Sayagaki assistance please

[itsoverthere]

Hello all,

 

I'm hoping that again I may be able to ask the assistance of the knowledgeable members of the forum in figuring out what some of this sayagaki text says. I believe that the alleged smith name reads Kanenori but there are some other parts that are, to me, unintelligible. Any thoughts or suggestions would therefore be very greatly appreciated.

 

Regards,

 

Adam

[k morita]

Beautiful Sayagaki writing!

 

1st pic

"Suriage" shortend blade.

"Kanenori".

 

2nd pic

"Nagasa 1-shaku 4-sun 5-bu " , blade length 43.9 Cm(about 17.3in) .

[itsoverthere]

Morita san,

 

Many thanks. I suppose this information is what I should expect to be there however it is interesting as to my (albeit untrained) eye, the nakago appears in no way suriage. The shape/size/patina do not suggest it (I don't think).

 

Regards,

 

Adam

[Guido]

... to my (albeit untrained) eye, the nakago appears in no way suriage.

Hmmm, the Sayagaki states without doubt スリ上. How about posting some pics of the Nakago?

[itsoverthere]

Hi Guido,

 

Here's a pic of the nakago. Of course others may see more in this than I but from what I can tell (mei aside) the blade appears to be a Mino-den piece in fairly good polish. Please, anyone, share any thoughts you may have. I will actually post some pics of the blade a bit later.

 

Regards,

 

Adam

[John A Stuart]

You wouldn't suspect suriage just by looking at that nakago. Understandable how it would make you wonder. John

[Guido]

The Mei and Mekugiana (assuming the latter is the original, which it appears to be in relation to the Mei) are indeed too low on the Nakago to make it likely that this sword is Ubu. My guess is Suriage and Machiokuri. However, the Suriage was done very skillfully, unlike many "hacksaw jobs" we often see. Nicely done, old Suriage is often referred to as "Keichô-Suriage" - I don't know if this sword was actually shortened during that period, but at least it sounds classy :D .

[itsoverthere]

Guido,

 

That's interesting because when I was considering the mei itself there did seem to be a possiblity that it could be the Kanenori who worked in Echigo during the Keicho period (kan1883). How likely this is I don't know but keicho-suraige might perhaps support such a theory?

 

Regards,

 

Adam

[Brian]

I seem to remember a discussion (maybe by Moriyama san?) that stated that even if the machi are just moved up slightly and the nakago jiri is left original, the sword will still be termed suriage. Can anyone remember that?

If that is the case, aside from Guido's observation..perhaps it is machi okuri confirming the suriage call?

 

Brian

[Guido]

There were quite a few generations of Kanenori, but so far I couldn't match the Mei on your sword 100% to any of them (but I don't have examples of all generations). A high res pic of the Nakago, and the sword itself, might be helpful.

[itsoverthere]

Here's a better pic of the nakago taken with more light. There are more pics of the blade in the post "New acquisition. Thoughts or comments please" and maybe now it may actually make sense if the two seperate posts were brought together but I didn't really want to post the set of pics twice. Anyway, my camera is something less than spectacular but hopefully this picture is more revealing.

[Guido]

Sorry, still no match. Maybe those with a vaster library than me can jump in.

[Jacques]

Hi,

 

Because of the yasurime i would eliminate Mino smiths

[itsoverthere]

Hmmm, I don't know. What little can be seen of the yasurime appears to be katte-sagari. Would that really be problematic for a Mino-den attribution?

[leo]

Hi!

Here is a suriage wakizashi signed Echizen Ju Kanenori and just for comparison I include a pic of the nakago and blade. The smith worked in Echizen and Mino in the 1590s around Momoyama, no one famous though.

 

Regards, Martin