Auction Gunto

[Ontario_Archaeology]

Hello everyone! Hope you're all doing well. Recently I bought this gunto at auction, there wasn't very much information given, but the unique mounts were a selling point for me. The blade was originally described as demascus, but that obviously wasn't the case. Now that I have it in hand, I took it apart in search for a signature but found none. I have been told that it is an older blade, but I'd like an era to be more narrowed down, something that is well out of my realm. Here are some pictures, please don't hesitate to let me know if more pics are needed! 

[Ontario_Archaeology]

A full blade picture will come tomorrow, sorry! 

[David Flynn]

Possibly, Shinto, Kaga school

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Wow, a black ray-skin Army gunto!  Can't say I've seen that before!  Did it come with the General officer tassel?

[Ontario_Archaeology]

6 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Wow, a black ray-skin Army gunto!  Can't say I've seen that before!  Did it come with the General officer tassel?

No Bruce I added it as I did my previous sword I've posted. It came without a tassel, but has a nice min on it. Ill take more / better pictures tonight!! 

[Ontario_Archaeology]

More pictures as promised! Any info would be great! 

[Ontario_Archaeology]

Also the numbers are all matching, however I am unsure what number this is 

[BANGBANGSAN]

It is Katakana ト (to)

[Bruce Pennington]

6 hours ago, BANGBANGSAN said:

Katakana ト (to)

Trystan,

I think you're right, but out of curiosity, how do you distinguish between that and 卜 (Boku) - fortune teller?

 

And .... oh .... BTW  .... O. M. G.!!! A new, undiscovered/unidentified shop logo!!!!

[BANGBANGSAN]

7 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Trystan,

I think you're right, but out of curiosity, how do you distinguish between that and 卜 (Boku) - fortune teller?

 

And .... oh .... BTW  .... O. M. G.!!! A new, undiscovered/unidentified shop logo!!!!

I'm going to leave that puzzle to Thomas&SteveM.

[Ontario_Archaeology]

Any other information on the blade we can guess at? 

 

@Bruce Penningtonit's great that this has a new stamp for you, I think I've seen it once before, possibly on another black Ray skin gunto. I'll double check my pictures when I get home. 

[Kiipu]

22 hours ago, BANGBANGSAN said:

It is katakana ト (TO).

 

Yes, I agree 100% with Trystan it is the katakana character ト (TO).  The difference is small, but the second stroke is placed lower down the stem than the boku character.  See below.

TO ト versus 卜 boku.

ト 卜

Attention @SteveM

[SteveM]

Yes, as above, there are very subtle differences between the katakana and the kanji - so subtle that I think not many people (myself included) could tell the difference between the two symbols ト (to) and 卜 (boku). As peple often point out, its the context that gives the biggest clue as to what you are looking at. 

 

Similar to 力 (chikara) and カ (ka).

Or タ (ta) and 夕 (yū). 

 

Frustrating language, even when not written in grass script. 

 

 

 

 

[Ontario_Archaeology]

20 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Trystan,

I think you're right, but out of curiosity, how do you distinguish between that and 卜 (Boku) - fortune teller?

 

And .... oh .... BTW  .... O. M. G.!!! A new, undiscovered/unidentified shop logo!!!!

Turns out the other gunto did not have those marks, I do recall seeing them. This was for sale in 2018 on ebay. Ever since I missed it I had been chasing something similar. I think waiting paid off, I am very pleased with what I have now. 

[PNSSHOGUN]

Your sword is much nicer than the one above, pierced Tsuba & Mon always nice.

[Ontario_Archaeology]

Photos of the mun