Found A Wakizashi

[EdWolf]

Hi,

I have bought a nice Wakizashi from the Edo period. It’s signed Echizen no kami fujiwara yoshikado. It took me almost two hours to figure this out but I managed it on my own I’m learning…

The tang is also dated but I can only figure out the first to kanji characters. Kan ‘ei (1624-1644). Maybe one of you can tell me more about the date? The kanji characters on the kogatana are hard to read.

I have taken a lot of pictures. Hope you enjoy it. With the camera, I’m using it’s very hard to catch the hamon. The hamon is visible. There is some blade damage at the tip. I think there is some moisture in the saya or the blade was not wel protected by some oil.

Regards,

Ed

 

[EdWolf]

and some more pictures...

[Stefan]

^{KANEi 4 year  , 8 month, a day}

^{Echizen no kami Fujiwara Yoshikado}

[Fuuten]

The fuchi seems quite nice! Any chance of a photo of the kashira?

 

The entire mount seems quite nice, nice find.

[EdWolf]

Thanks Stefan!

[EdWolf]

and a picture of the kashira.

[Bazza]

Very nice find Ed.  I like the tsuba and note that it was crafted for a kogai only and not a kozuka.  Not a problem of course as it fits a kozuka too, but interesting nonetheless.  The whole ensemble is very nice and I find the lacquer quite appealing.  Nothing seems to have been stuffed around with and I'm sure the blade is worthy of a polish.

 

Best regards,

BaZZa.

[EdWolf]

Hi BaZZa,

Thanks! How can you tell that the tsuba was only crafted for a kogai?

Regards,

Ed

[SwordGuyJoe]

Kogatana is sign Dauji (maybe Tauji) Minamoto kazukane saku

[EdWolf]

Thanks, Joe!

[Jimmy R]

Kongo Rikishi Nio arm wrestling? I have never seen them arm wrestling like that. I have seen Them flexing their muscles in front of many an altar here especially in the north. Very unusual. If you ever want to sell it contact me

[EdWolf]

The two guys arm wrestling is indeed an unusual scenery.

[Marius]

An interesting point to appreciate - blade is in (presumably) old sashikomi polish. A rare thing and worth to be preserved.

[Bazza]

Hi BaZZa,

Thanks! How can you tell that the tsuba was only crafted for a kogai?

Regards,

Ed

Ed,

here is your tsuba (right way up) with one hitsuana for a kogai:

 

Here is a tsuba with one hitsuana for kozuka:

 

Here is a tsuba with two hitsuana:

Kozuka hitsuana on the left, kogai hitsuana on the right.

The shape tells all.

 

QED.

 

Having said that, the shapes of hitsuana vary quite a bit, eg., some tsuba have two hitsuana shaped as for a kogai.

 

Regards,

BaZZa.

[EdWolf]

BaZZa, thank you for your explanation!

[vajo]

Nice one Ed!

[Greg F]

Congrats Ed.

 

Greg

[EdWolf]

An interesting point to appreciate - blade is in (presumably) old sashikomi polish. A rare thing and worth to be preserved.

Marius,

I had never heard of a sashikomi polish. Very interesting.

Regards, Ed

[Stefan]

Regarding  the Kozuka : The  two NIO wrestling, a classic sujet.

Regarding the blade : Old sashikomi ..No. It is not a Meiji Sashikomi.

[Marius]

 

I had never heard of a sashikomi polish. Very interesting.

 

 

 

Ed, that's the standard polish before kesho (aka hadori) was invented. I am agnostic, although I prefer old sashikomi polish and delicate hadori very much.

 

Here is an article about the differences:

http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/togi.html

[EdWolf]

Marius,

Thanks for the link to the article! sashikomi polish is very nice.

Ed

[tokashikibob]

Nice find Ed, looks meaty and I don't see any forging flaws.   Nice pick up!

[Vermithrax16]

Excellent piece!

[johnnyi]

Naïve question; what is the school of the tsuba? It looks to this still learning collector  like Yagyu or Ono?

 

regards,  Johnnyi

[Vermithrax16]

Naïve question; what is the school of the tsuba? It looks to this still learning collector  like Yagyu or Ono?

 

regards,  Johnnyi

See Bazza's post above?

[johnnyi]

Hello Vermathrix, Possibly I am missing it, but I don't see the one mentioning school?

 

regards,  Johnnyi

[Vermithrax16]

Hello Vermathrix, Possibly I am missing it, but I don't see the one mentioning school?

 

regards,  Johnnyi

Yes, sorry, I thought I saw that in the post but guess not.

[EdWolf]

Naïve question; what is the school of the tsuba? It looks to this still learning collector  like Yagyu or Ono?

 

regards,  Johnnyi

 

Hi Johnnyi,

That’s a good question! I also want to know the answer

Regars, Ed

[Marius]

It is nearly impossible to attribute this rather generic tsuba to a school. Were it thick and were the iron blackish and of high quality, I would say Ono - like the one in Kremers' book. But in this case it is hard to say, also because of the low quality of your picture. The motif is the Dharma wheel, that much is sure

[eternal_newbie]

Very nice find Ed.  I like the tsuba and note that it was crafted for a kogai only and not a kozuka.  Not a problem of course as it fits a kozuka too, but interesting nonetheless.  The whole ensemble is very nice and I find the lacquer quite appealing.  Nothing seems to have been stuffed around with and I'm sure the blade is worthy of a polish.

 

Best regards,

BaZZa.

 

I wonder if it was originally part of a daisho, and the katana was the one with the kozuka?