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Posted

Got this Tanto today.

The mei looks to be Kunisada.

 

I search for the smith buth it seems that there more smiths named Kunisada,

Can anyone help me on the right track.

 

Much appreciated.

 

Leon.

 

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Posted

Kiku-mon + Kunisada leads one to think of Inoue Shinkai, or of someone trying to pass a sword off as Inoue Shinkai.

Unfortunately, fakes are very common in the sword world. 

  • Like 1
Posted

Whom are you talking to..thats not my name.

Anyway light years difference in photos. Any one else? First photo looks like drummle work.

As does the second.

  • Like 1
Posted

Expressing a reaction - much less a judgement - on a sword like this over the medium of  of NMB seems dicey. But I do not respond well to either the signature or the horimono on this blades. It all looks seriously fake to me.

Peter

  • Like 1
Posted

Eh, well, I think the design is pretty and well-executed in terms of what its attempting to show. As to its authenticity, I make no claims of having knowledge. I just think its nice looking.

Posted

Hi Leon,

Unfortunately I have to agree with Peter.  The horimono is very poorly done (no offense Chris; you are welcome to your opinion) and the patina on the nakago looks to be wiped on, not developed over time.  This could be something that was made post WWII to sell to a westerner.  The kesho yasurime on the nakago also point to late production.

Grey

  • Like 4
Posted

Stephen,

 

Sorry about spelling your name wrong.

 

About the horimono it is what it is I can`t chance it.

I thought it was nicely done when I had it in hand.

Posted

I recently read in one of my reference books (on the road at the moment, I'll edit or add the book when I get home), where the authors had interviewed a smith named Kanefusa who had several thousand swords in his basement that had been cut in 2 after the war. He used them to make products to sell post-war. I believe many of these questionable tantos came to us this way.

  • Like 1
Posted

It does have a very nice temper line at least. It looks water quenched? Or could that be simulated with acid etching?

 

  Is the geometry right for a tanto? Sugata looks like Shobu Zukuri, and, except for the part where someone scratched away rust near the engraving, the polish looks very good.

Posted

David,

your blade seems to be in HIRA ZUKURI which is a standard shape for TANTO. The polish is not KESHO and not SASHIKOMI, but something different. A shiny surface does not mean it is a good polish. What HADA do you see?

The photos are not good enough for me to be sure if the blade is water-quenched, but it may well be.

Posted

The blade is definitely water - quenched.

 

I think that the temper line is a Chôji midare with nie

The hada is a ko - itame   very difficult to take a picture of 

 

 

 

 

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Posted

What in particular is so bad about this HORIMONO? Is it more the design, or the execution?  I'm a total beginner, but after looking at the engravings in that link, I don't see why this one is that bad.

 

Of course I'd rather just have no engravings. A good well-made blade doesn't need any help to make it beautiful.

Posted

When I look at the horimono with a magnifying glass you can see 

that the blade is polished in the past after the horimono is made , therefore

some higher point of the design is gone. Maybe thats the reason  that it not looks as should be.

 

Just my opinion.

 

Leon.

Posted

IMHO the horimono are not well done, but not as bad as you see on some of the Chinese fakes, and they are far from great. 

 

It is a quality thing.  Once you have seen some nice horimono, you will look at these and say ah, ok, I get it.

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  • Like 3
Posted

Hi.

 

I can see why you got excited about this tanto, polished, signed (with kiku mon) and flashy mounts. It ticks a lot of desirable boxes. Sadly, as you have found that nakago has been given ‘the treatment’ complete with gimei.

 

The reason I am posting this is that I don’t want you to feel discouraged as there isn’t a person on this site who hasn’t had that sinking feeling when something hasn’t turned out the way they expected. I have always said you need broad shoulders and balls like coconuts to collect in this area.

 

Having said that there is a lot to learn about your tanto. In the eighties before the internet that piece would have been snapped up at an arms fair, for all the reasons why you did. So we can dismiss the nakago, this has been jazzed up in recent times. As for the horimono, you like it, that’s fair. I have seen a lot worse. Tanto with expertly cut horimono are very expensive and beyond the reach of many collectors. So if you like yours, that’s great, it’s just a matter of looking and comparing high grade carvings so everything gets put into perspective.

 

Next are the mounts. I like the binding. At best you are looking at a very late edo, meiji period make. The photos aren’t very good. Hand done or cast is the question. If it were mine i would take part of the mount to a gold buyer. They have machines which i believe are called XRF machines which can give you an exact break down of the metal composition. If there is silver and I don’t know what percentage it should be it would be a very positive start. There should be signes of hand work, fine chiselling etc. i hope the mounts turn out to be hand made silver, if so that is a big positive. Sometimes in the meiji times the value was in the mounts more than the blade.

 

I find it hard to try and guide anyone in this area because I am not that advanced myself. I just want to encourage you to research your tanto and not to be disheartened. There are a lot worse pieces out there. The baleen binding is not common and not easy to find in good condition, look more closely into the koshirae. Good luck.

 

Mark

  • Like 1
Posted

Kikumon = Inoue izumi no kami Kunisada or Inoue Shinkai, never Kunisada.alone (there is only one exception but with a nengo in sosho script).  More, nijimei are yet to be seen.

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