Chris Osborne Posted February 21, 2010 Report Posted February 21, 2010 Hello everyone. Finally picked up something for myself worth posting about here. Found this beauty at the Tampa show last weekend and thought I might field some opinions. It may be that the pictures aren't good enough to make any clear judgments but it will be fun to share anyway. This piece was polished by Jimmy Hayashi and from what I remember, Jimmy said it was a Yamato blade and thought it to be a Mihara school Nambokucho era blade. Tegai was also thrown around at the show from a few people. One polisher said maybe even Enju. At any rate, I was told by many that it would likely go Tokubetsu Hozon or possibly higher........depending. Well, no way for me to know about such things but the work looks good enough to my eye, the jigane is absolutely gorgeous. No plans right now to send it to shinsa, I bought it because the work looked excellent to me and I just really liked the blade, but maybe down the road sometime it will make the trip. Another question I would like to ask is what others think about the opening that is visible about three inches down from the kissaki in the shinogi ji. It appears to have been a very small pocket that was uncovered in the polish and was burnished shut fairly good and is very small. I was told and it has been my understanding that these types of flaws when in the shinogi ji area would not likely affect the judgment of a sword, especially one this old. I didn't think much off it when I looked at the sword at the show and I don't think anyone else did either, but now that it's actually in my possession I'm obsessing over it a bit, although that's really nothing new for me. Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks all. Chris http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/bluestarwizard/Yamato-1.jpg http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/bluestarwizard/Yamato-2.jpg http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/bluestarwizard/Yamato-3.jpg http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/bluestarwizard/Yamato-4.jpg http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/bluestarwizard/Yamato-5.jpg http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/bluestarwizard/Yamato-6.jpg http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/bluestarwizard/Yamato-7.jpg Quote
watsonmil Posted February 21, 2010 Report Posted February 21, 2010 Hello Chris, A very lovely old ( koto ) blade. Very quiet and dignified. The jigane is indeed lovely and evenly forged. The flaw ( opening ) in the shinogi-ji is really not interfering with the appreciation of the overall beauty of the blade, and from speaking to others far more knowledable than I, .. and having seen highly rated blades ( papered ) with similar flaws in the shinogi-ji it would be my opinion that although noted it would not affect the overall rating of a very beautiful specimen. The flaw will and is bothering you more than others who will admire your aquisition. Any collector here who would turn down owning such a specimen is in my opinion a foolish man. Congratulations. Kind regards, ... Ron Watson Quote
Mark Green Posted February 21, 2010 Report Posted February 21, 2010 Very pretty Chris. Great looking hada. Congrats, Mark G Quote
Dakota Posted February 21, 2010 Report Posted February 21, 2010 Wow! I prefer long blades that form "perfect" wedges but wow! Aren't the striations straight up and down the length of the blade. Fine blade that one. Quote
Jacques Posted February 21, 2010 Report Posted February 21, 2010 Hi, Yasurime seem saka O-sujikai, if it's true this blade is not Koto but Shinto. Quote
Stephen Posted February 21, 2010 Report Posted February 21, 2010 Chris Am I missing some pix, don't see any of the sugata or nakago, from what I see in one or two pix (the rest to dark as not see anything) great looking hada, well done suguha. the boshi is washed out in light does it turn back or is it Yakitsume? cant really see the flaw so you may be looking in the mirror at a zit that looks like a mountain to you but one others would not see unless told. would like to see more pix, I think you did well. Quote
Nautilus Posted February 21, 2010 Report Posted February 21, 2010 Now that is a little gem, and right up my alley as far as aesthetics go (my own taste is for fundamental suguha so perhaps I am biased). I to would to very much like to see some larger, detailed pictures if you have any, since I doubt I'll get to see the beauty up close. Nice one all round. Quote
watsonmil Posted February 21, 2010 Report Posted February 21, 2010 Perhaps my eyes deceive me, but the yasurime looks V shaped ( taka-no-ha ) to me which might well point to Yamato. Perhaps Chris could advise. Whether Koto or Shinto, .... Chris it is a very lovely blade. ... Ron Watson Quote
