O'Suriage Tachi Ayasugi/Masame Hada circa 1450's Gassan...OR IS IT!!??

[waljamada]

Hey All,

 

This is my most recent addition to the collection.  It is a shortened tachi that has lived a life.  I bought this one off the back of tossing a much lower offer than asking price I didn't think would be accepted....but was.  

 

It originally did catch my interest for a few reasons, one was the title of the listing: "Samurai O'Suriage Tachi Ayasugi/Masame Hada in Shirasaya circa 1450's Gassan".  Ayasugi hada is simply beautiful and the science/technique behind it's creation is intriguing/impressive....plus I don't have anything from the Gassan school.  The pictures from the listing showed some aspects that could make the listing title accurate (I do think it's muromachi era) but personally I didn't really see the Gassan.  

 

The other reason is I have found myself having a strong side interest in the different forms of swords.  This one has a solid sori and was (ato-bori yet still most interesting to me) altered with the naginata hi and therefore thinned out along the mune to make it a very light and nimble blade that could easily be wielded with one hand. 

 

Once it arrived and I got it in hand my first reaction was actually to be a bit disappointed.  It had a few more condition issues than I hoped and the "Gassan" aspects were to my eye only in some isolated areas.  It appears to me more happenstance than skilled/purposeful results from a Gassan swordsmith wielding metallurgy.   So in the end I just don't see enough for me to think Gassan or ayasugi hada. 

 

Gonna use this blade along with the Nihonto books I've been chugging through to peg some of its activities/features, which I will say, the blade does offer some neat things to look at especially in good light.  This one will also be my last, "give it the ol' go" eBay Nihonto purchase.  I'm going to stick to collector to collector, reputable dealers and sword shows going forward focusing on quality.  I also ran out of katana-kake spaces.... 

 

Here is the description of the blade from the listing:

 

A rare mid 15th century Samurai O'suriage tachi in shirasaya. Nagasa is 59.9 cm and sori is 2.3 cm displaying a deep curvature. Hada is ayasugi/masame which disappeared from swords after the Koto period. This has been polished many times but there is still considerable life in the blade. I photographed this in low light to accentuate the grain (hada) and the flash exaggerates the grain on the shinogi.  It does not show like this in hand. Ayasugi/masame swords are masterpieces of forging and much more work was invested in these than other types of Nihonto. Possibly Gassan school. This is the lightest Samurai long sword I have ever owned. A very light 365 grams, that's 0.80 lbs. It is absolutely a one handed sword and handles like a feather as it is an extremely thin blade. Shirasaya is older and very nice.  Sword is healthy in older polish.  I recieved a question earlier and will clarify that the ayasugi is on the ji. The shinogi is masame   So feel free to share any thoughts on this little blade I didn't actually think I'd own...until I did.

Here are some lackluster pictures of the blade (some I took and some from listing) and a video I took of it:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rivkin]

Unfortunately I don't see much of clear ayasugi hada here, nor is it alike to 1450s Gassan, which is relatively early since almost all of them are from 1500+. What I see is more like endulating sunagashi/kisuji/nagare within the ha area with somewhat darker jigane, bo utsuri, rough hada with some mokume, hamon in suguha/midare/gunome which tends towards ko nie (Gassan tends to be suguha or notare). I think its Fujishima, Kaga, circa 1500.

Obviously I can easily be playing fool's game here if it has NBTHK papers, but that's what I see.

Unfortunately another issue is that a lot of Muromachi production from the period looks a bit alike. You see similar things sometimes in Mino and Bizen, later in Mizuta etc.

[ChrisW]

Bring it by the Indiana Token Kai tables at the Chicago Show next year and I'll help you lighten your load! Sure, its no Gassan blade but its still an attractive enough blade in my book. It looks like a decent enough Kaga blade as Kirill says.

 

[waljamada]

Rivkin,

Thanks for the insight, looking up Fujishima Kaga I can't help but agree and see why you would think so.  Makes more sense!  This has no papers, so everything is up the the eyes of us enthusiasts.

 

Chris W,

I'll for sure stop by!  Have enough in my collection now that I might even be able to trade towards a new blade. This blade does have some charms.  Was hoping it would fit a specific koshirae I have as well and came so very close, but no cigar!