bigscreen64 Posted March 17 Author Report Posted March 17 Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks, Brandon Quote
Ray Singer Posted March 17 Report Posted March 17 The mei is Izumi no kami Kunisada, the inscription used by a famous Edo period swordsmith however this does not appear to be an authentic example of his inscription. 1 1 Quote
Rivkin Posted March 17 Report Posted March 17 The writing style/nakago is very recent, can be WW2 can be later. 1 Quote
Zoglet Posted March 17 Report Posted March 17 Here's an example of a legitimate Kunisada signature Note: Oshigata comes from nihonto.com and the photograph is from samuraimuseum.jp Best Regards, Nicholas 1 1 Quote
Natichu Posted March 17 Report Posted March 17 A current auction listing for a TH wakizashi I assume is the smith in question, with a reasonably good picture of the nakago: https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2025/important-Japanese-swords-and-armour-from-the-paul-l-davidson-collection/a-wakizashi-signed-izumi-no-kami-fujiwara-kunisada 1 Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted March 17 Report Posted March 17 Don't see any Showa era Kunisada with this mei, but Sesko's list isn't always totally inclusive of the war smiths. I recommended that Brandon check with you guys as the blade seemed longer and more elegant looking that the normal war blades. 1 Quote
Ray Singer Posted March 17 Report Posted March 17 It is not uncommon to see Showa era gimei with the names of famous Shinto smiths. I think it is likely this would be the same (a gimei of Oya Kunisada). 1 1 Quote
bigscreen64 Posted March 18 Author Report Posted March 18 Here is the other sword I am trying to figure out. Quote
Ray Singer Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 Mei: Bishu Osafune (suriage, the name has been lost when the sword was shortened) Date: Tensho go nen (the year 1577) 1 1 1 Quote
bigscreen64 Posted March 18 Author Report Posted March 18 Thank you guys very much for the info. Out of curiosity, how old do you think the first katana is? Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted March 18 Report Posted March 18 They are thinking the first one was WWII era. 1 Quote
bigscreen64 Posted March 21 Author Report Posted March 21 Here are better pictures of the older blade that I took yesterday. Quote
Ray Singer Posted March 21 Report Posted March 21 This appears to be a potentially nice koto Bizen blade. Please do not do anything on your own to clean or polish the blade, or remove rust. It may be worthwhile to explore a professional polish (a restoration by a fully-apprenticed polisher). Especially, do not remove rust from the nakago (tang). Quote
Tohagi Posted March 21 Report Posted March 21 Yes it's a pitty to have left this blade uncared! Please do not try to clean it up and show it to somebody who knows. Best regards, Eric Quote
bigscreen64 Posted March 21 Author Report Posted March 21 any idea what it may be worth fully restored? Quote
Tohagi Posted Tuesday at 05:39 PM Report Posted Tuesday at 05:39 PM Difficult to say: In full polish, without flaws and daito length but without paper, maybe some 4k With papers, i will depend of the attribution... Quote
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