Naginata by Echizen Sadamichi

[Brian]

Have already posted pics of the mei in another thread, so am opening this one to discuss and show the piece itself.
Many months ago, a South African posted pics of a collection of Japanese polearms that he had come across in SA, on a forum. I was immediately blown away, as the chances of finding Japanese polearms here, especially with the original poles, is next to zero. The length itself makes it prohibitive to import.
Seems these came to SA around the 1920's or so, by a Dutchman who settled in SA and must have collected various arms. They ended up with a nice young guy called Ruhan. We spoke for months and discussed trading some items possibly, as I have some other items he was interested in. The odd thing is that these items have been sitting in a far away farming area, the equivalent of them rotting away in the barn like I hear from the USA so often.
Eventually this week I met up with Ruhan. Granted, the items are in only fair condition. Time and storage has caused surface rust, but of that type that discolors and leaves micro pitting, but the surface is still smooth and will clean up 70% over time with oil and wiping and soaking and some uchiko.
Anyways, he had 4 x yari and 2 x naginata. All with VERY long and original poles and in various states of disrepair, but still stable and interesting.

Some may remember that my main goal for years has been to get a nice naginata, since I traded my nice one away and miss it terribly. I'm fussy with naginata. Needs to have a nice shape, flowing lines (not that straight edge with a sudden upturn at the end) and most importantly, a well cut hi with that sloped front to the front of the bo hi...some of you will know what I mean. Not the rounded end main hi.

Both of Ruhan's naginata had lovely shapes, and the correct hi. But I was captivated by the fact that the one has the hi as part of a horimono. Not a very complicated one, but not one done to cover a flaw either.
This starts out expertly as the base of a tree, then goes up and forms the bo-hi, with a side branch of the tree becoming the so-hi...thinner groove.
Just beautifully done and planned.
The other side has the bo-hi and soe-hi with a varja style horimono inside the thicker groove. Also lovely.

And the fittings...? I'll let the pics tell the tale. Just really nicely done. Not sure if that is some sort of mon or whatever, looking for any feedback or opinions on that. But the well done design is on all the fittings.
Lots of laquer loss on the pole, but I can live with that.

Yes, the pics make the rust look bad, but it's not that bad and will easily polish off by a professional. Cannot feel the texture with a fingernail.
Already I can make out a thin hamon about 5cm wide, looks like small gunome or choji. Will see more in the coming months as I wipe and oil. I love this piece. It is missing the tsuba, and will be measuring the gap between 2 seppa to see how thick it was. I also got 2 yari with long poles. One a fukuro yari that is nice, the other more conventional diamond shaped and both with original poles.

Anyways, just sharing. Suffice to say, I am a very pleased naginata owner.

[Brian]

Just an idea of the elegant sugata, ubu nakago and nice nagasa of about 485mm.

 

[Brian]

And here's the mon..

 

[kissakai]

That is very nice with a great shape and lucky you could get this in your homeland - double bonus

 

[ROKUJURO]

Brian,

my congratulations on this NAGINATA! It is obvioiusly very special - never seen one with a comparable HORIMONO! And the decorative poles come with it, very good. The repairs seem to be feasible, but it might be difficult to have it done in Japan.

Polearms can be very interesting!    

 

[Brian]

Looking better.

 

 

[Gakusee]

Brian, well done, the whole thing looks great. And the Sakura horimono is interesting and you have nice koshirae.   Great 

[PNSSHOGUN]

The Horimono is of good quality, it will be amazing when polished.

[Bugyotsuji]

Agreed, a great find, which must have been waiting for you. Can’t wait to see the other pieces! 

 

(The rounded petals may indicate Umé rather than Sakura which tend to have a notch in the tip. Umé is Japanese apricot, but most dictionaries just say ‘plum’.)

[ecl]

A very beautiful piece!

[roger dundas]

Hope you don't mind my pennys worth- a really lovely thing to have.

Without being flippant- I would hate to have someone after me, wielding one of those. Seriously.

Roger j

[Jussi Ekholm]

Congratulations Brian, that is an interesting find, and the background story makes it even more special. I can imagine there are not too many Japanese items stashed away in South Africa.

 

Unfortunately I have already packed all of my book for my upcoming move so I cannot check my resources too well.

 

There is a smith Sadamichi (定道) who had the title Echizen no Kami (越前守) working in the late 1600's. He has been listed as an Owari province smith who came originally from Mino. He is also listed chūjō-saku in Fujishiro. Unfortunately all of the mei examples I have found from him feature Minamoto (源) in mei. Here are two online references I could found quickly.

