Please Help with Translation on Wakizashi

[Edward G]

Good Afternoon All:

Please help with translation on photos attached. It is a 21" Wakizashi with excellent mounts, signed tsuba, I believe it is SUK 429 in Hawleys's but am not sure of the entire translation. As you all know there are many swordsmiths with this name. However the quality seems to shine in this one. Please see the photos and give me your thoughts. Gold mon on kashira I believe is So, D. Fuchu in Tsushima, Tsuchihashi, Kimura page 83 of Hawleys book on The Japanese Family Crest

 

 

Edward G

[Veli]

Maybe Bizen (no) Kuni ju Osafune Shichibejo Sukesada... Please check around SUK879, SUK887 (probably not that one), SUK 909...

 

BR, Veli

[Edward G]

Thank You

 

BR, Veli

 

As you know there are many Suke Sada swordsmiths, and it is very difficult to determine which particular one you may have....!!! In any event I certainly appreciate your assistance...

 

Does anyone else have an opinion as to which one this is ???

 

Thanks

 

Edward G.

[Veli]

Hi Edward,

 

There are only a few who signed this way.

 

Veli

[george trotter]

Hi Edward,

Your mei says Bizen Kuni Ju Osafune Shicibeijo Sukesada

There is one signing close to this mei at Hawley SUK 909. You need to go through the lists carefully, (my eyes are watering from all these Sukesadas) and you might find that this is him 1704 Bizen. The important part (apart from the quality, period, style) with these Sukesadas is to find the correct personal name. After a quick skim through, this is the only one I found that matches your "Shichibeijo"...I may have missed others though, there are so many to search.

Good luck...nice little set by the way.

Regards,

George.

[Edward G]

Thank You George, you are a scholar and a gentleman

 

Edward G.

[Edward G]

Does the "Shicibeijo" mean it is a part of his name, title, or Clan?

 

Edward G.

[Jacques]

Hi,

 

Shichibei Sukesada was a shinto swordsmith he worked around Manji (1658) and is Kozuke Sukesada's father. He was the founder of the Shinto Osafune school.

 

Rated chu-jo by Fujishiro.

 

I think it is gimei.

[george trotter]

Hi again Edward,

Your sword says the smith's personal name is "Shichibeijo" and the man I gave you SUK 909 is "Shichibeijo" also. The smith Jacques has given in Fujishiro S485 is also "Shichibeijo" (also Hawley SUK 887 Bizen 1616-1663), and I notice another one named "Shichibeijo" in Hawley SUK 879 worked Bizen 1624. You'll have to do your homework on this...although I agree with Jacques it is unlikely to be the Sukesada he mentioned, I don't necessarily think it is gimei as there are still two "lesser" smiths to check before you come to that decision. I don't know what books you need to consult as there are (I think) more than a hundred Bizen Osafune Sukesadas, among which are two "Shichibeijo" men, one of whom might match yours. "Shichibeijo" or "Shichibei no jo" = a personal name meaning "7th (son) of an Imperial Guard".

Happy researching.

George.

[Edward G]

Thanks to all who contributed to this post, I really appreciate the information......On the tsuba is a smith who died in 1729, so it is reasonable to assume it is very possibly the SUK 909 that George mentions earlier.

 

Thanks Again

 

Edward G.

[Jacques]

Hi

 

Tsuba is in nothing related with the sword. About Shichibei Sukesada none of my books quotes another one and the Hawley is well known for its numerous errors.

[george trotter]

Hi Patrick,

Just keep in mind that Hawley is a compilation of swordsmith names taken from 100s of original Japanese references by his friend Yasu Kizu. There are many instances where the same smith is listed twice, probably because they came from different references where the oshigata or description of the signatures contained slight differences. You can get an idea of the number of references Yasu Kizu must have accessed when compiling Hawleys when you consider that the Fujishiro referred to contains only 10 Bizen Sukesadas for Shinto and 15 for Koto while Hawley lists 179. The value in Hawley is that it gives you a list of recorded makers, sometimes doubling up of course...sometimes with mistakes, but never-the-less a good place to start...especially if you have little or no knowledge of Japanese. As long as you know there are always possible double-ups or other errors, it is a very helpful tool to start searching Japanese sources.

As things stand now, you know that your sword is unlikely to be SUK 887 Jacques quoted , but you still have the opportunity to research and find (or not find) SUK 879 and 909 and compare details and mei. I can't really say if these smiths listed as SUK 879 (1624), SUK 909 (1704) that I mentioned, and the one SUK 887 (1616-1663) mentioned by Jacques from Fujishiro, are 3, 2, or 1 smith. That is where your research comes in.

If I were you I would start by asking the learned scholars here which books they reccommend to check the details of the Bizen Sukesada smiths.

Hope this helps.

Geo.

[Jacques]

Hi,

 

Shichbei no jo Sukesada died in 1674 at the venerable age of 98 years.

[george trotter]

Hi Patrick,

Here is a pic of a mei on a sword held here in a local collection. It is signed by "Shichibeijo Sukesada". There is no date. You might like to study it against the mei you have already posted and the mei referred to by Jacques in Fujishiro S486 (Hawley SUK 887).

As this is an additional Shichibeijo Sukesada mei it increases the chance of your finding out whether there are more than one Shichibeijo Sukesadas (as Hawley says) or whether this is yet another gimei of SUK 887 as Jacques thinks. I would be interested in what you find out...Jacques has given you the Fujishiro reference to check, don't forget to ask him and the other knowledgeable members which books they recommend you use to study the Sukesadas.

Have fun researching.

Regards,

George.