possible bunmei era sword? translation?

[slavia631]

Hi,

 

An acquaintance is wondering about the age/make of his sword as well as a translation of the mei.

 

Here are some photos:

 

http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo60 ... ekanji.jpg

 

http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo60 ... ekanji.jpg

 

I have asked him for more photos of the blade itself, but for now does anybody have anything to say about this sword? It appears that somebody (hopefully not him) has tried to clean the nagako .

 

thanks,

[Mark]

looks like KaShu (Kaga) Yukimitsu -- not sure what to make of it, does not seem natural, kanji look sharp and the yasuri are either gone or hard to see

[Jacques D.]

Hi,

 

Mei reads

 

 

Kashu fujiwara Yukimitsu / Bunmei ju roku nen sans gatsu ju go hi

 

[Ted Tenold]

Without intending to be cold-hearted....this signature is very clumsy, and the nakago contrived. This looks like yet another example of the many copies and forgeries seen in abundance these days.

 

Hope it didn't cost much.

[Brian]

Yep, agree. Just loaded the pics now, and it doesn't look good at all. Amateur carving, and the ana are completely wrong. If the lower one is supposed to be the original, then can you imagine where the "mei" would have been originally?

No signs of yasurime at all...doesn't even look like a bad cleaning job. I would be very suspicious about the sword. Let's see a pic of the kissaki and that will likely tell the story.

Can't be 100% sure yet, but it doesn't look good. Sorry.

 

Brian

[stekemest]

Photos of the whole sword and the kissaki would be interesting. If it's fake, it seems to be a slightly better one than the usual Chinese trash.

It at least doesn't look like bunmei at all.

[Jacques D.]

Hi,

 

Personally, i don't think that this mei is clumsy, though certainly gimei.

 

Fujishiro koto book:

 

[slavia631]

Here is the story behind the sword, as told by the owner. Also, more photos of the entire blade and mountings:

 

 

here is what i know about this sword...

my uncle was part of the occupation during wwii. he brought the sword back with him. the circumstances about how he got it... i have no idea. he gave it to me about 25 years ago. if it is a fake then it was faked more than 60 years ago. i did not do any sanding on the blade or anything. i think what you are seeing is the baby powder i brushed on it to make the kanji show better. i have included some more pics...some that taken before the baby powder. i do believe that this blade was refitted probably near the beginnig of wwii. any alterations or damage was done before i got it. it has rarely even been taken out for as long as i have had it. before that it spent many years in the closet of a war hero. i would ask him exactly how he got it but alas, it's to late for any of that, as he passed about 10 years ago..

 

here's a few more pics...some aren't that great but soon i will try to take some better ones

 

http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo60 ... ure002.jpg

 

http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo60 ... ure003.jpg

 

http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo60 ... ure004.jpg

 

http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo60 ... ure005.jpg

 

http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo60 ... ure006.jpg

 

http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo60 ... ure007.jpg

 

http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo60 ... ure011.jpg

 

http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo60 ... ure012.jpg

 

http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo60 ... ure017.jpg

 

http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo60 ... ure020.jpg

 

http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo60 ... ure031.jpg

 

http://i361.photobucket.com/albums/oo60 ... ure032.jpg

[Jacques D.]

Hi,

 

Toko taikan lists several Yukimitsu working in Kaga, this one could be the yondai (rated 340 man). The nakago jiri seems match, a better pic of the mei would be helpful.

[Brian]

New pics look a lot better. Haven't loaded them all yet (damn dial up) but the nakago looks better. Will look a bit closer when I get home later.

 

Brian

[Ted Tenold]

Yes, the new images show it much better. The nakagojiri is correct for the Kaga school, and the shape looks good. It warrants further research. There's a kaga oshigata book that may have this smith in it, but I don't have a copy of it. I do stand corrected in that it does not look like a recent fake looking at the new pictures. From a purely aesthetic view, I still don't like the signature, but that doesn't mean it isn't original. :D

[slavia631]

Here are quite a few better photos:

 

http://s361.photobucket.com/albums/oo60/jrobinson1969/

[Jacques D.]

Hi,

 

could be this one (sorry for the quality but on this book pictures are outrageously small).