Real or Gimei

[Lilleskit]

Hello all,

 

I have a blade signed Tango no Kami Kanemichi. Opinions so far have been mixed and I  personally am leaning on the gimei side.

It would be nice for it to be real but I'm skeptical. My blade is far right next to a couple of the many confirmed mei. I added notes with a few of what I think are problems.

 

Regards, 

Ken

[Mikaveli]

Looks very suspect to me...

 

Assuming it's unpapered?

[Lilleskit]

6 hours ago, Mikaveli said:

Looks very suspect to me...

 

Assuming it's unpapered?

Yes, it is unpaperd. Purchased in horrible shape from a antique dealer that deals mostly in European blades and collector coins.

[Mikaveli]

4 minutes ago, Lilleskit said:

Yes, it is unpaired. Purchased in horrible shape from a antique dealer that deals mostly in European blades and collector coins.

 

Still, even if it's gimei, and even if the condition is not great - don't write it off (especially without having it looked at by someone knowledgeable).

 

Any pics of the blade - overall and in detail?

[Lilleskit]

53 minutes ago, Mikaveli said:

 

Still, even if it's gimei, and even if the condition is not great - don't write it off (especially without having it looked at by someone knowledgeable).

 

Any pics of the blade - overall and in detail?

Here is the blade in sections. Omote pics are 1-9, the remainder are of the ura side.

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Ow1USADZIQcjVaD9AbxAbKYG9x-I9qvz

[Lilleskit]

And here are its measurements:

 

Sword Overview:

Blade type: Suriage katana

 

Nagasa: 69 cm

 

Nakago: 19.5 cm

 

Nakago-ana ×2 (5.5cm apart)

 

Sori: 0.67 cm

 

Kissaki Length: 3 cm

 

Width: Base - 2.93 cm, Middle - 2.64 cm, Tip - 1.94 cm

 

Thickness: Base - 0.74 cm, Middle - 0.65 cm, Tip - 0.54 cm

 

Thanks for any insight 🙏🏽

Ken

[Jacques]

Detecting a gimei is much harder than you think. You need to start by taking into account the smith's entire career 

This one is tokubetsu hozon (dots on Kane are in the same way than on yours)

[Mikaveli]

10 minutes ago, Jacques said:

Detecting a gimei is much harder than you think. You need to start by taking into account the smith's entire career .

 

Yes, and no! 🙂

 

You're right that just because there are differences, it doesn't necessarily mean gimei - many smiths changed their mei over time (along with titles, yasurime etc.), and I've seen documented examples where with age, their mei becomes noticeably more lightly struck.

 

But by the same token, some gimei is very, very obvious. My favourite is western copies of kanji, shape based without understanding of stroke order, stops or direction etc.

[Jacques]

Quote

But by the same token, some gimei is very, very obvious. My favourite is western copies of kanji, shape based without understanding of stroke order, stops or direction etc.

Stay serious

[Rawa]

Are those stains running on shinogi-ji and hira innactive rust? How this is called?

[Lilleskit]

4 hours ago, Jacques said:

Detecting a gimei is much harder than you think. You need to start by taking into account the smith's entire career 

This one is tokubetsu hozon (dots on Kane are in the same way than on yours)

Yes, it recognize this blade and the mei. I found many examples signed this way. The reason I wavered from thinking it was a close enough match were the "dots". They are lined up, one behind the other, chasing each other down and to the left on some of the examples I've found. 

 

I truly want to be incorrect and find it to be authentic. 

Seems that the devils in the details. Some might remember gimei signed Kozuke Daijo Fujiwara Sukesada that looked pretty good exect for the final stroke not starting a little early and crossing over the previous one. 

 

Edited Friday at 01:19 PM by Lilleskit
Incorrect information given

[Lilleskit]

1 hour ago, Rawa said:

Are those stains running on shinogi-ji and hira innactive rust? How this is called?

Hi, 

No, it is in poor shape but there's no active rust on the blade. Maybe you're seeing reflections of the surroundings. 

[Rawa]

Im mentioning those 

[Lilleskit]

18 minutes ago, Rawa said:

Im mentioning those 

I think you're referring to the micro pitting/oxidation scaring on the shinogi-ji,  ji, and mune. The redish color on the bottom right portion is me, my reflection. I'm a horrible photographer. 😅

[Lilleskit]

52 minutes ago, Rawa said:

Im mentioning those 

Not active rust. Along with the micro pitting you can see my reflection that appears somewhat redish at the top and bottom of the picture.