UnoKubi Posted May 4, 2018 Report Posted May 4, 2018 I had a gentleman contact a friend of mine asking for some help with a number of Nihonto he inherited from his father. His interest is in restoring them, and he wants to know if they are worth it. From what I can see, only one of the four may be. Unfortunately, the client brought them for modern American refinishing, but at least my friend knew enough to contact someone with more knowledge than himself. I only know enough to say they're legit, but little more than that. Any help with the mei would be greatly appreciated for my learning and experience. Thank you very much. The first is suriage, with only one Kanji remaining, the second looks to be a Gunto blade (looks to have a Seki stamp), the third looks like a pretty tired U no Kubi zukuri wakizashi (worn down hi, double habaki, etc.), and the forth is now a broken and reshaped tanto. Quote
Ray Singer Posted May 4, 2018 Report Posted May 4, 2018 Sword 1. 備 - BI (Suriage blade. Mei is likely the start of Bizen). Looks koto. Sword 3. 越前守藤原康継 - Echizen ( no) kami Fujiwara Yasutsugu Sword 4. 備州長船勝光 - Bishu Osafune Katsumitsu (appears gimei) Quote
UnoKubi Posted May 4, 2018 Author Report Posted May 4, 2018 Thanks for that, Ray! I was thinking the first was Bizen, but it just didn't look right compared to printed Kanji... Quote
SteveM Posted May 4, 2018 Report Posted May 4, 2018 #2 小島勝正 Kojima Katsumasa World War 2-era blade. If you could show more pictures of the swords, we could give opinions on whether or not any of them are worth the $1000+ it would cost to get them professionally restored. For the WW2 sword it probably wouldn't be worth the effort. Look on this site for sword polishers in the US...there are two or three who get regularly mentioned here. Quote
UnoKubi Posted May 4, 2018 Author Report Posted May 4, 2018 Will do! The Bizen is the only one I think would be worth even exploring... Looks to have some good length to it, not too terribly rusted, just needs a bit of point and edge work... Here are the photos I have of it: Quote
Ray Singer Posted May 4, 2018 Report Posted May 4, 2018 The pitting in the kissaki is quite severe. I would not recommend going to anyone other than a licensed togishi for that restoration work. 1 Quote
Curran Posted May 4, 2018 Report Posted May 4, 2018 Signature on #3 is 'chippy' [ie. not confident, usually an indicator of possible gimei]. Still, anyone with the Yasutsugu Taikan might be generous and make sure it is not one of the various generations of that line. Quote
Ray Singer Posted May 4, 2018 Report Posted May 4, 2018 I do not think Yasutsugu ever signed Echizen (no) kami. He worked in Echizen, and did not have Echizen as a given title. Seems like a point of confusion for whoever (not Yasutsugu) signed this sword. Quote
UnoKubi Posted May 4, 2018 Author Report Posted May 4, 2018 Ray, that's exactly why I'm here. The owner wants them all buffed out and acid etched! Quote
Ray Singer Posted May 4, 2018 Report Posted May 4, 2018 Please, please convince him otherwise. The sword signed 'Bi' shows nice age to the nakago. Certainly koto, maybe earlier Muromachi (even if the mei were not authentic). katana-mei generally (but not always) precludes Nambokucho or earlier. Tell him that going to an amateur is a good way to destroy his investment and insure that the sword cannot be salvaged in the future. If he inherited these swords from his father, he should show some respect for them and see to their preservation. Ray, that's exactly why I'm here. The owner wants them all buffed out and acid etched! Quote
UnoKubi Posted May 4, 2018 Author Report Posted May 4, 2018 Here are the photos of the 'Echizen.' Quote
UnoKubi Posted May 4, 2018 Author Report Posted May 4, 2018 Please, please convince him otherwise. The sword signed 'Bi' shows nice age to the nakago. Certainly koto, maybe earlier Muromachi (even if the mei were not authentic). katana-mei generally (but not always) precludes Nambokucho or earlier. Tell him that going to an amateur is a good way to destroy his investment and insure that the sword cannot be salvaged in the future. If he inherited these swords from his father, he should show some respect for them and see to their preservation. That *is* his idea of preserving them... I'll pass along everything that I've learned, and start researching these smiths a bit more. Hopefully I can come up with some argument to just leave them as-is, or at least get a basic shirasaya made for them to prevent further degradation. Quote
brannow Posted May 5, 2018 Report Posted May 5, 2018 UnoKubi, please sign your posts with your real name. That is the rule on the NMB. Quote
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