Help Identifying Tanto

[Aiden CC]

I have been collecting blades in a variety of styles for a while, for artistic value as well as measurements/inspiration for my own work, and I recently purchased my first Japanese blade. I'm fairly new to this kind of blade and would love some help on how I might get an idea of how old it is and any more provenance information as the blade didn't come with any and is unsigned. The length is right on the line between tanto and wakizashi. Also, it seems the blade has been re-polished a good bit, as the thickest portion is about 1" down into the nakago, the ubuha is almost all gone, and the hamon comes fairly close to the edge in a few places. I'm not used to photographing blades with traditionally polished hamons and had to improvise a setup, so I apologize for the glare in the pictures.

 

The blade also came with a set of koshirae, but I think they were originally for another larger blade, except for the habaki. The tsuba/seppa have holes too big for the nakago and the mekugi doesn't pass all the way through the tsuka with the blade in it (despite what looks like a poor attempt by a previous owner at making it do so). The blade unfortunately also has some marks from what looks like a stone on a rotary tool in the hi and just above the habaki on the other side (like someone was trying to "fix" some openings in the hada). It's definitely in rough shape, but I mostly got it to study the sugata and hamon, which are there and for a fraction of the price that a blade in better shape would have been. Would it be a mistake to make a set of koshirae/a shirasaya for this blade? I don't think it's condition warrants putting money into having anything made for it, but it might be nice to see the blade in furniture that fits it properly.

 

This is my first post here and I although I do have some knowledge of the craft side of these blades (though my own practical experience is limited to modern steels), I am entirely new to the collecting/connoisseur angle and any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Aiden CC

[16k]

Can you photograph both sides of the Hamon, please, Adrian?

[Aiden CC]

I’ll work out a better lighting setup at some point to get better pictures of the whole hamon, for now here is a photo I already have of the side of the hamon not already shown above.

 

Aiden

[Ken-Hawaii]

Welcome to NMB, Aiden. Getting decent shots of blades is an art in itself. As you live in te high county, try shooting in sunlight, with the lens at an angle to the blade. The ones you've posted are pretty decent, but always try to shoot the completely bare blade, as much info lies under the habaki.

 

Ubuha on a tanto? Never heard of that, & this blade looks pretty close to ubu to me. Those are deep marks in the bohi, & I'm not sure that even a polish could take them out.

 

Shinto, most likely, & although it's not real valuable, it's a good starter piece.

[Peter Bleed]

Aiden,

You have successfully bought a nice old blade, made good observations about it, and asked for opinions. The next step is - obviously - to get us arguing!

Ken says Shinto, but I would say Koto Mino.

Peter

[Ken-Hawaii]

No argument, Peter, I was thinking the same thing, but the yasurime looked a bit new-ish for very far back in Muromachi.

[Geraint]

Dear Aiden.

 

To answer your koshirae question, I think your instincts are good, it's not sensible to put more money into koshirae for this.  Fitting sekigane, (copper inserts) into the nakago ana of the tsub might be an easy fix so that at least that fits.  Other wise just enjoy the learning curve, it gets steeper!

 

All the best.

[16k]

I would also think Koto, Mino, late Muromachi.

[Peter Bleed]

So, Aiden, are you still listening?

Think of it this way,... if you had a pile of tantos, about 60% of them would be koto, most of those dating from the 16th century... Another 25% would be shin-shinto and they might be rather nicely mounted. Many of the rest would be trinkets and souvenirs.

If there is a kantei point behind my suggestion that this is a Mino blade, it would be the cross hatched yasurimei on the nakago.

Peter

[Aiden CC]

Thanks everyone for the ideas about the age and school! It's definitely cool to think it's likely  400+ years old. And peter, I was just about to ask about the what might suggest it to be Koto Mino, thank you for good explanation. Also, on a somewhat unrelated note, what would be the word for the type of hamon on this blade? Just from looking at diagrams, it seems it might be midare? Although in some places it seems like it "jumps" up slightly (you can sort of see it in the 5th picture of my first post) in a few places, rather than smoothly meandering.

 

Sekigane might make sense for the tsuba (though there isn't a lot of room on the ha side), I think the main problem is the mekugi ana in the tsuka, which is poorly aligned with the one in the blade. There is a shim on the mune side inside the tsuka which makes it a tight fit, but also means the mekugi won't go all the way through. I know even less about koshirae than blades, does it seem reasonable that the set this blade is in may have been intended for a later tanto/wakizashi and modified to fit this blade? The saya is also somewhat longer than the blade (~2"), though not sure if that means it was meant for a longer blade.

[16k]

I guess the Hamon would be described as gunome midare, but I can see some choji and some Suguha areas too.

 

As for the koshirae, it is a 19th century koshirae. It was probably made for another blade and remounted later on with yours. Happens frequently.

[Tom Darling]

IMHO, the hamon engenders a conflict with itself.  It is what it is?  Mino/koto. Peace.

 

 

Tom D.