Tcat Posted June 18, 2010 Report Posted June 18, 2010 Gentlemen, I recently aquired a tanto which I believe to be Edo period. The forging is quite fine and there are no flaws that I can see so far. I believe the mei reads "Minamoto Yasuyuki", but with my limited resources I have been unable to find anything more about the smith. Nagasa is 31cm. I do not at the moment have the blade to hand for more measurements... I would be very grateful if anyone could suggest who signed like this! School/Dates? Any other thoughts would be most welcome. Thanks in advance. Quote
SwordGuyJoe Posted June 18, 2010 Report Posted June 18, 2010 My initial thoughts on this was that it was Sagami/soshu, late shinto, perhaps early shin-shinto. I took a look on NihontoClub.com and found a Yasuyuki from Owari that worked mid to late 1600's (http://nihontoclub.com/smiths/YAS773). This is assuming that you are right on your translation, which I cannot confirm. Even if you aren't, I have a similar blade that I believe to be soshu and the patina IMHO looks right for shinto to shin-shinto. Quote
Toryu2020 Posted June 18, 2010 Report Posted June 18, 2010 Definitely Shintô - An excellent finish on the nakago and a practised hand in the signature - My reading would be Yasusada (安定) of the Edo Yasutsugu school - an important smith if indeed this is he... -t Quote
Grey Doffin Posted June 18, 2010 Report Posted June 18, 2010 None of the Yasusada who made it into any of my references signed like this; maybe it isn't Yasusada. My gut reaction on seeing the nakago was Shinshin-to up to meiji. My gut reaction and a buck gets you on the bus. Grey Quote
Tcat Posted June 19, 2010 Author Report Posted June 19, 2010 Thanks to all for the helpful feedback - but now I am puzzling as to whether the mei should be read Yasuyuki or Yasusada! In any case, is there a good chance that neither this smith nor mei were recorded in any references? Quote
Toryu2020 Posted June 19, 2010 Report Posted June 19, 2010 From the Shinto Oshigata Shu, the Shodai at least did Sosho mei - Yasusada is well published, will look at other references tomorrow to see if I can find some other Sosho mei for this group of smiths... -t Quote
Markus Posted June 20, 2010 Report Posted June 20, 2010 Seems to be Minamoto Moriyuki. 源守之 Hawley MOR454. Quote
Tcat Posted June 20, 2010 Author Report Posted June 20, 2010 Seems to be Minamoto Moriyuki. 源守之 Markus, many thanks for your input; you dont think its "源尚之"? That second character looks more like a 尚 to me...but I am coming at it from a Chinese (as a foreign language) perspective... Quote
Markus Posted June 20, 2010 Report Posted June 20, 2010 "源尚之"[/size] At a glance, I thought about this reading too, but then the smith in question would be "meikan-more", i.e. not listed in any references. I also thought about "Masayuki" (当之) but ditto. Minamoto Moriyuki on the other hand is listed, and the artistic period is about matching. That´s why I tend towards Moriyuki. Quote
Tcat Posted June 29, 2010 Author Report Posted June 29, 2010 Thanks Markus and all contributors. Oh boy I have a lot to learn.... Quote
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