Athanasios Koumantos Posted January 28 Report Posted January 28 I recently bought this mumei wakizashi from an auction house in Belgium. It was listed as a Shin-shinto blade. I tried to scan it as best as I could. Is it possible for anyone more knowledgeable than me to identify it, or offer any clues? Thank you! 1 Quote
Shugyosha Posted January 28 Report Posted January 28 Hi Athanasios, Welcome to the forum. Unfortunately, (and I don't mean to be dismissive, so please don't take offence) you might already know as much about the blade as you are going to. The problem with shinshinto, and to some extent shinto, blades is that they often lack any distinguishing characteristics that can help to place them geographically or within a particular school so it is going to be difficult to tell you much more about an unsigned blade from this timeframe than you already know. If it helps, there's nothing there that suggests that it is anything other than as described so you at least have the genuine article. Did it come with any kind of scabbard or other fittings? The habaki looks like it is better quality than normal so that is encouraging as someone thought enough about it to give it more than a basic outfit and I find the overall shape quite graceful and easy on the eye which is not the case with all blades from this period so I think that those are positive points. What might help when you have a moment is if you are able to take some photographs of the blade as scanned images tend to obscure details. If you are able to do that in a darkened room with a single point of light, place the blade on something soft and on a flat surface and you will be able to move the blade around in the light to reveal the details that are there. If you are able to post some pictures of the detail in the hamon, hada and boshi you may get some better comments. Apologies for not being more helpful and, once again, welcome to NMB and this fascinating hobby and congratulations on your new blade. 4 Quote
Alex A Posted January 28 Report Posted January 28 What John said. Though with what you say and what we see, my first thought was something like Jumyo. 1 Quote
Athanasios Koumantos Posted January 28 Author Report Posted January 28 Thanks to everyone for your thoughtful comments! I will try to take more detailed photos, and post them. 1 Quote
Athanasios Koumantos Posted January 28 Author Report Posted January 28 The blade came in a shirasaya. Blade length 48.5 cm, width at base 2.8 cm, width at tip 1.9 cm, thickness at base 6.0 mm, thickness at tip 4.6 mm. Here are some better (hopefully) photographs. https://imagizer.ima...g924/4499/8eaZAm.jpg https://imagizer.ima...g923/1138/TZCFjv.jpg https://imagizer.ima...g923/2822/lEgr8B.jpg https://imagizer.ima...g924/8703/YkoE1H.jpg https://imagizer.ima...g924/7188/UKCKtH.jpg https://imagizer.ima...mg924/236/hQYbEE.jpg https://imagizer.ima...g924/9100/VhHEEC.jpg https://imagizer.ima...g922/5783/rwhkvJ.jpg 1 Quote
oli Posted January 28 Report Posted January 28 you schould also make some photos of the boshi, mabe this helps. Where are some nice books in english for shinshinto: shinshinto-shi and shinto/shinshinto kantei both from Markus Sesko. 1 Quote
ROKUJURO Posted January 28 Report Posted January 28 Athanasios, SHINSHINTO blades are usually signed by the smith, so there is the question why this one is not. Another question is who told you it is SHINSHINTO? The SUGATA with very little SORI could also mean early SHINTO (KANBUN JIDAI). To get closer to this question of time range, very good photos of the NAKAGO (without HABAKI), made from above (not at an angle), with a dark, non-reflective background, and shown as cut-outs, would help to see more of the patina of the NAKAGO. The KISSAKI photos are not so good, so some better ones (taken as described above) would probably help. If possible, upload the photos here on NMB. 2 Quote
vajo Posted January 28 Report Posted January 28 Looks like an intersting mumei waki. Could be echizen shinto. 1 Quote
2devnul Posted January 30 Report Posted January 30 On 1/28/2025 at 8:44 PM, vajo said: Could be echizen shinto. Yeah, reminds me Shinto Echizen Seki I own. They also come quiet often as Mumei AFAIK. Quote
Alex A Posted January 31 Report Posted January 31 On 1/28/2025 at 5:57 PM, ROKUJURO said: Athanasios, SHINSHINTO blades are usually signed by the smith, so there is the question why this one is not. Disagree with that one Jean, there are tons of unsigned Shinshinto blades. Quote
ROKUJURO Posted January 31 Report Posted January 31 I know Alex, there are some, I have one of my own. But what is the reason they were not signed? Quote
Alex A Posted January 31 Report Posted January 31 Lots of reasons, Jean. There was a thread on this subject years ago. A smith may make two swords for a customer, one gets chosen, the other sold off unsigned. Just one example of many. A forge was often overstocked and swords just sold off, as is, for one reason or another. Heard stories of modern forges being overstocked, swords at varying states of completion. Signing swords wasn't always top of the priority list, swords being signed was not always a necessity for anyone buying a sword Quote
Athanasios Koumantos Posted February 24 Author Report Posted February 24 I apologize for the delay, here are some pics of the boshi. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.