Yoroi-doshi question

[katonk66]

Hello everyone. I have a question on the yoroi-doshi tantos: I do realize it's the mune that is thick, but has anyone seen shorter length ones...as in 6.75 inches (nagasa)?

[Ed Harbulak]

Hi Henry, I once had a Yoroi-doshi tanto that had a nagasa of 6.47 inches or 16.4 cm. The moto kasane was 0.340 inches or 8.6 cm. It was signed Omi (no) Kami TsuguHira Tsukuru. The mei did not appear to be that of the first two members of this family, but the workmanship of the nakago certainly matched that of this family of smiths. I was never able to find a match for the mei and assumed the blade was signed by a later generation.  So, yes, shorter yoroi-doshi tanto do exist.

[katonk66]

21 hours ago, katonk66 said:

Hello everyone. I have a question on the yoroi-doshi tantos: I do realize it's the mune that is thick, but has anyone seen shorter length ones...as in 6.75 inches (nagasa)?

I did notice that with some tantos I've seen for sale. Setting aside the possibilities of them being a problematic gimei, some of the signatures I saw didn't really match up with the age of the blade...appearance-wise. 

[Toryu2020]

Hnery - do you mean the shape (Yoroi-doshi) suggests an older piece while the signature seems newer?

[katonk66]

12 hours ago, Toryu2020 said:

Hnery - do you mean the shape (Yoroi-doshi) suggests an older piece while the signature seems newer?

Yes, basically

[Toryu2020]

SO Yoroi-doshi became a thing in the late Muromachi and you would expect that most would be from that era - however in the Shinshin-to period shapes of all kinds were recreated so it should be no surprise if we find an ancient shape by a more recent artist. Does that make sense? Are we talking about a particular sword?