mariusz,

 

As you are probably in Euro zone, it makes 2370€.

 

For the buck (sorry Euro :lol: :lol: ), it was a good one, it seems well polished, fine hada, no fatal flaws (some ware - all my blades have one/several and none are ubu - even my Yoshimitsu wakizasi (dtd 1456) has a slightly shaved nakago ).

 

I have seen a lot of swords on sale on which restauration costs would have amounted to much more ......

 

Unfortunatelly, it is no more on sale

[Jacques D.]

tensho san

 

I said that about the look of the tagane them seem to my eyes a little bit too visible.

[Marius]

I said that about the look of the tagane them seem to my eyes a little bit too visible.

 

Jacques,

 

I presume it may be gimei, but if it is not, then the "crispiness" of the tagane just like tha overall state of the nakago is said to depend very much on the conditions in which the sword has been stored.

 

Or is there any "universal look" of a, say, Kamkura nakago?

 

Best regards

[Jean]

Marius,

 

Of course, there are no rules as I have seen Fantastic Koto nakago and totally ruined shin shinto nakago.

 

All depends on the way the sword has been taken care of, during centuries.

 

I was talking about my shaved Wakizashi Yoshimitsu Nakago, it is dated "Ko Sho ni nen hachi gatsu hi" (August 1456).

 

Here attached a picture (sorry a bit out of focus)

 

Crisp signature and nengo

[pcfarrar]

Good beginner's sword?

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320188299914

 

:lol:

[Jean]

Very good Masamune but a bit more expensive

 

Shinshinto (myguess), very few polishes

[John A Stuart]

All swords have no papers here. Some big names too. All copies? John

[Jacques D.]

Hi John,

 

 

 

You wonder if they are gimei? :lol: :lol: I don't :lol: :lol:

[mike yeon]

No questions on the blades being gimei.

 

The masamune sayagaki reads Soshu Masamune and that the attribution was done during the Meiji period. It also says that the blade is valued at 800 gold pieces. Not sure what that would translate to during that time period.

 

If you were to look at it with an open mind, everything else about the blade just doesn't stack up. The sugata should be the first and last red light.

 

mike

[Jean]

About suguta look at this one (Muromachi)

 

http://www.aoi-art.com/sword/katana/07365.html