A remarkable blade

[Veli]

Hi All!

 

AOI Art has listed a ko-Bizen kodachi. It is wonderful to see an early Kamakura era blade with excellent workmanship, original signed nakago (very slightly machi-okuri?), with beautiful activities and with no tiredness. If I only were a millionaire...

 

Often it has been said that shinogi-zukuri wakizashi appeared during early Muromachi. This is naturally not a wakizashi, but a kodachi. Could somebody with deeper knowledge than myself elaborate on the differences between a wakizashi and a kodachi?

 

BR,

 

Veli

[Curran]

I would leave the kodachi vs. wakizashi explanation to someone better versed in it.

Tokubetsu Juyo signed. Beautiful sword, right down to the old "battle cut" in it.

 

Maybe someone can also comment on the way the hamon ends at the current hamachi.

[Brian]

http://www.aoi-art.com/sword/sale/10209.html

[drbvac]

Isn't that beautiful - need my 2 cars to get around though !!

[Carlo Giuseppe Tacchini]

Could somebody with deeper knowledge than myself elaborate on the differences between a wakizashi and a kodachi?

 

dr. T can :

 

http://www.una.edu/faculty/takeuchi/DrT ... of_wak.htm

[Bazza]

I would leave the kodachi vs. wakizashi explanation to someone better versed in it.

Tokubetsu Juyo signed. Beautiful sword, right down to the old "battle cut" in it.

 

Maybe someone can also comment on the way the hamon ends at the current hamachi.

Curran,

 

Is that a way of drawing attention to the apparent mizukage, with an oblique suggestion of retemper??? As it is Tokubetsu Juyo I wouldn't think so and this seems to say that the hamachi is original, as it was made.

 

Regards,

BaZZa.

[Veli]

Paul Martin describes the kodachi in his excellent booklet "The Japanese Sword; Guide to Nyusatsu Kantei". According to him, the kodachi differs from a tachi (apart from length) by having no tapering in the sakihaba and having less curvature. He lists Ko-Bizen Kageyasu :D and a couple of early Osafune smiths, as well as Ko-Aoe and Kyoto schools among those schools that produced kodachi. He also states that kodachi are rare, which probably means that the question of being able to tell a kodachi from a wakizashi is more of academic than practical nature.

 

Veli

[nagamaki - Franco]

I would leave the kodachi vs. wakizashi explanation to someone better versed in it.

Tokubetsu Juyo signed. Beautiful sword, right down to the old "battle cut" in it.

 

Maybe someone can also comment on the way the hamon ends at the current hamachi.

Curran,

 

Is that a way of drawing attention to the apparent mizukage, with an oblique suggestion of retemper??? As it is Tokubetsu Juyo I wouldn't think so and this seems to say that the hamachi is original, as it was made.

 

Regards,

BaZZa.

 

Hi Bazza,

 

This reminds me of an article written about "polishing" posted on the JSS/US website, from which a portion is quoted below.

 

Polishing the Japanese Sword -- SHUDDER!

by Andrew Quirt http://www.jssus.org/

 

I clearly remember an old-time collector of some repute; a gentleman frequently asked questions about swords at all gatherings; the successful finder of more than a few unrecognized juto; a man who examined a sword that a friend was thinking of purchasing. "Don't do it", quote he. "Don't you see the mizukage --- a clear sign of retempering". The sale was quashed. All, save the seller, were pleased.

 

It was at the recent Dallas show that the owner of the sword, a Nobukuni, which is now in the juyo shinsa, had the pleasure of rubbing my nose in my mistake. You see, Nobukuni sometimes have a mizukage, a fact that had escaped me throughout my twenty seven years of collecting.

[Eric H]

According to him, the kodachi differs from a tachi (apart from length) by having no tapering in the sakihaba and having less curvature.

Kodachi... Tachi shorter than 2 shaku... is simply defined by its length.

This Kageyasu Kodachi displays contrarily to the above said a deep sori, 1.35 cm, and a marked tapering of 0.91 cm...regarding its length :|

Eric

[Markus]

I don´t want to go into detail about mizukage but as Franco suggested, you have

to be careful at which blade you see one. A mizukage is regarded as characteristical

feature for example of Ko-Ichimonji or Ko-Bizen (although it is not a must).

 

As for me, if I had the money, I would buy it at a glance.

Great piece of history too...

[Curran]

BaZZA, BaZZa, Bazza,

 

*sigh*.... don't you know me well enough by now to realize I wouldn't be that bullheaded snarky?

Of course the damn thing has on it what a gaggle of geese here would honk is 'mizukage' and a retemper.

