Iga no kami Kinmichi (hopefully) Itomaki no Tachi.

[Matsunoki]

Please can I ask for your help in both verifying whether I’ve got the Mei correct and if it looks genuine? I’m guessing a late generation …maybe 9th…but I have no reference books (that I can read) that are helpful except good old Hawley!

The blade is deliberately forged very slim and elegant with probably the  original polish (now degraded). The hada where visible looks a densely forged itame perhaps with some wandering masame. The suguha hamon is in nioi with a bright crisp nioi guchi. Komaru suguha boshi. There are no nie visible anywhere. The shinogi is slightly high.

Nihon Kaji Sosho Iga no Kami Fujiwara Kinmichi. Dated Tenbo 2 Feb.(1831)

Some images have been manipulated to highlight detail. The nakago has a consistent even dark patina.

Koshirae look Bakumatsu period with very rich gilding and a super saya with Kiku and swastika mon.

Nagasa 70cm

Motohaba 2.55cm

Sakihaba 1.7cm

Motokasane 6mm

Sakikasane 4.3mm

Edited November 4, 2022 by Matsunoki
Typo

[Matsunoki]

[SteveM]

Maybe one of the generations before the 9th, since the 9th received the title Iga-no-kami in Tenpō 6.

I can't find any 8th (or 9th) gen samples to compare. 

Love the koshirae. 

 

Note it looks like Aoi (hollyhock) mon, not chrysanthemum.

Some people are sensitive about calling the other motif a swastika, and we usually call it a "manji". It isn't a Nazi symbol, rather its an ancient Buddhist symbol (typically facing the opposite direction to the swastika of the third reich. Its commonly found on temples in Japan.

[Matsunoki]

Hello Steve, 

Many thanks for again taking the time and trouble to help me

Firstly, I apologise unreservedly if I have offended anyone by using the term swastika. I was aware that it is an ancient Buddhist symbol……just didn’t know what it was called in relation to Mon. 
As for calling an Aoi mon a Kiku mon, we’ll put that down to age!! Sometimes my fingers type what my brain isn’t saying. How embarrassing. 

The sugata looks a little like a  Heian style to me ….or am I off target? Slender, light,  elegant, ko-kissaki, quenched only in nioi??

All opinions welcome.

All the best. Colin

[SteveM]

It could be a kind of Heian or Nambokuchō revival. Its dressed up as a tachi, but the signature is signed like a katana, so it might just be a long sword that somebody outfitted with tachi koshirae. I don't have any information on the latter Kinmichi smiths, so I don't know if they made swords in the older styles, but the timing seems right. 

 

It really is a remarkable koshirae. That would have been quite expensive to have made. 

 

 

[Matsunoki]

19 minutes ago, SteveM said:

Its dressed up as a tachi, but the signature is signed like a katana, so it might just be a long sword that somebody outfitted with tachi koshirae.

I think it was fairly common for Samurai of sufficient rank and wealth during this period to have multiple koshirae for a single blade? Maybe normal Katana mounts for “everyday” and flashy Tachi mounts for parading around Court in, especially if it was a favoured blade. The metalwork on this one is the most richly gilded that I’ve seen. Apart  from some wear to the highlights you could mistake it for solid high carat gold. Maybe somewhere there is a lovely katana koshirae wondering where it’s blade is?

[Jacques D.]

4 hours ago, SteveM said:

It could be a kind of Heian or Nambokuchō revival. Its dressed up as a tachi, but the signature is signed like a katana, so it might just be a long sword that somebody outfitted with tachi koshirae. I don't have any information on the latter Kinmichi smiths, so I don't know if they made swords in the older styles, but the timing seems right. 

 

It really is a remarkable koshirae. That would have been quite expensive to have made. 

 

 

70 cm nagasa only..

[Matsunoki]

13 hours ago, Jacques D. said:

70 cm nagasa only..

Jacques

This is a polite request…….please do not post any comments on any topics that I start. 
Colin
 

[Jacques D.]

6 hours ago, Matsunoki said:

Jacques

This is a polite request…….please do not post any comments on any topics that I start. 
Colin
 

I wasn't talking to you.

[Matsunoki]

56 minutes ago, Jacques D. said:

wasn't talking to you.

I’m asking in a civil way….I post  on this forum asking for help and many decent members have kindly helped me. If you start an argument with them on my topic you will likely deter them from participating.

I am talking to you…..please do not post on my topics.

Thank you.

 Colin

[PNSSHOGUN]

Colin, there is an ignore feature that is more civil and discreet:

 

[drbvac]

Thanks for that John - I wasn;t aware of the function and it is certainly easier than getting into a pissing match with someone who loves to get into a discussion that is unrelated to the topic at hand.  Maybe not as viscerally satisfying as telling the SFU but less stressful and quicker 

[Matsunoki]

7 hours ago, PNSSHOGUN said:

Colin, there is an ignore feature that is more civil and discreet:

Thanks John. Great shame it has to come to this on a forum like this one. I can understand it on Facebook et al but on here we are supposedly likeminded enthusiasts intent on helping each other and enjoying our chosen subjects.
 

Brian, 

Please can you you tell me…does the ignore feature actually stop someone’s replies from appearing on a post in totality or does it mean that it’s just me that cannot see them…..but everyone else can?

Atb. Colin

[Brian]

Like all forums everywhere, you don't see their posts. Everyone else can.