Picked up today

[Butch]

A dealer friend contacted me to say he had picked up a sword in a deal ...

He is mainly a medal dealer so today I went to see him.

The sword is in excellent condition and the steel Saya as a brown leather combat cover .

The fittings are totally untouched the tsuba is the cut out example and stamped the number 8 the fittings are also stamped the same .

There is no identification marks of any kind on the tang only file marks.

The blade is in great polish and looks possibly to be a early oil quenched blade .

Many thanks Gareth

[Butch]

Pic2

[Butch]

[Butch]

Pic3

[Butch]

Pic4

[PNSSHOGUN]

Good early mounts with a nice leather cover. What sort of Saya finish is under the leather?

[Stephen]

I need more friends. 😉

[robinalexander]

Nice clean package Gareth 

[mecox]

Hi Gareth, thats a great looking shingunto with quality mounts (as much as I can see) and I guess saya is the same.  The blade also looks good, and as you suggest oil temper.  From hamon and nakago it looks like Seki showato.

However, to me it looks like someone has tried to make this look like an older mumei.  Close up of nakago shows the taka-no-ha yasurime changes angle a few cm from jiri.  Original filing continues up the left edge.  Also the nakago shinogi curves a bit plus becomes sharp.  A key feature looks to be  remnant strokes of a kanji (the position suggests it could be "saku" ? ).  Also, on the small pic of nakago, just above the hole, a few small lines could indicate a stamp?   The yasurime here is also redone.  This all appears to be wartime vintage.   But I am often wrong plus have not seen the sword itself.  

[Bruce Pennington]

39 minutes ago, mecox said:

Close up of nakago shows the taka-no-ha yasurime changes angle a few cm from jiri.  Original filing continues up the left edge.  Also the nakago shinogi curves a bit plus becomes sharp.  A key feature looks to be  remnant strokes of a kanji (the position suggests it could be "saku" ? ).  Also, on the small pic of nakago, just above the hole, a few small lines could indicate a stamp

Mal,

I see what you mean.  I agree, but it doesn’t look new, it looks as aged as the rest.  Do you think a shop owner might have had this done to conceal the stamp? Possibly to get more money for the sword?

[mecox]

Bruce,  who knows, but that is a likely scenario. Yes modifications do not look recent, and part of its history.  I think considering hamon and type of nakago jiro could pick several Seki toshi.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Have to agree with you Mal, no self respecting smith would've let a Nakago like that go out the door. The quality of the mounts does suggest production in the mid to late 30's.

[Butch]

Many thanks for the comments ...

When Bruce was referring to the shop owner would this have been when the sword was originally sold in the 30s?

Gareth 

[vajo]

Nice condition and fittings.

[PNSSHOGUN]

It is unlikely as one of the objectives of the stamps was to stop inferior quality blades being sold to officers during the 30's!

[lonely panet]

its had a mei removed, and the nakago redress badly. nothing good at all considering its a showato

[Bruce Pennington]

2 hours ago, PNSSHOGUN said:

It is unlikely as one of the objectives of the stamps was to stop inferior quality blades being sold to officers during the 30's!

This gets deeply into the whole question about the Sho and Seki stamping.  It has been said in one of the old interviews that sometimes the stamp was done lightly to make it easier to move later.  This observation would support the idea that the stamps only went on showato, and were there to say "This is a good quality showato."  If so, then removing the stamp would allow a shop owner to sell, falsely of course, the blade as gendaito.

[Butch]

Thanks Bruce for your comments ..

Here are some more pics ..

A big thank you to forum members for your comments 

[Butch]

Tang

[Bruce Pennington]

8 hours ago, Butch said:

Tang

Boy that first shot really shows the three different directions! I’m not a yasurime expert in the slightest.  But that doesn’t look normal to me. 

[george trotter]

Never trust anyone with a file Bruce (at laest...that's what Stephen told me)

[Bruce Pennington]

7 minutes ago, george trotter said:

Never trust anyone with a file Bruce

Sure that's how the saying goes?  I say "never trust Bruce with a file!" Ha!

[george trotter]

Ha ha..

[Anfoz]

I see what you are all saying now. So this was a signed Shawato and the Mei has totally been filed off too pass it off as an older looking Mumei.
What a shame, it looks like a nice clean sword in pretty good condition. I think I may focus on collecting showato blades to help save/protect the less loved blade.

[Bruce Pennington]

6 hours ago, Anfoz said:

looks like a nice clean sword in pretty good condition. I think I may focus on collecting showato blades to help save/protect the less loved blade.

It is!  And I love your thinking.  While we all recognize the beauty of a well-crafted nihonto, there are many of us who value every blade.  When I hold a sword in hand, I see the many lives that went into making it - The smith and his apprentices, sure, but guys spent hours of their lives mining the ore; others spent hours processing it into steel; lives were spent producing ito, same', cutting wood for saya and liners; then more lives shaping it all into gunto koshirae.  Transportation was hours of someones' lives.  Then you have the shop owner, and likely his family, and finally the buyer, young newly commissioned officer or graduated/promoted NCO.  Every one of them with stories, families, and lives.  Each gunto is a snapshot of moments of all those lives - right in our hands.

[PNSSHOGUN]

There are also some very well made Showato out there, if not for a Sho/Seki stamp you might easily think they were Gendai. It is good to have a Showato in your collection so you can recognize the various features unique to these swords.