Shugyosha Posted January 22 Report Posted January 22 Hi Stefano, On the kozuka: 吉岡因幡介 - Yoshioka Inaba (no) Suke On the kogatana: 河内守国助 - Kawachi (no) kami Kunisuke 1 Quote
sc72 Posted January 22 Author Report Posted January 22 Thank you very much, since the signatures are both on the kozuka I have to assume that the blade and handle of it have two different smiths... due to modern reassembly or did this thing happen at the time too? Quote
Shugyosha Posted January 22 Report Posted January 22 No problem at all. The signatures on the blades of kogatana are normally not those of the smith that made them - for some reason there was a thing about putting the names of famous swordsmiths on these little blades and it's the accepted thing that the signatures are not very often those of the maker. The kozuka would have been made by one of the sword fittings artists working in soft metals rather than a swordsmith and it is absolutely normal for the two pieces to be made by different craftsmen and put together - it could have been done when the fittings were made or recently by a dealer wishing to make up the set. 1 Quote
sc72 Posted January 22 Author Report Posted January 22 thanks for the clarification. anyway the two names (of the two signatures) are of two families or "generations" of famous smiths but always in the Edo period...so the koshirae that includes the kozuka...is confirmed to be Edo. I ask if there were handles for tanto knives but without the 2 menuki under the ribbon weave. If they are not there these 2 are lost or may never have been there Quote
Shugyosha Posted January 22 Report Posted January 22 2 hours ago, sc72 said: thanks for the clarification. anyway the two names (of the two signatures) are of two families or "generations" of famous smiths but always in the Edo period...so the koshirae that includes the kozuka...is confirmed to be Edo. I ask if there were handles for tanto knives but without the 2 menuki under the ribbon weave. If they are not there these 2 are lost or may never have been there I would say that might be flawed reasoning: it is possible that the other parts of the koshirae (or some of those parts) are modern - it isn't unusual for antique metal fittings to be added to a modern saya for example. I'm sorry Stefano, I'm not sure what you're saying with the part in bold? Quote
Geraint Posted January 22 Report Posted January 22 Dear Stefano. To answer what might be part of your question, the smith who made the kogtana, the blade, is almost always a different person to the one who made the kodzuka. Different crafts - different makers. Both kodzuka and kogatana are often swapped and or replaced, for example I have a wakizashi which came without either and I have added them since. It would be impossible to say when this was done or to get the period of the koshirae as a result, after all it is quite common to find a sword mounted with a much earlier tsuba or a late koshirae made with earlier pieces. If your question in bold is what I think then there are styles of mounting without menuki. If the silk ito looks original then you might see some slack if menuki have been lost or the remains of some adhesive if they were fixed outside the wrap. A photograph of the tsuka would help us. All the best 1 Quote
sc72 Posted January 22 Author Report Posted January 22 Thanks for the clarification on the different craftsmen between the blade and the handle of the kozuka. As for the handle, it doesn't seem to be in the photo that it is loosened by having lost the two menuki... but it could have been re-done without putting them... I was curious if they know about "tanto" (that are not long swords) born without menuki. Quote
Brian Posted January 22 Report Posted January 22 If you are talking about the 2 items above, there is no such thing as menuki for it. It's not a tanto. The blades/kogatana are a loose fit, and are usually "glued" in with pine pitch etc. But it's normal to have a loose fit, it is only in there by friction. 1 1 Quote
sc72 Posted January 22 Author Report Posted January 22 I was talking about a tanto not his little kozuka (of which I asked for the translation of 2 writings before). I have a tanto coming whose saya has the kozuka, but the tanto's handle does not have the 2 menuki. I think it was re-done without putting the menuki, but I was wondering if there are tanto that are born without menuki Quote
sc72 Posted January 22 Author Report Posted January 22 If this tanto arrive as I hope, maybe I'll present it on the forum 1 Quote
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