katana - horimono details

[daya_zhai]

hi, heres is another that is also in the family and while ive got the camera out i

might as well get some feedback and try and learn something.

 

this is a katana in military mounts but ive no doubt the blade is alot older,

there are incised designs on both sides under the handle.

 

Any ideas of age / swordsmith?

 

 

again thanks for all your coments and efforts.

[Brian]

What is the length of the cutting edge now? Judging by how much it has been shortened, it must have been a heck of a long blade originally.

This one is very interesting, especially with the horimono (carved designs)

Definitely older than WW2, but jusging by the patina it wasn't shortened hundreds of years ago.

Not sure how much info you can get on it in this state though. It's not like anyone can look at it and say how old it is and who made it.

I think if it were mine, I would definitely consider getting a window polished to see what turns up. It could be worth a polish, definitely worth finding out more about.

 

Brian

[daya_zhai]

thanks for the information, this one was certainly looked after more than the other,

 

the cutting edge is about 26.5 inches long to the tip,

 

you say it was shortened so i guess it was once a tachi?

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

i guess it was once a tachi?

 

The combination of Suken and Gomabashi calls for Koto Yamashiro, but gomabashi aren't so usual on Daito, and

usually the Suken is on the front (according to this assuption, yours is on the wrong side for a Tachi).

The bonji is possibly the one for Fudo Myô.

 

Just rambling...

 

EDIT : is it dirt the black line above the notch in the first picture ?

[daya_zhai]

thanks for the further info -

 

so im guessing it could be a very old blade? koto period?

 

the dirt is just some dried oil, because this was in better condition when handed to me

i oiled it lightly - if that is correct?

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

it could be a very old blade? koto period?

 

Possibly, but the combination of engravings is slightly puzzling (to me).

 

i oiled it lightly - if that is correct?

 

Yes, to keep a blade lightly oiled is always correct.

[Mark]

can you show a picture of the back (spine) of the tang? what is the blade thickness where the habaki fits, and what is the thickness at the lower hole (one closest the end of the tang- where the horimono ends)? If the thickness of the blade is the same in both areas, and the blade then radically tapers to the end, it may be a shortened Koto blade, If the tang tapers from the habaki area to the end as is usual then i would say it is not an old shortened blade and may be Shinshinto made as you see it now. It seems strange that the horimono does not "thin out" as it goes along the tang, if it were a shortened blade and the tang was filed down i would not think the horimono would be as deep and sharp at the lower end................. just my observation.