For Sale: 1938 Special Order Maeda Family sword

[Eric Santucci]

Greetings NMB,

 

Cross-posting the sword I have for sale on Ebay here. I’ve actually had fairly good experiences with Ebay transactions recently (which is surprising); albeit this particular piece that been slow moving. I’ve had few, descent Best Offers thru Ebay, but I could not accept due to total fees and taxes charged afterwards.

 

I purchased this sword from a reputable Nihonto dealer that is active on this forum a few years ago and original price paid was $2500+shipping.

 

As such, I am offering this piece well below my purchase price with some additional price incentives when purchased thru the NMB here.

 

-NMB price is $1,800 with Free Shipping

-I will cover PayPal fees if you want to pay as a transaction, although Friends and Family is preferred.  

-Since you are paying here and not Ebay, that means no taxes charged saving you more money.

-Upon successful sale I will donate $50 to Brian/NMB.

 

Please PM me for any questions or interest.  I’m only shipping within CONUS for this sword. By the way, I do have another rather nice sword (special order Shibata Ka I will be listing here in the months ahead as well).

 

My Ebay sale link (for picture reference, etc.): https://www.ebay.com...r=artemis&media=COPY

 

Description and Details:

Special order sword for the Maeda Family made by the Showa period smith Morimichi.

This is quite a hefty and imposing sword. It measures 26 and 3/4 inches blade length (nagasa) . At its widest part, it is 1 and 1/4 inches and the width of the mune (spine) at its widest is 1/4 inch. Weight of the blade is 2lbs, 2oz.

 

The kanji on the nakago (tang) states it was made for a member of the Maeda family and it is dated a lucky day in May 1938. It has beautifully accomplished kesho yasuramei (file marks) on the nakago (tang).

 

The sword’s inscription further states it is made with anti-rust steel from Japan Special Steel Co., Ltd. (Nihon Tokushu Hagane Kaisha)

Morimichi’s mei (signature) is followed by his engraved kakihan on the nakago (tang). Kakihan are somewhat like a personal symbol that swordsmiths used.

 

The blade has a beautifully executed horimono in kanji of “Yamato Damashii”. This essentially translates to “the soul/spirit of old Japan”.

 

The hada (grain) has the appearance of a finer grain ko-itame and great care is evident in the overall forging process. The hamon is suguha.

 

The shirasaya is made by John Tirado (one of the top makers of Japanese shirasaya in the US) and has a very nice copper habaki covered in a silver foil with pattern.

 

The blade does have blemishes, scratches, and scuffing as shown in the pictures. There are no disceranble flaws (kizu). 

 

Comes with beautiful shirasaya bag as pictured.

 

[Eric Santucci]

More pics for here.

[Eric Santucci]

Horimono - Yamato Damashii” “the soul/spirit of old Japan”.

[waljamada]

With this blade using the anti rust steel, is it similar to the arsenal anti rust naval blades in that the hamon is cosmetic and no real visible hada?  Or was it made with traditional methods and just an untraditional steel?  You say it has a visible hada etc...? 

[Eric Santucci]

I am not aware of the historical details of these experimental steel swords compared to the anti-rust; it is not really my area of expertise, since my focus has always been on traditional pieces. When I purchased it, the hada was described by the dealer selling it as tight ko-itame and it does look as such to me on close observation. I’ve seen Japanese style monosteel blades (e.g. Howard Clark’s L6) give the appearance of fine itame even though it is monosteel. Keep in mind the surface has a lot of scratches, blemishes as well so that can obscure appearance.

 

For most, I would think the appeal of this piece is the history contained within the nakago and the nice looking horimono. It was obviously a very special request by the Maeda family when originally ordered. This may appeal more to militaria collectors rather than Nihonto collectors though.

[Eric Santucci]

By the way, I will accept reasonable offers on this sword and still uphold free shipping, cover Paypal fees, and donate to the NMB too.
 

Feel free to reach out, just be kind! 😁

[mecox]

Eric, an anti-rust blade, but still quite interesting.  Especially of interest it is pre-WW2 and 1938 at a time when there was experimental work into different steel for sword blades for military use.  A leader in this was Fujiwara Eijiro Kanenaga (1887-1943) originally trained in Seki but went on to develop/work with anti-rust steel.  He was in my opinion a brilliant metal artist as well as swordsmith (see in NMB Downloads Naval Swords #1).  Kanenaga also worked at Tenshozan Tanrenjo in Kamakura (that produced for the Navy).  There were other tosho working there in development as well.  Not confirmed, and  although your Morimichi (守道）does not appear in any records I can find, there is a good chance he worked there also.  Very similar work to Kanenaga, similar style artistic mei and the same metal and very nicely made with good detail. This anti-rust steel was early on called "Fusabiko" or probably on yours "Fuseiko", but the term used later was "Taiseiko". 

As noted, your blade has "Motte Nihon Tokushu Hagane Kaisha Fuseiko Kore Saku   Morimichi    kakihan"   (Morimichi made this using Japan Special Steel Company anti-rust steel).   On reverse:

"Made for Maeda Shi"  with date of Showa 13 (1938) 5th month (May). 

Interesting to find another example in Fuller & Gregory (1983)  "Motte Nippon Tokushu Hagane Kore Saku    Morimichi   kakihan"    (maybe can read as,  Morimichi made this using Japan Special steel).   The date is Showa 13 (1938) 8th month (August).  With a name "Mitani Sadatoshi"  神谷 貞利  presumably the person who ordered it.  But as I note, this is a possibility and not confirmed.  Also they are likely to have been mounted as kaigunto.

 

         

[Eric Santucci]

Greetings Mal, many thanks for these details; this is fantastic information! The relationship with Kanenaga was something that another forum member and I were discussing over messages as well due to the similiarities noted.

 

Very fascinating information and thank you very much for taking the time to post these details and the additional details on the nakago of my sword, I greatly appreciate all of this and enjoyed reading it!

 

 

[Eric Santucci]

On hold, pending payment

[Eric Santucci]

Sold

[Eric Santucci]

And finally,…NMB donation $50 sent as promised, thanks all!  (Cc @Brian)

[Brian]

Thanks @Eric Santucci, greatly appreciated.

[Eric Santucci]

@admins - this thread can be archived now. Many thanks!