 

https://www.kanetoyo.com/sell-katana-19.html

https://www.seiyudo.com/ka-098119.htm  (This has NTHK papers and maybe seems bit different in character form than others)

[Katsujinken]

Wonderful! What a fantastic horimono. I hope you can get it polished one day and set up to rest in a comfy shirasaya. 
 

Great find. The blades are lucky you found them. 

[Brian]

Thanks guys.  Jussi, I thought of him, but as Ray pointed out...he had an honorary title of Echizen no Kami, and doesn't seem to have worked there. Not sure how many smiths with honorary titles actually worked in the areas they claimed
But I'll keep searching. For now, the light and non-abrasive cleaning and oiling is continuing.
I may consider some pole restoration at some point, but I am not sure anyone is willing to cut MOP shell into thousands of tiny squares
I wonder if there is a source of pre-cut ones for raden somewhere.

[george trotter]

Hi Brian,

I really like your naginata....great find, love the simple, "restrained' high-class horimono.

Definitely a "keeper"...and I say this as a staunch 1876-1945 gendaito collector....if I had found it I would keep it!!!

Congrats...,

George.

 

[DoTanuki yokai]

The Raden Brian  https://www.urushi-watanabe.net/en/shopping/mart/find.cgi?sort=4&word=・Mother of pearl

[Ooitame]

I have been looking to purchase a Naginata for some time. This one is very interesting, and has a nice sugata, many congratulations. Would look great in a new polish!

[Promo]

18 hours ago, Brian said:

I may consider some pole restoration at some point

Considering what someone not into nihonto might understand by this sentence kept me laughing way more than it should!

 

Looking forward to what your oil based cleaning can come up with. Keep us posted!

[Brian]

The oiling stabilizes the rust and prevents further damage. Then I clean with Isopropyl Alcohol, followed by a careful application of some evaporust. Soft brushing removes all the surface rust, leaving dark stains/micro pitting that is smooth. And then regular uchiko, which makes the tissue turn black from the rust. That's as abrasive as I'll allow, and only on fully out of polish swords like this.
This isn't a tutorial. And is only used on rusted blades. Uchiko on polished swords can be disastrous. Evaporust is harmless, but will remove patina on nakago, so HAS to be kept away from there. And if left on unwatched, will cause new rust.
The result is a smooth surface that is still dark stained, but the hamon is sometimes visible in clear places. The sword/naginata still needs a professional polish, there is no way around that. And if the surface is not smooth and the pitting is worse, the above will make it look terrible.

[Stephen]

Sooo happy for you Brian, after all these years looking for you to have you find in your back yard so to speak. Great karma....going to be spectacular when finished.

[Brian]

Just a few more pics. I think I'm at a point where it will now have to wait for a professional oneday. But it's all stable.
I think these pics came out ok to show how nicely the maker used the horimono to represent the bo hi and soe hi.

   

 

[Mark S.]

I tried to do a quick search but was unsuccessful… has there ever been a thread discussing how a polisher treats/polishes horimono?  Special techniques, stones and tools?  I think it would be extremely interesting!  Sorry if it has already been addressed and I just didn’t try hard enough.

[Brian]

Would love to hear from @Andrew Ickeringill if he's not too busy. But I expect it would be exactly as we would imagine. With a series of small, shaped stones and a huge amount of time. The top is polished down to make it level with the surface being polished. But inside the carved areas probably burnishing rods, thin round stones etc etc.
Also love to hear from anyone who knows.

[roger dundas]

BaZZa knows him well, they are friends.

Roger j

[Jussi Ekholm]

Friend from UK sent me some very old issues of Tōken Bijutsu for my collection and while going through them I found something very interesting for this thread in magazine number 101.

 

Naginata by Echizen smith Sadakuni was featured as one of the kantei session items. It has very similar horimono to the one in this thread. Unfortunately my Japanese language knowledge is not up to par yet but I think the final sentence / 梅の彫も越前物である would mean that this type of plum horimono was made in Echizen.

[Brian]

Jussi, once again you prove what a treasure you are!
Thank you very much!
That is exactly the horimono. Both sides. And the hamon is very similar. I swear there is a connection between these smiths. Love to get a bit more translation of that article.

[Walter55]

Congratulations Brian, very very beautiful naginata, rare piece.

 

Walter, Italy

[Todd762]

Even in its current state it is very appealing to me and the horimono is fantastic. Buds to blossoms from the trunk of the tree.  Congrats on obtaining it 

[Soshin]

Congratulations Brian!   Great to hear you found something local in South Africa that was on your "bucket list" as a collector of Japanese swords.