Opinions please. Wakizashi in oversize Aikuchi mounts

[Matsunoki]

Hello again from the UK. 
Please could I ask your opinions on this blade? Perhaps a Merchants sword?

Apologies for poor photos…..have tried many different lights etc but this sleepy wakizashi is in a worn softly done old sashikomi polish, probably the original polish. At first when I saw the blade I though Muromachi but then the condition of the  nakago suggested shinshinto….I’m confused as usual. The gunome midare hamon has a thin crisp nioiguchi and the very dense hada looks itame from what we can see. The koshirae is quite nice imo and all en-suite shakudo nanako. The saya is marbled and with copious malachite flecks.

The blade itself is imo “as forged” ie probably never re-polished. No difference between nakago and motokasane.

Nagasa 40 cm

Motohaba 3.1 cm

Moto kasane 6mm (ie a skinny blade)

 

Thanks for looking.

All the best. Colin.

[Alex A]

Id go late Edo Colin.

[Geraint]

Dear Colin.

 

What a cracker!  I love it.  I think your Shinshinto call is a good one from the sugata, nakago and what I can see of the boshi.  Personally I have ditched the idea of a merchant's sword, unless you have documentary evidence of a sword's history and it's koshirae there really is no way of telling who carried it and, malachite flecks not withstanding, I think this is a very harmonious and attractive koshirae.

 

Thanks for sharing and enjoy!

 

All the best.

[b.hennick]

  On 5/16/2023 at 6:06 PM, Matsunoki said:

probably never re-polished. 

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Do you see ubu? Look at the sharpened edge near the habaki. If that area is not sharp then the area was not edge. If it is only dull a little and only near the Machi, the sword has not been polished many times.

[Matsunoki]

Hello again Barry

Thanks for looking. The ha is razor sharp right up to the hamachi but I am not sure what that tells us conclusively. 
All the best. Colin

[Matsunoki]

@Geraint…..thanks for your comments. It is as usual much nicer in hand, the shakudo is much “blacker” and the saya not quite as “bright”!  Re Merchants sword…..I threw that in because I could just see a flashy merchant of some wealth strutting around in a sword like this (I believe they could only wear a single short sword?). On the other hand to me it didn’t seem masculine enough for a Samurai wakizashi.  As you say though…..pure speculation. One thing that I can’t show in images is that the sword surprises you with its weight when you pick it up and the blade surprises you with its size when you withdraw it. Almost like it shouldn’t fit…..a Tardis like effect!
Thanks again. All the best. Colin

[DoTanuki yokai]

Razor sharp means the blade is not in the first polish anymore. 
The polisher leaves some more material where the edge starts so the first ~6cm are dull what increases the lifetime of a sword on the long run I think. 
How many polishes it takes untill the Ubuha is completely gone depends on different things like polisher condition or damage I would say.