My First Oshigata

[lonely panet]

Hi guys, well were do I start.

 

Baby has wind and is very unhappy, To wet to go out side, No work coz its to wet (to go out side), wife is to busy comforting baby so no romance.

 

so its been 7 long days, inside trying to be constructive. so I tried to fix the ps3 (no luck) so I said to myself why not do my first Oshigata on a tanto got of the board.

 

 So im so bored Im prepared to open up myself for a small amount of teasing for what is my first attempt at a Oshigata on baking paper. hahaha

[paulb]

looks pretty good to me well done

Out of interest did you learn anything from doing it such as seeing detail you hadn't noticed before?

It's not an original thought but I believe one of the major benfits of doing this type of exercise is that it forces you to look at the sword in much greater detail and with more focus than you might otherwise do.

keep at it your doing fine

[Marius]

Nice work! You have even included that single uchinoke

[lonely panet]

thanks guys,

 

Paul,  I did notice some extra ko-nie where I didn't before, normally I spend a few hours when I first get something going over items.

but I sort of expected more activity with the Ji for a yamashiro blade, considering its the oldest tradition out of the 5.

 

if this was made by another school or group can it be called a true yamashiro blade, I compared it to a friends Rai school tachi with a very  noticeable change in ji hada. could this piece be early Shinto due to the lack of ji-activities for a gimei

[paulb]

It's an interesting point and one that typically western collectors seem to have greater concern over than Japanese. For instance if you read Tsuruta-sans descriptions of Enju blades he always says Enju is Rai.

The Yamashiro tradion was exported throughout Japan. Most notably Awataguchi to Soshu but also Rai to Enju, Chikuzen and Echizen (also Nakajima) Were these Yamashiro swords? geographically no, materially no but stylistically yes.

Regarding activty there is huge variation. I have seen Rai Kunitoshi blades that appear almost dead while others sparkle with activity. So the aparent lack of activity isnt necessarily pointing to a copy.

[Marius]

Hamish, gee, have I told you it is a Yamashiro blade? It was advertised as an utsushi by god knows whom. If it turns out to be a real Kyo-mono, I will take it back for a full refund   

[lonely panet]

sorry Marius, I didn't mean to affend you.

let me try and write what I meant to say.

This is a study piece for me as I have never owned a yamashiro piece before. Gimei is not important to me at this stage. I was just openly discussing my bad Oshigata and the piece to help me better understand yamashiro work.

when and under what conditions this could have been made, and whey the Ji is lacking, compared to a true yamashiro pieces because reading books doesn't give me a good mental picture.  

 

The internet dosn't show pictures that compare to looking at a sword in hand and there are very few good collector in my part of the world, and it requires me to travel 10-12 hours one way  to meet with other inter-state collectors who my I talk with. 

 

I am very happy with the tanto and your description was very good, but im just trying to learn for myself abit.

 

regards H

[Marius]

Hamish, you didn't I have written the above rather jokingly, so do not worry

[Jussi Ekholm]

I think you did very well with your oshigata Hamfish.

[Darcy]

What's the mei? I can't make out the last character. Rai Kuni-x.

 

Anyway look at the width of the nakago at its widest and compare to the blade. If it's significantly wider that explains the texture change in the steel and you have something that may be older and significant. If it's the same width then younger. 

 

Unless it's been run around through all the channels and then sold here you should run it around through all the channels. 

 

This is the problem in that some people won't disclose this then when you bring it through the channels again everyone groans.

[Marius]

Since I have sold this tanto to Hamish, let me repeat - I have sold it as what it is, a later utsushi (or just copy) with a fake signature of Rai Kuniyoshi. It was never advertised as anything that it is not.

 

And no, it is not tired, pretty healthy and the nakago looks much much younger than it should if this were Rai. I wish I had my pics, but I have deleted them

[Darcy]

To be an utsushi I think you need something to model on and I'm not sure there have ever been any Rai Kuniyoshi to model on. 

 

Not having it in hand and just going on the blade I think it is koto something that someone upgraded with the signature later on. 

 

It can narrow but not be tired, it doesn't look tired. We lack a word for the between state from healthy to tired. The narrowing, if there is any, will point to koto and if not then more of a mystery. 

 

I'd knock the signature off and send it in.