Stephen Posted February 21, 2010 Report Posted February 21, 2010 but the yasurime looks V shaped ok what link am i missing? Quote
watsonmil Posted February 21, 2010 Report Posted February 21, 2010 Hi Stephen, JPG 7, .......... I get the impression on zooming in that the nakago very faintly shows taka-no-ha. Perhaps it is just my eyes. We shall have to wait for Chris to confirm. Regards, ... Ron Watson Quote
Stephen Posted February 21, 2010 Report Posted February 21, 2010 What am i missing? a brain i guess...doh! didnt scroll into the next room....sorry Chris Quote
Chris Osborne Posted February 21, 2010 Author Report Posted February 21, 2010 Thanks for all the compliments. Yes, the flaw I'm sure isn't a big deal, and the fact that some of you didn't notice it makes me feel much better about it. As for the boshi, it appears to have no turnback that I can discern, but it does get a bit cloudy right up at the mune. The yasuri is a tough one as there isn't much left to see, but after examining it for a bit, if I had to bet on it I'd say taka no ha. I'll have a little more to go on when I get the write up in the mail that Jimmy did on the blade when he polished it. Judging by the thickness of the nakago behind the habaki and the fact that there is nearly no hamachi left, this was a monster of a blade in it's day. Of course it still isn't puny by any means. It appears a moderate sized blade, but when you see how thick it once was....man. Whoever made the habaki was very good. It fits up tightly on the top and bottom with a good bit of space on the sides to clear the very thick nakago, definitely an engineering nightmare. Chris Quote
Jacques Posted February 21, 2010 Report Posted February 21, 2010 Hi, Can we have a picture of the whole blade (without habaki) and measurements please? Quote
Chris Osborne Posted February 22, 2010 Author Report Posted February 22, 2010 Here are a few more shots, probably no better than the others but a little different perspective maybe. I don't have a great photo setup since moving into the new shop so getting the right light is difficult. I just took a couple with flash for a different view and they seem to show the hada a tad better. The blade has a 27" nagasa - 30mm motohaba - 5mm motokasane. Chris http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/bluestarwizard/yamato-10.jpg http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/bluestarwizard/yamato-9.jpg http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/bluestarwizard/yamato-8.jpg http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/bluestarwizard/yamato-7-1.jpg Quote
Jacques Posted February 22, 2010 Report Posted February 22, 2010 Hi, Because the nakago shape, i don't think that blade is Yamato. Hard to tell based on this pictures but that sugata doesn't look Nanbokucho, (but i can be totaly wrong). Quote
leo Posted February 22, 2010 Report Posted February 22, 2010 Dear Chris, I am not a superexpert, but I would like to release some ideas to discuss. There are, very generally spoken, a few typical characteristics which you find more often in Yamato blades than in others, as far as I know: High shinogi ridge Kaen boshi(hataraki flames) Masame(Tegai) The question of the nakago is not clear. As there is only 1 hole, there are 2 options: 1. Ubu (with the yasurime and the rather short nagasa Koto is very unlikely) 2. O-suriage (then it might be Koto, but it could also be a shortened shinto nodachi) But as most of us like to say: Off course I can be mistaken! Best regards, Martin S. Quote
Chris Osborne Posted February 22, 2010 Author Report Posted February 22, 2010 Yes, it is ubu, but does appear that the machi was moved up an inch or more at some time in the past. So, this blade at one time had at least a 28" nagasa and was very wide and thick. It will be interesting to read Jimmy Hayashi's thought's on the blade when the paper arrives. Will let you guys know what he had to say on it. I think pretty much everyone who looked at it at the show were all in agreement that it was koto, most likely ko-mihara or tegai. Chris Quote
Chris Osborne Posted February 25, 2010 Author Report Posted February 25, 2010 Considering mounting this sword up at the moment and I must confess not sure exactly which direction to go. Presently I have a shakudo fuchi/kashira set with a kirin theme. There is a tsuba I saw at the Tampa show which I really liked the work on and have considered it, however it's not in the theme of the fushi/kashira. It is a nanbun tsuba with an animal motif. Am I crazy to want to pair these up or would this work together? http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/bluestarwizard/KirinFuchiKashira-1.jpg http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff314/bluestarwizard/NanbanTsuba-1-1.jpg Have to say that picture really does the fuchi/kashira no justice, it is a fine looking set in person. Quote
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