I bought this sword and I would like to know what you thinks about quality and if it possible know the period

[Sakura343]

[Ray Singer]

The mei is Tanba no kami Yoshimichi. There were a number of individuals who used this mei, and two parallel lineages in Osaka and Kyoto. I wouid recommend sending to shinsa to have the authenticity of the mei confirmed. The blade appears to be shinto, early Edo period. Don't do anything to the sword other than keeping it oiled to maintain the condition. 

[Jacques]

You can already rule out the Kyoto shodai Yoshimichi

[Sakura343]

But the signature seems authentic and the features of the sword resemble those of a blacksmith who has used the name tanba no kami yoshimichi?

[Sakura343]

And thanks for your answers

[Infinite_Wisdumb]

10 hours ago, Sakura343 said:

And thanks for your answers

I would also rule out the Shodai Osaka Yoshimichi

 

Lineages below, 

[Sakura343]

The signature in the mei is very similar, in the left is my sword, and in the right is a swor with certificate tokubetsu hozon. 

[Sakura343]

*sword

[Sakura343]

But I'm not sure

[ROKUJURO]

The KANJI characters might be the same, but the way of chiselling them is different

[dkirkpatrick]

Write your signature 5 times.  They will be slightly different but you’ll be able to see the commonalities among them (peaks, pen lifts etc).  Have your SO or friend try to copy; it will look similar but at a glance to you not the same.  Now take that eye and apply it to these and you may see what others are seeing.

[Sakura343]

I compared the families of kyoto and osaka, but neither look close enough, i'm starting to think it's gimei.

[Baba Yaga]

On 8/30/2023 at 7:45 PM, dkirkpatrick said:

Write your signature 5 times.  They will be slightly different but you’ll be able to see the commonalities among them (peaks, pen lifts etc).  Have your SO or friend try to copy; it will look similar but at a glance to you not the same.  Now take that eye and apply it to these and you may see what others are seeing.

 

Yep, I agree completely with that logic. Looks like it's close enough either to be a professional counterfeiter,  or authentic. 

[AlexiG]

I'd like to echo Jean Collin's point above. The execution of the kanji can matter a lot.

 

There is a figure in Rober Robertshaw's book on the Hizen tradition (p51 of the pdf version) that I found eye-opening with respect to the detail and deliberate action of mei placement and execution. My "take home" from that figure was that details matter, and an experienced collector can get a lot of detail from the mei. I am including the figure here, I hope I am not breaking any rules. 

 

The numbers on the bottom of the figure are the 9 generations in the main line. So from 4 kanji (they all used on occasion the five kanji signature), based on the stroke orientation, one can draw conclusion about the generation and compare that to the blade itself (which obviously should be the first thing you look at ) Mismatch between the what the blade and the mei tell you is a cause for suspicion. 

 

Best,

Alexi