Yamato Taima research

[Rich Thomas]

Hi guys,

Wondering if anyone knows where I might be able to find more information on the work of early Taima smiths from the Late Kamakura/Nanbokucho period, or any oshigata? The Conoisseurs and Nihonto Koza have limited info, Sho shin has some....... but I'm struggling....As stated by Darcy:

 

"Research into Yamato blades is always difficult, and the more rare schools like Taima are even more so. There are only 177 Taima swords of all types blades in the NBTHK Juyo Token index, and of these only eight bear an individual's signature. There is an additional section of about 25 directly assigned to the Taima smith Aritoshi with a handful of them signed as well. The extreme lack in quantity of pieces overall, and in particular signed pieces, makes attribution and understanding the relationships of the individual smiths in this school very difficult".

 

Any hints or help would be appreciated

cheers

Rich T2

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Rich,

Have you checked with the Japanese Sword Literature Index on the JSS/US website? Search for Taima in the swordsmith index and you'll see everything I found in indexing the references.

Grey

[Jean]

https://www.aoi-art.com/auction/auction ... 1213703271

[Rich Thomas]

Thanks Grey, I had not been aware of the index i'll check it out, looks like significant work was involved in the brief look I've managed to have so far, nice job!

 

Thanks Jean.. yep that blade was the one that prompted my quest for further research. I have a Taima blade from the same period, quite different features though!

RichT