Gendaito Masterwork(s)?

[Cookie4Monstah]

Good morning all,

 

I was wondering if there is such a thing as a gendaito masterwork from the WWII era? The variance in blade quality from this period is astounding.

 

Thanks,

Khalid

[Ron M]

There are many variations, and some amazing pieces made as well. Lots of commissioned pieces signed by smiths for private sale. They are out there!

[moriarty]

Greetings Khalid, 

 

http://www.jp-sword....s/seki/gendaito.html

I've seen lots of wonderful pieces from the top smiths on this list.

Best wishes on your search

[SwordGuyJoe]

Khalid,

Yes, there are masterpieces to be found in the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa era.  You can see this in NBTHK starting to more freely offer Tobuketsu Hozon papers to blades of these eras.  At this point, most of what I have seen are for the preeminent smiths of the time - the Gassan group, Miyairi group, Kasama and his best students, and Masamine to say just a few.  At some point, lesser known smiths that produce an exceedingly exceptional blade will be allowed to earn tokubetsu hozon - as you see in Koto, Shinto, and to a lesser extent Shin-Shinto.

 

I call this out, because it is a signal that in time, Meiji, Taisho, and Showa blades will get Juyo and further down the line likely Tokubetsu Juyo.  This is the same evolution that impacted Shin-Shinto blades.

 

Notice that when I discussed this I did not include Reiwa.  This is too early to see any tokubetsu hozon nominations in my opinion, since first the smith must pass away to be eligible and second, there has not been sufficient time to allow the smith’s reputation to solidify.  There could be some exceptions to this depending on the smith’s reputation when he passes, but that would be exceedingly few and far between.

[Jacques]

A long time ago I had a Takahashi Sadatsugu katana which is a pure marvel.

[Bryce]

G'day Khalid,

Check out the Gassan thread.

Cheers,

Bryce