Please help with this Mei. Thank you!

[Felipe]

I think the first 3 on the Mei are Etchu no Kuni. The last two could be Norishige. I think I see Ju in the middle...

The other photo might be a date. (Hopefully a messy Bumpo). I see Ni and maybe Gatsu... I guess I won't be applying to the U.N. as a translator... Haha...

 

Thanks for your help.

[Felipe]

Sorry, I didn't seem to upload the photos correctly...

[Felipe]

Sorry folks. I seem to be having trouble here.

 

http://www.geocities.com/ppavlich1959/nakago1_contrast1.jpg

 

http://www.geocities.com/ppavlich1959/nakago2light2_contrast1.jpg

 

I think after you open each photo you can click down at the bottom of it and it will enlarge to regular size and you can scroll down to see it. My attachments earlier didn't seem to work. Must have been a size issue. Sorry guys. By the way, I increased the contrast in photoshop to make it a bit easier to read the kanji.

[Felipe]

Here's more...

The Habaki...

 

[Nobody]

The mei was hard to read if I had not known background information. If the mei was intended to be connected to the famous Norishige of Koto Saijosaku, the expected reading for the inscription may be as follows;

 

越中国婦負郡御服住佐伯則重 (Etchu no kuni Nei-gun Gofuku ju Saeki Norishige)

元応二年八月日 (Gen’o ni nen hachi gatsu hi) – a day in the 8th month of 1320

 

However; I am a little confused because of the following reasons.

- Several characters on the nakago do not look like above expected characters (such as 御(or 郷?), 服, 伯).

- I am unsure that a blade with such a long mei of the BIG Norishige still exists.

[reinhard]

The habaki says it all.

 

reinhard

[Felipe]

Yeah, the habaki looks a bit strange. I'm not sure if its original to the blade. I got this from a big auction house in San Francisco. This was the description...

 

Rare Early 14th-Century Japanese Nihonto

30-1/2" blade, circa early 14th Century, with visible temper line and engraved characters on left side. Tang signed with long signature (Etchu ... Nori Shige). Silver ferrule engraved with characters and wave motifs, pierced oval iron tsuba with figural motifs, 12" rayskin grip with light sienna cord wrap and fine dragon, menuki and engraved kashira. Maroon lacquered wooden saya with single mount. Contained in associated purple and gold brocade bag with braided purple cord wrap and tassels. Overall length: 47"

Condition: Very good. Blade fine with only light wear present. Minor polish. Grip with moderate wear to cord wrap. Saya with stable hairline crack and minor wear overall.

 

I am very thankful that you folks have taken your time to look at this for me. I'm having fun collecting and trying to learn about the history of the blades. Its all very fascinating. I have a few other photos of the nice grain of the metal which I'll post in a while. I need to make the files smaller.

[reinhard]

Felipe,

Etchu NORISHIGE is one of the greatest names in the history of Japanese swordmaking. His blades don't pop up just like that once in a while. If one of his blades with full naga-mei existed, it would have been a treasure four hundred years ago, well documented and stored in fittings appropriate to its value. - Your sword is a rather naive and therefore old forgery. You better focus on the blade itself and forget about the mei. - BTW the one pic of mei including name and province is a composition of different fragments. When checking mei, it is desirable to get pics of nakago taken as one shot and depicting the entire nakago. Thanks.

 

reinhard

[Felipe]

Thanks Reinhard. From what I've read, I think you're right about the authenticity of the mei... That would be something else to actually have an original. And you're right about focusing on the blade. I wonder how old it actually is...

I took those photos with my 180mm macro lens and had to piece them together. Next time I'll use a different lens, or back away about 15' to get the whole nakago... Thanks for the insight.