Signature Assistance

[Marino F]

Good Day All, the tang on this blade has been cut, and I'm having a buggar of a time trying to find the translation / meaning on this sword.  Any suggestions/assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers

M

[SteveM]

摂州住藤原囗　

 

Sesshū-jū Fujiwara / cut-off

 

The last bit looks like it could be 宗. There should be a two-kanji name after Fujiwara, so I would expect something like 宗澄 (Munezumi).

[Marino F]

Thanks Steve, does it say its from the province... of Mino or Yamato?

[SteveM]

Sesshū is the province. Osaka. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Settsu_Province

[uwe]

摂州住藤原囗　

 

Sesshū-jū Fujiwara / cut-off

 

The last bit looks like it could be 宗. There should be a two-kanji name after Fujiwara, so I would expect something like 宗澄 (Munezumi).

 

Steve,

is the second (alternative) kanji for the province a common writing? 

[SteveM]

It's a very unusual variant of 州. I've never seen it before, but I guess it was trendy among a few Sesshū smiths. 

https://glyphwiki.org/wiki/rui6-e02e

 

See a similar example here (click on the link directly under the picture to expand the picture)

http://www2.city.amagasaki.hyogo.jp/bunkazai/sitei/katana_kuniyuki/katana_kuniyuki.html

[uwe]

Also new to me..... thanks Steve 

[Marino F]

Thanks gentlemen!!

[Marino F]

with the limited books i have - I found a couple potential signatures based on the last portion being cut off... see attached in "the samurai sword a handbook"

 

what are your thoughts on its and other potential - as the blade may have been cut just on the 4th horizontal line...

 

are there any other books with smith signatures that I can continue my hunt to find potential signatures

 

高

 

摂州住藤原宗 - 高?

 

Muneshige Settsu 1661

Munenaga Settsu 1375

 

[SteveM]

This is what you have on your sword. 

*Note the second kanji looks substantially different from the one I inserted, because the kanji on the sword is a seldom-used variant that doesn't exist in my font set on my computer.

 

The last kanji which is partially visible is, I believe, the top part of 宗 (mune). It is not the top part of 高. There will have been a second kanji under the 宗, but that is entirely gone and we can only speculate on what it might have been. 澄 is my guess because there was a swordsmith named Munesumi (宗澄) from Sesshu who signed in that style. 

[Marino F]

thank you, is there a way for me to search similar signatures to help compare/reduce which possible swordsmith - such as 宗重 - Muneshige

or compare the blades they made

 

I enjoy the hunt to the puzzle :-)

[SteveM]

If you are an amateur like me, you will insert a few phrases into a search engine to see what results you can get. With an obscure smith, it takes a bit of luck to find a match, as the likelihood that a dealer has a papered item for sale, and has good photographs to compare with, is not high. One key may be the unique 州 kanji, which probably hints at when the sword was made as contemporary smiths may have used the same kanji. 

 

If you have a bit more experience and access to a good set of reference material, you will look at the sword itself and determine the era and style, and narrow it down to a particular region, time, school, or smith, being mindful of the signature, but trying as much as possible to let the sword tell you where it is from. Then the sword will confirm whether the signature is accurate or not. 

 

If you put up pictures of the sword, we should be able to reach a very quick conclusion on whether the sword was made in the 1300s or 1600s. Actually, if you have a good sword book, this is one of the things you can probably do yourself, unless the sword has been substantially altered.