Help Identifying Sword

[Somedutchguy]

Hi all,

 

I inherited about 13 swords from my great grandfather.  He died during WWII in The Netherlands and was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Artillery division of the Dutch Army. Most of the swords that were inherited are from the Dutch military or Indonesia,  which was a Dutch colony.  There was a letter in Dutch with the swords from my great aunt who said some had been acquired by my great great great grandfather (early 1800s, likely). This is about all the backstory I have.  The family was relatively well connected in The Netherlands.

 

I posted this sword on another general sword forum and the users believed it may be a ō-wakizashi.  Some users believe it could be a 1940s reproduction and others it many be authentic and very old. I removed the mekugi (which is a metal nail…) to inspect the nakago and there is no signatures.

 

Please find the attached set of photos.  I’d really love to find some more information about this piece, and a little more history.  Apologies in advance, my overall Nihonto knowledge is relatively low. The photos are too big to post all here directly, so there is an Imgur link below.

 

https://imgur.io/a/8GVTvKo

 

[Brian]

I think it's real....but poorly treated and messed with. I suspect it started out as a long katana, then was cut back and numerous remounting holes drilled. The mounts are a mix of old and real, and modern hobby "restoration" of the sort we see from amateurs. So mostly genuine, but a poor example.

[Somedutchguy]

Interesting. Any idea on time period? I’m not sure what to do with it, wouldn’t mind getting it into “stable” condition, a handle rewrap and throwing it on the wall.  Do you think that is worth it?

[Geraint]

Dear Nikolai.

 

Welcome to NMB.  While this may not be a great sword it needs relatively little to turn it into an attractive memento. I would respectfully disagree with Brian that this is an amateur restoration, ditch the nail and get a chopstick to shape a new mekugi.  There is a small piece of horn missing from the slot in the scabbard, (saya), for the by knife, (kozuka).  Not hard for a skilled person to replace.  You need a pair of menuki, the ornaments that go under the hilt wrap, and a new wrap.  Probably not worth it to have the blade professionally polished, and certainly not a good idea to get anything else done to the blade, wipe with a clean cloth and some light oil several times and keep as is.

 

It is not too far off looking like a nice sword, nice to see two pairs of seppa, the washers either side of the tsuba, and all in all this will look good and be a great reminder of your family.

 

Let us know how it goes.

 

All the best.

[ROKUJURO]

Nikolai,

restored or not, please don't throw (or hang) it on the wall. This sword may have some age and deserves our respect, so please store it lying flat in a drawer and keep moisture, sunlight and children away!

 

[robinalexander]

A couple of pics for future reference.

[Somedutchguy]

thank you all for the replies.  I will work on getting it into better shape and keep everyone posted. I won’t literally throw it on a wall, don’t worry

[DoTanuki yokai]

I see prominent fumbari and the picture from the mune shows a relatively healthy blade. 
So my opinion is that this is a Shinto blade that was messed with that it looks older. 

[Somedutchguy]

11 hours ago, DoTanuki yokai said:

So my opinion is that this is a Shinto blade that was messed with that it looks older. 

It is very possible. Should I take some more pictures to help clarify?

[DoTanuki yokai]

You could try to clean the blade part (not the tang) with high % isopropyl alcohol and try to make pictures of the  Boshi and Hamon at the Hamachi. 
I don’t think we will see much in the current state of polish but you can try. 
And with pictures it is mostly wild guesses 

Apply a thin layer of oil on the blade part after making the pictures. 

 

Edit: you can try to make pictures with flash in a steep angle to the blade to make the Hamon visible. 
What I would mainly like to see is if the Hamon goes down the Nakago or not. 
example