Court Tachi?

[BenVK]

I'd very much appreciate if you could educate me in regards to this sword that recently sold in auction.

 

I'd never heard of a "Court Tachi" before so did some quick research online and came to the verdict that the auction sword was authentic but apart from that, wasn't my taste so didn't bid.

 

It sold for £1600 plus fees so I presume others saw the potential however.

 

Personally, only the koshirae interested me, the blade, regardless of the poor condition, didn't seem to be anything special.

[SAS]

It is a shame it was neglected and allowed to rust....the koshirae seems relatively modern, as does the blade.

[seattle1]

Hello:

 I am really not qualified to comment on so called "Court Tachi" as there are collectors of koshirae who I hope will chip in, however it is clear that at coronations samurai and other qualified persons, right down at least to the Taisho Emperor, would wear special tachi, the mounting referred to a Efu-tachi koshirae equipped with tsuba referred to as shitogi tsuba, looking nothing like the disc-like tsuba we commonly refer to as such. One sees Meiji and later versions of such mounting appear from time to time for sale at leading auctions. Considerably rarer versions from earlier times are illustrated in various books, but we should remember that early mountings are very much rarer than swords of the same period.

 I seem to recall seeing Efu-tachi with bird's heads illustrated, but compared to the huge one you show, they are canaries. I believe the one you illustrate is the sort of thing turned out in Meiji and later times for export to the West and they wouldn't get with a mile of any coronation, but I could stand corrected. The saya does show the ho-ho bird seen on the real thing, but that doesn't make it "the real thing."

 Arnold F.

[Bugyotsuji]

Some pics:

 

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=%e8%a1%9b%e5%ba%9c%e5%a4%aa%e5%88%80&qpvt=%e8%a1%9b%e5%ba%9c%e5%a4%aa%e5%88%80&qpvt=%e8%a1%9b%e5%ba%9c%e5%a4%aa%e5%88%80&qpvt=%e8%a1%9b%e5%ba%9c%e5%a4%aa%e5%88%80&FORM=IGRE

[Geraint]

Hi Ben,

 

The sword in question was a very fine example though sadly neglected.  In particular the engraving on the fittings was very fine in comparison to most of the rather mundane scrolling foliage that crops up all too often on late "flashy tachi" as I have heard them called.  The auction house pictures do not do the mounts justice.  The blade was in a poor state and while most of the rust would probably be dealt with by a polish there were some deep pits which might have been problematic.  Most of the koshirae was intact with a few minor parts missing, some careful restoration and cleaning would have made it very nice, good lacquer work.

 

As you can probably tell I looked  at the sword and even went to the auction.  One bid won it, probably a good buy at that though of course auction fees would have pushed it up a bit.

 

All the best

[BenVK]

Thanks Geraint, the mounts did strike me as being of good quality. Not my cup of tea but can appreciate the workmanship.

Shame the blade was in such poor condition.

I wonder if it will pop up again for sale after a restoration..

[uwe]

I assume, it is a late interpretation of an "torikubi no tachi" (bird neck tachi). Mei seems to be "Norimune"?!

[Geraint]

Hi Uwe,

 

Yes Norimune.  Not in sufficiently good condition to see anything much in the way of hada or hamon.

 

All the best.