Butch Posted October 17 Report Posted October 17 Recently had a call from a dealer who informed me he had purchased from the family of the soldier who had fetched this sword back from Burma .. It as never been on the market and came complete with its original leather field covers for the saya and Tsuka plus the original sword knot and leather sword hanger plus its original leather foul weather cover .. Waiting for the soldiers personnel papers to come which also includes his pay book plus some badges … the Tsuka cover was gently removed to remove it to read the tang .. which does reveal a long inscription which dates the sword to a day in August 1863 the blade as hardly any bend to it and is in good original polish plus the sword also came with a Mon attached which I believe is to the Matsukawa clan … I have been informed by a good friend the the smith is Kunimasa.. Any more information regarding this sword would be greatly appreciated . Many thanks Gareth 4 1 Quote
Butch Posted October 17 Author Report Posted October 17 All fittings are stamped 24 plus the tsuba as a small makers stamp 1 Quote
PNSSHOGUN Posted October 17 Report Posted October 17 Fantastic find, look forward to hearing more about the officers. The stamp is for Suya Shoten. Quote
Butch Posted October 17 Author Report Posted October 17 Thanks for the comment I know the soldier who fetched it back was a Warrant Office .. The sword has that been there feeling but the blade is in excellent old polish .. Like I said a total time warp piece Quote
Butch Posted October 17 Author Report Posted October 17 Under the cover which has not been seen since the cover was fitted all those years ago 7 Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted October 17 Report Posted October 17 @Ray Singer or @SteveM sometimes watch the Military forum, but the majority of them hang out on the Translation Assistance forum. That shop stamp isn't struck very well, so I can see how it resembles a Suya stamp. They marked their tsuba with the cutting edge down. But I think it's actually the Yamamoto Gunto Shop, which marked them with cutting edge up: 3 Quote
Shugyosha Posted October 17 Report Posted October 17 Hi Gareth, Looks like a great find. I've had a bit of a play and come up with: 以囗囗盛岡住山内藤原国多作 Motte ... Morioka ju Yamauchi Fujiwara Kunimasa saku with the red squares being the kanji I couldn't make out. "Motte" = by means of and the following kanji often refer to steel from a particular source or a particular forging method. After that I believe there is a reference to the where the smith was living when he made the sword "Morioka". The "Oka" doesn't look quite right so Ray or one of the other brighter lights might be able to chip in on that and then the smith's names - Yamauchi Fujiwara Kunimasa and then saku for "made [this]". He's certainly not a smith well known to the internet - this form of "Masa" is quite rare and I had thought that it would show up in an Google search but I found no smith signing this way...but better researchers are also available... 2 Quote
Butch Posted October 17 Author Report Posted October 17 Thanks John just posted it on the translation section .. Can only guess what these stains are if this sword could only talk !!!! not sure on the sword bag that came with it being a type of heavy duty cotton … Gareth 1 1 Quote
vajo Posted October 17 Report Posted October 17 Nice find. Is there a canvas sheet for the saya under the saya leather? Quote
Butch Posted October 17 Author Report Posted October 17 Thanks John just posted it on the translation section .. Can only guess what these stains are if this sword could only talk !!!! not sure on the sword bag that came with it being a type of heavy duty cotton … Gareth 1 Quote
Butch Posted October 17 Author Report Posted October 17 Vajo yes the wood covered saya has a hessian covering with a shrunk fit leather covering .. 1 Quote
Ray Singer Posted October 17 Report Posted October 17 Perhaps 以餅鐵盛岡住山内藤源國多作 - Motte Mochitetsu Morioka ju Yamauchi Fujiwara Kunikazu saku 6 1 Quote
BANGBANGSAN Posted October 17 Report Posted October 17 以餅鐵 Motte Mochi Tetsu (Using Mochi Iron) 盛岡住 Morioka ju 山內 Yamauchi 藤原國多作 Fujiwara Kunimasa Saku 8 hours ago, Shugyosha said: I've had a bit of a play and come up with: 以囗囗盛岡住山内藤原国多作 Motte ... Morioka ju Yamauchi Fujiwara Kunimasa saku with the red squares being the kanji I couldn't make out. 2 Quote
PNSSHOGUN Posted October 18 Report Posted October 18 10 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said: @Ray Singer or @SteveM sometimes watch the Military forum, but the majority of them hang out on the Translation Assistance forum. That shop stamp isn't struck very well, so I can see how it resembles a Suya stamp. They marked their tsuba with the cutting edge down. But I think it's actually the Yamamoto Gunto Shop, which marked them with cutting edge up: You may be right, however it doesn't look like the Yamamoto shop icon either. Perhaps another shop entirely? 3 Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted October 18 Report Posted October 18 Yes, that is certainly possible. Not struck well enough to tell. Quote
ROKUJURO Posted October 19 Report Posted October 19 Gareth, making good photos of swords isn't easy and takes a lot of experience. Try to post images that are: - well focused, not foggy or blurry - made with a dark, non reflective background for good contrast - made with light from the side (may not apply for HAMON photos) - made directly from above (not at an angle) - made with correct orientation (vertically tip-upwards, especially NAKAGO photos and TSUBA) - without HABAKI but showing the MACHI and NAKAGO JIRI - made in high resolution to see details - showing details (in magnification) like BOSHI, HAMACHI, HAMON, HADA, NAKAGO JIRI etc. or the fine work on TSUBA - presented as cut-outs so very little background is shown If you cannot provide good photos (..."these photos are all I have from the dealer...."/..."I do not have a good camera but only an old mobile phone...." ), DO NOT POST BAD ONES. They will not be helpful. 1 Quote
Butch Posted October 20 Author Report Posted October 20 I’m sorry my pics are not up to scratch but having moved in to look after my father this is the best I can do .., But I was wondering if anyone could give some idea when the blade joined its military fittings … Would I be correct in thinking mid 1930s? Many thanks Gareth 1 Quote
Kiipu Posted October 20 Report Posted October 20 Gareth, pics are good enough for government work! The fittings are good quality and would possibility date from 1934 to 1941. There was a blade shortage in the early years, so many older blades got repurposed. If a family blade was available, it got used as well. Looking forward to more of your finds! Quote
Butch Posted October 20 Author Report Posted October 20 Thank you for the reply … can’t get over the quality of the blade … Gareth Quote
Butch Posted October 22 Author Report Posted October 22 Managed to retie the cover I was lucky that the dealer took the time to gently untie the leather thread so gently and managed put it all back together …Gareth 3 Quote
Butch Posted October 22 Author Report Posted October 22 Here is another pic showing the difference in size of the Tsuka compared to a standard size one from my collection … there is a vast difference Gareth 4 1 Quote
Butch Posted October 26 Author Report Posted October 26 Finally received the bits from the dealer who asked the family if there was any other thing they had . So the Warrant Officer name was John Leslie Beech who enlisted in the Grenadier Guards in 1934 and who later transferred to the Corps of Military Police there is something in his pay book from 1944 but as been blacked out …so I assume he was in Burma ? The flag is well worn like the other items that came with the sword and the colours of the flag as run due to water damage causing it to have some interesting patterns to it .. The flag is named to a Mr Higashi Hideo 3 1 Quote
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