mei translation, age guess and incomplete horimono?

[waljamada]

Gentlemen/ladies and scholars, looking for confirmation that the mei is a koto era Kanekado and appears legitimate (my Google searches kinda helped and I included a pic comparing a tenbun era kanekado mei of a wazikashi with horimono but they slightly differ). Also looking for guidance if the blade appears koto era (nakago doesnt quite look koto to me, maybe early/mid muromachi) and also wondering about the horimono. Is it incomplete or are clouds like this a style and often go over the mune like this one? Can it be a danger sign there are two very different horimono on one side? Does the tsuba look ww2 era casted (still dont have a good tsuba eye) What do you think of the whole thing? Have my opinions from research but still new enough to lack confidence.

 

I bought my dad a showato as a retirement gift (which I will probably sell now) but I'm going to give him this instead after a good course in sword care. So hopefully its all legitimate. Anymore knowledge you can share will make a better story i can tell him when I give it to him.

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Adam,

I'll start off with the horimono.  Given the odd placement on just one side of the blade I would guess that it was added to a sword with serious defects to disguise.  And I don't agree with the description, "done quite reasonably well".  It leaves a lot to be desired.

Grey

[waljamada]

The "probably hiding flaws" always does cross the mind and its very possible.

 

I remember when this was told to me about a laquered bohi blade I have; I dove in to researching all flaws both fatal and non fatal a blade can have. Also please correct me if I'm wrong, bohis can remove blisters and openings but didn't see any fatal flaws it could conceal. Lacquer literally hides all thats underneath so that is riskier to me. Horimono like these require that a blister or opening couldn't be that deep as the exposed metal is still obviously used to create the sculpt.

 

So I'd guess if it does hide a flaw it would be cosmetic/non-fatal, or perhaps a large umegane fill spot which I would worry about, so they did something cosmetic to address something cosmetic. Doesn't scare me too much for these reason, especially after seeing how common cosmetic flaws are on koto blades due to age and previous polishings.

 

I spent a good chunk of time last night during my normal book reading wind down time to just look up horimono examples. Saw a huge variety of both styles and quality. Found common themes and styles with many almost like the standard tattoo boards in tattoo shops.

 

I agree that this blade's horimono aren't at all museum quality. I saw some truly beautiful pieces, gorgeously detailed sculpts and then a bunch of "the rest" where there is a spectrum of "cool horimono" via "the eye of the beholder". Also the wallet dictates if you can actually ever own a very high quality piece

 

I'll wait till I have it in hand to give it my final judgment/opinion but so far from what I've seen I give it a C/C+. Oddly I kind of like the simple cloud lines with dragon parts popping out and how it goes over the mune to have a part of it on the other side of the blade. The dragons head looks pretty good and the tiger is ok.

 

"Hey Dad, here is a signed Kanekado blade from the early 1500's. It has has a 28.3" cutting length which is longer than average and has a horimono of a Dragon and Tiger that leaves a lot to be desired." =]:^)

[Brian]

I think horimono done to cover something usually cover aesthetic flaws, not fatal ones. Your tiger appears to me to be quite nicely done. Not expert, but decent. Better than the dragon imho. It's quite an unusual horimono, I don't hate it
 

[waljamada]

ha, Brian thats how I feel. I have a few parts I like and the rest I don't hate. The blade itself is pretty cool to me but, not the best polish, and the fittings are adequate. I have a feeling the fittings are are just meh ww2 era quality like the ad said. It looks a meaty blade.

[waljamada]

Just realized this sword is literally Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

[waljamada]

The other Kanekado blades I found of a similar time period. The nihonto antiques one is sadly a mumei so couldn't use it to compare mei. This is all I can find on the internet for Kanekado koto blades but the name continued on to ww2 era smiths.

 

http://www.sanmei.com/contents/media/H85889_W8060_PUP_E.htm

 

http://sanmei.com/contents/media/A71770_W8240_PUP_E.html

 

https://nihontoantiques.com/project/katana-tachi-sword-fss-698/

 

http://www.sanmei.com/contents/media/A28850_W6624_E.htm

[waljamada]

Received the sword and it's actually really quite nice. Interesting hamon, looks woodgrain (itame hada?) and polish is 80%. Does have some flaws, some openings and a few little stains including an old fingerprint. The horimono are smaller than I thought with the entire tiger horimono at just under 2.5 inches tall. I've attached some photographs of the sword that I quickly took while cleaning it. I'm just under $1,400 into it and as long as the signature is real I think its the perfect retirement gift for my father.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Adam, as I'm sure you know, the only way to get a professional opinion on your blade's authenticity is to submit it to shinsa. But I wonder if your father will really care about its authenticity?

[waljamada]

Hi Ken, I can tell him what I know/was told about it. He wouldn't know a Kanekado from an actual Masamune but I was still hoping to hear some opinions. From my eye the signature does match the other examples I posted. The sword does appear Koto/muromachi and I'm sure the horimono werent original to the sword. Just want to give him it and say everything I can learn with confidence.

 

I put together a very short info packet on Kanekado, added all I could find. A print out of what was going on in the Seki Japan area 1530-1555 etc..want to give an accurate story with it to historically frame it for him. As a history buff he will care to learn the details. Thats a bunch of the fun

 

If this gets him into Nihonto he can bring it to the next Chicago Sword Show with me to show a shinsa.

[IJASWORDS]

Hi Adam, don't know if you are interested, but the tsuba to actually match your F/K set on your sword attached. To me they are really quite beautiful.  

[waljamada]

Neil, definitely of interest. Thats quite cool. That saya looks ww2 so fits the idea that this sword was remounted during ww2 era. I also like the look of the set. I really enjoy looking at the old mounts and discovering the theme an old owner wanted to portray. A glimpse into the personality they saw and wanted to imbue/accentuate. With this one having the tsuka as forest themed and the tsuba as tiger I like to think of it as a story. The handle represents the tigers domain as it stares to the sky aggressively/defensively towards the dragon and his air domain. Ground and sky, crouching tiger hidden dragon.

[ROKUJURO]

....One of my favorite things with these old mounts...... 

Adam,

 

I am afraid we are looking at relatively young (press molded) items (20th century). Your iron TSUBA is of course older and individually handmade.

[waljamada]

Jean, yeah, I used the term "old" a bit too liberally given the age ranges of nihonto.

 

I had assumed even the tsuba was 19th century and from a mold. So thank you for sharing that that insight. The tsuba has some actual detail in it so knowing it's handmade adds a lot to it. My tsuba eye needs much work.

 

Now I wonder if the bit of shimmering gold color in the tiger eyes and a few other places on the tsuba is real gold...

[ROKUJURO]

Adam,

It certainly is, but that would not affect the market value.

The iron (PUFF, the magic) dragon TSUBA shows a lot of tool traces which would not be seen on items that were cast in molds, so this one offers something to compare and study.

[waljamada]

Tried to make a video of the sword for fun on my phone. It is really difficult and I respect anyone that figured out the set up to do it well.

 

 

Also took a few more photos.