Tamba no Kami gamble

[Bugyotsuji]

Recently I spotted a wakizashi in Shirasaya at a local auction and decided to take a gamble. No-one showed much interest, perhaps because there were no Shinsa papers and no koshirae.  I made a mental price limit and bidded towards the top end of that. Surprisingly the bidding stopped with me. Gulp! Osaka, Tamba no Kami Yoshimichi?

 

Several people have since looked at it, with no especially negative comments so far.  Plenty of Sudareba. Opinions differ as to which generation, but on Sunday my sword Sensei commented that he could see traces of early work in it, possibly shodai. The Mei does seem to correspond too, but I know there are many gimei out there. He advised submitting it for NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon. If it passes shinsa, I have a very nice koshirae that is looking for a blade, and I just wonder if they can be married. It's a wide mihaba, and those last 5 centimeters... hmmmm... and the problem of the mekugi position arises. Long-term winter project ahead to keep me warm? 😅

[Ken-Hawaii]

And so the possibility arises of another ana in the nakago. Good luck with the NBTHK, Piers.

[Bugyotsuji]

Or a new hole in the tsuka. Thanks for the good wishes Ken!

[Brian]

When you have sudareba....that narrows down the possible smiths a lot. So the outcome sounds promising. Of course the call for pics is inevitable.
Bring them on! And sounds like you did great.

[Bugyotsuji]

Well, you know my photography skills... 🤪

 

 

[Brian]

To me, looks like you scored bigtime. Can not be anything but one of the Yoshimichi's.

[Geraint]

Nice one Piers!  Looks like a good quality shirasaya to boot.  Will the auction tell you how it came to them?  I wonder if it had papers which simply did not make it to the auction?

 

All the best.

[Bugyotsuji]

Haha, you win some, you lose some. I have plenty of experience of the latter. 🤐

(Good question, Geraint, but I doubt they would. I might put out a few gentle feelers. It would be nice though if some forgotten paperwork suddenly popped up. )

[paulb]

well if looking at this in kantei Tamba no kami Yoshimichi would be my first call the question would then be which one? It not a group I have looked at for a very long time but it used to be my original teachers favourite school so I was exposed to a number very early on. If I remember correctly Sudare-ba was more typical and pronounced  in the later generations ( doing that from memory which is an increasingly dangerous thing to do) so 2nd onwards. Adding some dimensions might help tie it down a bit closer

Regardless of which generation made it it it looks to be a good sword and in good condition, Well done Piers!!

 

[DirkO]

Hey Piers - could you post a picture of the mei? I have amassed 100+ ref mei for Mishina work from all generations - so would like to see if I can find a good match. If it's not shodai, you have a very big chance that NBTHK will just confirm the mei.

[Bugyotsuji]

Dirk, sending you a pm. In the meantime this is from my Fujishiro. (Left of page.)

 

 

 

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Your inbox is full?

 

Oh, well, wasn’t planning to strip naked in public, but ‘in for a penny in for a pound’. I’ll have to go take a shot! 😂
 For Paul and Dirk

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jacques D.]

Seems to be this one  (smith not sword)😀

 

 

[Bugyotsuji]

Cool, thanks for that, Jacques. Looks similar. The explanation says that from the relatively  thick stroke cuts not sure, but maybe early example from third gen.(?) Genroku straddles the Ako Ronin affair.

[Brian]

If you squint a bit...could even be the same sword. Very close. Even down to stroke and ana placement.
Can't be much doubt about it being shoshin.

[Jacques D.]

8 minutes ago, Brian said:

If you squint a bit...could even be the same sword. Very close. Even down to stroke and ana placement.
Can't be much doubt about it being shoshin.

 

Fully agreed

[Bugyotsuji]

This side of the blade. Hmmm... they both have Table Mountain from Cape Town, but not so close to the Shinogi line.

 

 

[Yasaka Azuma]

Congratulations Piers. It's certainly the same compared to the tang that Jacques showed us. Picking up a sword in a book is a rare luck.

 

 

[Bugyotsuji]

May I just express my thanks to all who have contributed their knowledge to this. I am constantly reminded by the depth of people’s research and understanding, how little I know.

[Brian]

That is awesome!

[Promo]

All I can add is playing a bit around more in Photoshop with the pictures, to make yours look picture look like the one in the book and put them side to side. If this is of any help, see attachment.

[vajo]

Well done Piers! Looks great.

[Bugyotsuji]

Jacques, where did you find that p.870 entry!?

[Jacques D.]

12 hours ago, Bugyotsuji said:

Jacques, where did you find that p.870 entry!?

 

 

Imura's Shinto taikan

[Shugyosha]

Excellent Piers! Not a bit jealous...😆

[Surfson]

Great find and great thread.  Congratulations Piers.  

[Babu]

Yes it's the same sword as the oshigata in the book. 3rd generation? 

[Bugyotsuji]

On 10/6/2020 at 9:23 PM, Bugyotsuji said:

The explanation says that from the relatively  thick stroke cuts not sure, but maybe early example from third gen.(?)

 

From post #14 above. That is roughly what the blurb says below the oshigata. Unusually deeply incised,  but could well be an early example of the third generation, “judging by the somewhat similar 鏨切目,  tagane kirimé (cold chiselwork)”, but at the end it says 「いずれの代に該当するか不明である。」Izure no dai ni gaito suru ka fumei de aru.(= not clear which generation it fits with). 

 

And that is why I found interesting my sensei's comment interesting, where he found signs in the blade indicating possible early Yoshimichi work.

[Bugyotsuji]

17 hours ago, Jacques D. said:

 

 

Imura's Shinto taikan

Is this Imamura Nagayoshi?

[Jacques D.]

12 hours ago, Bugyotsuji said:

Is this Imamura Nagayoshi?

 

Author of the shinto taikan is Iimura Yoshiaki