Samé aikuchi koshirae

[Jesper]

Hi all,

I would like your opinion on a rather strange aikuchi koshirae. The surface is covered with samé and thin sheets of shells(?). The end of the saya is covered with samé tied into a knot. The total length is 34 cm. Some parts are missing, but it seems that the whole surface has been covered. Has anyone seen this type of mounting before? Is it an late Edo / Meiji export mounting?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Jesper

 

[Curran]

You are right- that would be pretty strange.

I don't know what to make of it....

[Thierry BERNARD]

look like an Aïnu koshirae

[christianmalterre]

Dear Jesper-

 

this is definitely an strange thing here-LOL!

Are you confident it is certainly from an Aikuchi and certainly Japanese?

(I never saw such before-to be very honest)

could you add some more pictures?

 

Christian

[Jesper]

Yes, it is Japanese. It came with a small, ubu, uchi-sori tanto and habaki. The tanto is worn but seems to be from around mid to late Kamakura. I do not believe it to be a Shinto or Shin-Shinto copy. The hi (two on one side and one on the other) are almost polished down and the nakago looks old. I cannot see any details in the blade, it needs a polish. I have never seen such a mounting before, myself. I think it is more interesting than pretty.

 

Thanks for your interest! I will post some pictures of the koshirae and tanto later today.

 

 

Jesper

[Jesper]

Here are some close-ups of the koshirae and some pictures of the tanto. The tanto is signed Muneyoshi. I do not think it is the famous Muneyoshi (student of Masamune), but either a gimei or some other smith. The tnakago is ubu. The blade has been polished a lot and the three hi are almost gone. The hada is not clearly visible, but it seems to be itame-hada. The hamon is not visible. Unfortenately, the blade has a large ware in the mune area on one side. The blade is 22 cm.

 

I was also thinking that the koshirae might be Ainu. Maybe even of Chinese origin, but it does not seem too likely with the Japanese blade.

 

Any comments are welcome!

 

Jesper

[christianmalterre]

Dear Jesper

 

thank you very much for those additional pictures in fact.

I think from point of view(which one-Lol!)this is quite an very interesting found!

The Mei seems obviously "Ill"!(i fully do agree)

Concerning the Koshirae,but-i am somehow fascinated-i think Thierry is not bad at all in his thought-also it could be an Koshirae somehow modulated so to suit bad weather circumstances(coastal environment/Sea)....

Did you ask Bent already/He may eventually have an idea,too?

 

Christian