Matus Posted August 7, 2011 Report Posted August 7, 2011 Hello, finally I managed to take a few pictures from my first Nihonto. First let me express my gratitude to all who (esp. Mariusz), who were trying to give me guidance on my way in the Nihonto world. After a long search, I came across this little blade - an o-suriage mumei wakizashi atributed to den Reisen Sadamori (Nambokucho period). Length 47 cm, sori 1,2 cm, width 3,1 / 2,4 cm. NBTHK Hozon paper. Looking forward to your comments! Matus Quote
Ken-Hawaii Posted August 7, 2011 Report Posted August 7, 2011 Good, clear shots, Matus. You might set the resolution a bit higher in Imageshack, or whichever image processor you're using. Nice blade, too. Did it come in koshirae or shirasaya? Ken Quote
Matus Posted August 7, 2011 Author Report Posted August 7, 2011 The blade came in plain shirasaya with silver habaki. I took the pictures with a Canon Powershot S3 IS and then selected & resized the relevant parts with Paintshop Pro. I can upload hi-res pictures on flickr if anyone is interested. Matus Quote
micha Posted August 7, 2011 Report Posted August 7, 2011 Hi Matus, Is this the same sword ? Micha Quote
nihonto1001 Posted August 8, 2011 Report Posted August 8, 2011 Nice sword for sure. Hawley has him rated at 100 by the way. I had my eye on that one. Here is a link to my Reisen Sadamori:http://www.onihonto.com/Nihonto.html In it you will find another link to a write up I did about the smith. It has pictures of other Sadamori works. All The Best, Jon Quote
Matus Posted August 8, 2011 Author Report Posted August 8, 2011 @Micha - yes, it's the same sword. @Jon - I know your article very well. It actually helped me to decide to get this sword. Really an excellent source of information for Sadamori. Thank you for that! Matus Quote
paulb Posted August 8, 2011 Report Posted August 8, 2011 Both are very good looking swords. For many years one of my favourite swords was a massive O-suriage katana papered to the Kongo-byoe school. It was beautfully made very austere and practical and altogether a well made good looking piece from the mid 14th century. If I remember correctly it eventually went to a collector in Portugal. It is interesting that in general the kongo-byoe school appears to be somewhat underated by many in Japan, their work being considered utilitarian and "country work", but as Jon points out you have Sadamori turning out consistantly good quality work that compare favourably to many of the classical works of that period. I have seen a number of Kongo-Byoe works and all seem to be in a good state of preservation and very well made. Well done on your sword it looks a good buy. Best Regards Paul Quote
Sergio Bastos Posted August 8, 2011 Report Posted August 8, 2011 Hi Paul, Yes, you sold that sword to me, I still have in my collection, is a sword in perfect condition given its age. I think it will stay in my collection for many years...and I hope one day the swords from the Kongo-byoe school be more admired than today... unfortunately not belong to the club of the "five", but who cares a good sword is always a good sword! Nice sword Matus! Sergio Quote
paulb Posted August 8, 2011 Report Posted August 8, 2011 Hi Sergio, glad you are still enjoying the sword even after all the problems we had with the banks!! Best Regards Paul Quote
nihonto1001 Posted August 9, 2011 Report Posted August 9, 2011 Matus: I am glad you liked the write up. Wakimono generally means "off the path", it does not mean "bad". I wonder if this term was even used to describe such swords during the time they were made. Some of my favorite swords are considered Wakimono. I have two Sadamori daitos, one of which is Juyo Token, and other very nice pieces that fall outside of, or are amalgamations of, the main schools. I like their uniquness and have developed quite an appreciation for such smiths. This form of collecting allows me to possess some high quality swords without the price premium. I would like to see a book dedicated to Wakimono one day. That I would buy. Jon. Quote
Matus Posted August 10, 2011 Author Report Posted August 10, 2011 Hi Sergio and Jon, have you posted pictures of your Sadamori blades? If not, what about adding them (and mine) to Jon's article? BTW, do you know the article "Long Live Unpopular Schools"? I think it covers the subject of "non conformal" schools in an excellent manner... Matus Quote
Jamie Posted August 10, 2011 Report Posted August 10, 2011 Matus, thanks for sharing, beautiful blade. Quote
nihonto1001 Posted August 11, 2011 Report Posted August 11, 2011 Matus: If you click the link, you will see some nice pics of the blade. One of these days I will get some of the Juyo blade. There is also a nice one in the Compton Collection catalog. Glad you found an interesting piece of history. If you get me some nice pics (in the same form as the others shown) I see no reason why we cannot add it to the article. Jon Quote
Sergio Bastos Posted August 11, 2011 Report Posted August 11, 2011 Hi Matus, my blade is not attributed to Raisen Sadomori, the papers only refer the school "Kongo-byoe" but the characteristics are very similar to your sword. Moritaka could be the name of the maker of my sword but I´m not sure! I think the swords of this school are of very good quality, for ex. in the catalogue "Cutting Edge" from one exposition in the British Museum are only 17 swords from the koto period and one of them is a very nice tanto attribuited to the kongo-byoe school. regards Sergio Quote
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