I don't agree with it.

 

I see a beautiful old Bizen sword that seems to have had the hamachi moved up.

 

Dear dear Brian, please forgive the thread hijacking- but we have a good room of people and example for this topic:

Mizukage is not a Binary event where presence = full retemper. I'm not sure this sort of mist line is even indicative of 'Mizu'. Old debate from older Japanese is whether it involves a copper heated block. Would love to have a smith comment on what happens with the heat distribution along the blade in such a case. I am not even sure whether or not to get into this old debate, as my opinion is one way- but others just claim this 'retemper' appears and is seen in certain schools or smiths. I don't see the evidence of full retempers on these sort of swords and reject that it is a retemper.

Okay, let us talk crazy for a bit: I also see it widely across enough schools within a specific pre Edo time period that I feel it was a technique of moving up the hamachi. It seems to mostly disappear pre Edo, but a regression analysis of dating and school of blades with it might fit nicely with the growth of the Bizen school up to its Wipe Out in the Osafune Flood. ---> this is just for fun speculation by me after thinking about it. Never been put to analysis yet, though the bulk of the swords I've seen with this mist are Bizen and the ocassional Yamashiro. Suitable examples have been seen in a scattershot of other Koto schools.

 

Back to the sword: nice sword. Oh rich benefactor, please send to me. It is my birthday and I need something fabulous to cut the cake.

 

 

Curran

[Stephen]

Hmm I really don't see what all the flapping of the wings is about on that blade, looks like a old kitchen knife to me. :lol: Id much rather drop a zero and buy this

 

http://www.nihontocraft.com/Hizen_Tadayoshi.html

 

to me I get the feeling thats what the Yasukuni to were trying to strive for.

[Brian]

Curran,

Firstly, happy birthday!

Secondly..I agree. We have to be careful how we interpret mizukage and that we don't misunderstand it.

This is a good read: http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/utsuri.html#mizukage

 

Oh...and this blade is not retempered, so any talk of saiha is just general talk and not refering to the blade mentioned above.

 

Brian

[Pete Klein]

Well Happy Birthday dearest lad. I sort of doubt you'll be getting the sword to cut the cake but you will always have your whit to cut the cheese...

 

PS: how do you heat a block with copper???

[Jean]

Curran,

 

Happy birthday my friend

[Curran]

Peter is right....

 

should read "heated copper block".

As for cutting the cheese... pull my finger Mr. Miami.

But yes it was mocha cheese cake for desert on the B-day. I don't celebrate my birthday much more than a nice meal, but can always dream some rich sexy sugar mamma will buy me nice nihonto. Thank you for the well wishes.

 

This sword is what it is: old as dirt, excellent condition, and signed. Well beyond my budget. As Brian stressed, it is not saiha. At least not in my opinion.

[Jacques D.]

Hi,

 

I see a beautiful old Bizen sword that seems to have had the hamachi moved up.

 

Nakago is ubu.

[Curran]

 

Well f_ck it.

It just seemed straight forward to me that it had been moved up about a finger / Japanese thumb width. I look at it again and I still see it moved up about that amount and the other evidence I associate with localized heating to move it up. Didn't bother looking at the papers until now.

 

That makes it a mess.

If Ubu, then anyone able to explain the "mizukage" or illustrate the other points of a retemper on this blade? I don't see them, so who can explain the "mizukage" (Just for reference: I don't think it is mizukage), or give an alternate understanding as to why this blade is the way it is?

[Pete Klein]

Utsuri.

[Curran]

Like the idea, but find it hard to believe that water quench leaves a nice near ruler straight line of utsuri like that at an angle like that.

Clay smeche.

 

My mistake was not to read the sword was 'Ubu'. Still swear it looks shortened to me. Sigh.

I'm going to go join Stephen and look at pretty younger swords with more leg and a much nicer pricetag.

[Jean]

This blade has not seen much polishing which is surprising, in spite of the Homare-kizu, I have seldom seen such an hamachi on such an old blade

[Veli]

Yes, Jean said it! We have all seen enough of misused and neglected blades. Here, for once, we have an example of how proper care and respect can preserve these irreplaceable works of art for almost a millennium; through wars, fires, storms and earthquakes; handed down to caring hands generation after generation.

 

Veli

[Jean]

Hamon makes me think of Fukuoka Ichimonji, which is not surprising. What is very spectacular and strkes me is the Boshi, the way the hamon crosses the yokote and instead of instantly curving it goes straight to the edge and then followed it very closely.

[kanetoyo]

Hi all

 

Ko-bizen is below

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... RK:MESE:IT