Assistance request on Katana identification and validation

[dwp]

Hello Japanese sword experts.

I would like your assistance on a Katana to verify it is authentic and a 'real' gunto. Although it won't be sold, an estimate of it's value would be nice. An age of the sword would be nice also.

I have tried to attach pics of the sword for your review, but get the msg. "there was a problem uploading your file(s)"

May be some limitation on size/no. of pics i can load.  Upload failed even with one .jpg attempted.

Any suggestions?

Once i can upload the pics, any help on this sword would be very much appreciated.

dwp

[Brian]

What is the size of your pics? We don't need billboard sized pics. People don't resize anymore. Google free online image resizers and try a pic at about 800 pix wide.

[Bruce Pennington]

Also make sure the images are JPEG. Some new iPhones are using a different format for pictures.

[dwp]

Brain, thanks for the info.

I just noticed the file size and total below. got it.

 

Bruce, yes, they were all .jpg.

thanks guys.

 

dwp

[dwp]

lets see if this flies...

Is the small stamping below the pin  hole the foundry or the date or????

 

Thanks.

dwp

[Jussi Ekholm]

I think the signature is 長村清宣 - Nagamura Kiyonobu. WWII era smith. I think he is very unknown smith as I didn't find him in Seskos index. Perhaps the WWII specialized guys in here know more about him.

 

Here is a reference sword: https://www.e-sword.jp/sale/2012/1210_1094syousai.htm

[SteveM]

Should be 長村清宜 Kiyonobu (?) .... but now I'm struggling to find a reliable validation of this reading....

 

Edit: Here it is 

http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/oshigata/kiyonobu.jpg

[Bruce Pennington]

I have 2 blades on  file of Kiyonubu, one Seki stamped like this, the other with the "Tan" stamp. 

 

Dennis, could you do me a favor and measure the Seki stamp?  It should either be 3-4mm or 5-6mm.

[Bruce Pennington]

Righted the photo:

 

Nice gunto, BTW!

[Bruce Pennington]

So, here are the 3 for comparison.  All 3 are different.  As we know, the reason could be because 3 different people - the smith, an apprentice, a mei-signer (always forget the word for that!) - could have done the 3.  Or, as we know, during WWII sometimes there were multiple smiths going by the same art name.

 

[dwp]

Hi Bruce,

Sorry to take so long to get back to you on the measurement of the Seiki stamp.  Thought i had checked the "notify me on replies to this topic"-nope!

 

Attached are some pics of the stamp/scale.  I also measured it with calipers and it is about 4mm sq.

The boundary on one side is kind of vague, but that is my best measurement w/ the naked eye.

 

Do you are anyone here have a idea of value on this gunto?

I will be giving this to my son for Xmas as he has a small collection of swords and that way it will be displayed instead of locked away. 

By knowing  the value he can then decide if insuring it is worthwhile and for how much.

 

Also, any tips on care of the blade and tang to help preserve the sword as best as possible?

Any tips for displaying?  He plans on getting a glass case to display it in and to keep it from being handled.

 

Thanks to all for your assistance, time and expertise on this sword.

 

Dennis

[Bruce Pennington]

Thanks Dennis!  So it's the small Seki stamp of the Nagoya Army Arsenal inspectors.  That puts this blade in the 1943-45 timeframe.

 

A nice showato like yours, with intact leather cover, is in the range of $1,000-2,000 USD. 

 

I'm assuming there's nothing on the other side of the nakago, where a date would be?

[dwp]

Hi Bruce,

Thanks for the dating of the sword and value estimate!

Correct, when i took the handle off to get the stamp pics i checked the other side and 'nothing'.

Appreciate your time and expertise.

 

Your valuation is about what i came up with after doing some web searches and finding very similar gunto.

 

thanks very much.

 

dwp