Pattern 1883 Kaigunto Opinions

[Kaiser21]

This sword is one of two that I purchased from the estate of a Capt. In the British Army Royal Engineers who served during the Burma Campaign. 

I believe it is a pattern 1883 Naval Officer’s Parade sword. It has a factory made blade.

 

It must have been displayed in his home as it has been polished several times as evidenced by the Brasso deposits. 

I know very little about these swords and would be interested in knowing more about where and when it was made etc.

 

The hilt area shows what I would call the Showa stamp containing an anchor as well as a diamond containing an uppercase N. 

 

The sword knot chord appears to have been a gold colour which has turned to a brownish hue over the years.  I’m unsure what rank this indicates or whether it actually belongs with this sword.

 

[Kiipu]

5 hours ago, Kaiser21 said:

The hilt area shows what I would call the Showa stamp containing an anchor as well as a diamond containing an uppercase N.

 

It is not unusual to find naval swords, both old and new, that have two logos on the fittings.  In the case of your sword, neither logo is currently identified.  Thanks for sharing the interesting pictures.

[Kaiser21]

Thanks for responding.

 

I'd been told that the diamond with the N in it was unknown.  Strange that both marks are unidentified.  Does that make it a hard to find sword or do these show up fairly often?

 

Any thoughts on the sword knot?

[MarcoUdin]

I'm not the person to be asking whether is a genuine cord or not but there were to variations of the naval sword knot. One was more gold and one was more tan, they believe that different makers varied the color slightly. 

 

Assuming it's genuine, which I do, it's just your basic naval sword knot which doesn't tell what rank the person was or wether it was original to the Gunto specifically. It would be correct to be matched with this sword as it has the zig zag pattern. So sorry, no rank can be indicated but it is what would be correct to a naval kyu gunto.

 

 Here is a pic from Dawson's book

 

[MarcoUdin]

And don't forget to add your name to your original post or under it, as it's a forum rule

[Bruce Pennington]

Steve,

Thomas is being very precise about the stamps.  But evidence supports the idea (for now) that the anchor in sakura is the Toyokawa Navy Arsenal.  They use an anchor in circle on sword blades, but they use the anchor in sakura on other things like bayonets and fittings.  We just don't have documentation to verify the anchor in sakura on dirks.

[Kaiser21]

10 hours ago, MarcoUdin said:

And don't forget to add your name to your original post or under it, as it's a forum rule

 

You'll have to educate me here.  I thought putting my first name and initial at the bottom of the post was compliant.

[Kaiser21]

Bruce:

 

Thanks for responding.   So, it's only the diamond and N that is a mystery.

[Bruce Pennington]

1 minute ago, Kaiser21 said:

Bruce:

 

Thanks for responding.   So, it's only the diamond and N that is a mystery.

Yes.

 

Your name is visible on the left side under your logo.  It just doesn't show in the mobile app views, like a phone, so guys read the forum on their phone don't see it.  You're compliant.  If you want it to show under each post, there's a place in your personal settings to add it.

[Kaiser21]

OK. Thanks.

 

I'll see about correcting that.

[MarcoUdin]

3 hours ago, Kaiser21 said:

 

You'll have to educate me here.  I thought putting my first name and initial at the bottom of the post was compliant.

Sorry Steve, forget sometimes I'm not on my PC

[Kaiser21]

Marco:

 

Not  problem at all.

 

And thanks for taking the time to respond with an answer to my question re. the sword knot.