Kaiken

[nambo]

Hi!

Astride of handle and scabbard is revealed kiku-sui mon with different amount of petals( chrysanthemum petals)  on the handle 8 and 9 , on the scabbard 11. What are you presuming is it technical mistake or there is being fenced logic? Mounting is made from antler, as i realised. Is it souvenir mounting is made after Second World War?? On the tail of the blade is the signature 宗近 munechika, there are a lot of such signatures in handbooks. What is the period of? The beginning of Edo? I would be very appreciated of your help to translate the signature in saya and the signature in shirasaya. What do you think about this item?

nagasa 12cm

saya 17.5cm

tsuka 7.5cm

 

 

Thanks,

Elijah

[Stephen]

   

[SteveM]

I would say late Meiji souvenir saya. Difference in the number of petals indicates to me this is a rough piece not intended for the high end market. I would say either a careless mistake, or just inattention to detail. In either event, it would be unthinkable if this were being made for someone whose crest is kikusui - hence my guess that it is intended for the foreign market. Looks like the mei on the saya is Fujino (不二の). I know nothing about this artist. 

 

Mei on the tantō and on the shirasaya is Munechika (宗近) as you stated originally. The blade could be much older than the antler-horn saya. Does the blade have papers? If so, I would be tempted to ditch the kitschy horn saya, and have a proper lacquer saya made for the blade. I mean, the horn saya is somewhat interesting as a late 19th century curio, but I don't think it has much value, and I don't think it shows off the blade very smartly. I think the blade would look much better in a lacquer saya with same/ray tsuka. your mileage may vary.

[Brian]

I think the blade is better and earlier than the mounts.

[paulb]

I agree

I like the look of the blade. there were a number of smiths, besides THE Munechika using the same mei working right up to Shin-Shinto times and this could well be one of them.

I always associate the kiku and waves symbol with the Naval sword centre but I guess there must be other users

[Baka Gaijin]

Hi Guys as well as the Minatogawa link,

 

It was the Kamon of the Kusonoki

 

Here's Utagawa Kuniyoshi at his dynamic best "The last stand of the Kusunoki at Shijo Nawate":

 

http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/last-stand-of-the-kusunoki-at-shij%C3%B4-nawate-463558

 

and another version:

 

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?assetId=14083001&objectId=786099&partId=1

 

Cheers

[Daso]

Hello All, isn't a Kai-Ken a very small pocket version of a Ken and this a Tanto or ko-gatana? Or is the term Kai Ken for any small blade? Sorry to digress on the main point of post.

[Guido]

From Markus Sesko's "Encyclopedia of Japanese Swords":

 

 

kaiken (懐剣) – Lit. “pocket sword.” Short single or double-bladed

 

dagger without ornamental fittings housed in a plain mount, carried

 

by men and women of the samurai class. Women carried them in their

 

kimono, either in a pocket like fold (futokoro, 懐), or in the sleeve for

 

self-defense and for ritual suicide. Also referred to as futokoro-gatana

 

whereas this term is written with the very same characters (懐剣), or

 

written with the characters (懐刀). See also mamori-gatana (守り刀・

 

護り刀).

 

 

mamori-gatana (守り刀・護り刀) – Short single or doublebladed

 

dagger without ornamental fittings housed in a plain mount,

 

carried by men and women of the samurai class for self-defense

 

(mamori, 守り・護り). Practically the same sword as a kaiken (懐剣).

 

Because of the protecting characteristic, the mamori-gatana was and is

 

still used as gift for certain occasions, for example for a newborn

 

child, or for a woman when she leaves the family to her husband’s

 

house to live. In the context of a gift, it is also referred to as o-mamorigatana

 

(御守刀・御護刀), and in the context of a wedding gift in

 

particular, yomeiri-tantō (嫁入り短刀). A mamori-gatana was also used

 

for funerals and placed on the chest of a deceased person to ward

 

off evil spirits. When a mamori-gatana is used at present-day funerals,

 

is is usually mounted with a wooden or inexpensive fake metal blade.

 

 

[Daso]

Guido, Thank you for the clarification