Massive Shinto or Shinshinto Ken

[ChrisW]

Hey guys,

 

Been a while since I've posted a new acquisition, but this one has me excited and its not something you see every day. I acquired it at the recent Chicago show and got it in a trade deal.

 

I've put it in front of several people at the show, including Bob Benson. He seemed to really like it and told me how he could properly bring out the hada even more than it is already so this one is going to Bob for work eventually. His opinion was that it was late Shinto/Shinshinto. Bob did note that someone had messed with the nakago in an attempt to make it look older but he believes it would be easy to remedy and properly repatinate.

It is a massive 29" nagasa with a VERY active hamon and mokume hada. There is kinsuji, inazuma, nie and nioe present. This piece feels like it was made to show off the smith's skills yet is mumei which leads me to believe that this was a temple offering piece.

 

I am welcome to opinions on school and smith. My blind guess is perhaps Mino, but ken are so poorly researched that it is really anyone's guess. Without further ado, here you all go!

(If you want to see it in person, DM me and I'll get you the information for the next ITK meeting which is this next Saturday.)

The first picture shows my two other ken for reference to scale since I neglected to lay a tape down with it. The top one is a Yamato den, and the bottom is Bungo Yukihira (1199-1206).

 

 

[ChrisW]

Here are some photos of the activity:

[ChrisW]

And a few more:

[ChrisW]

Any opinions out there? Much appreciated!

[O koumori]

In my opinion, it's really nice!

Dan K

[YourBabyBjornBorg]

A Ken in late Edo and in this length!

 

This is such a rare and intriguing piece, thank you for sharing its pictures.

 

It definitely looks like Shinshinto IMHO.

 

The current polishing is already good enough albeit a little old, but I'm very excited to see how Mr. Benson would work his magic to awaken this Ken with a new polishing.

 

 

Thank you again for letting me see this marvelous Ken!

[Rivkin]

Shinshinto but I would not completely discount Showa.

[Maruceau]

Hey Chris, I remember you showing this piece (and several other nice blades) to me in person during the Chicago Sword Show. It was great to meet you and hear you passionately talk about your new acquisition.

[ChrisW]

1 hour ago, Maruceau said:

Hey Chris, I remember you showing this piece (and several other nice blades) to me in person during the Chicago Sword Show. It was great to meet you and hear you passionately talk about your new acquisition.

 

It was great meeting you Marco! I hope to see you again at the next Chicago show. I'll be sure to have some more interesting pieces by then as well.

 

7 hours ago, YourBabyBjornBorg said:

A Ken in late Edo and in this length!

 

This is such a rare and intriguing piece, thank you for sharing its pictures.

 

It definitely looks like Shinshinto IMHO.

 

The current polishing is already good enough albeit a little old, but I'm very excited to see how Mr. Benson would work his magic to awaken this Ken with a new polishing.

 

 

Thank you again for letting me see this marvelous Ken!

 

 

Ah, you're one of Coco's friends, are you not?


Both of you, welcome to the board!

[YourBabyBjornBorg]

Yes, and thank you kindly! This is such a nice place to learn about Nihonto, I wish I had joined here sooner.

[ChrisW]

55 minutes ago, YourBabyBjornBorg said:

Yes, and thank you kindly! This is such a nice place to learn about Nihonto, I wish I had joined here sooner.

There's a wealth of knowledge here, enjoy!