Support BladeForums! Paid memberships don't see ads! my best guess is a diving knife? Any idea as to age and value?
I think it's unlikely to be a diving knife. Are handle and says (scabbard) both aluminum? Combine that with the odd blade tip, what looks like a stainless blade and the touristy looking motif and I am guessing decorative piece with nominal value from the last 30 years. Now someone will be along to tell us it's a rare whosiwhatsit...
I can see why you said dive knife. The tip is flat and beveled like an abalone prying blade. But the sheath is like a traditional saya and wouldn't be practical for diving for abalone. It may be an attempt to represent an old fashioned knife for this use, but I can't say more than this. Zieg
Blade about 5 1/4”. Overall 9 1/2”. Came in a small collection of knives. Here’s a few others. I don’t really know what I bought.
It appears that you purchased a collection of tanto. I would give a nickel to have rich stein come along and weigh in. At least the second from the top appears to have a hamon (temper line). Maybe one of the others also. The mounts throw me off but I don't know a lot about tanto.
Yes they did Mark them as well. However I would hold off until we find out if it is worthwhile. The thing is with "signatures " is that they mean nothing if it is not a quality blade. Signatures were forged on low quality blades even in period and not every high quality blade was marked. If you aren't getting quick enough response here you might try the nihonto forums and don't forget to report back here!
Top photo both show promise, the one at the top appears to be in storage mounts, promising. The one with visible hamon again promising but can't really tell from photo, could be acid etched could be real. The peg should be easy to remove without much effort. It's worth a look.
This one is an ikebana (= flower arranging) knife. Not see one with a decorated blade and ornamental mounts before; they're usually plain like this example: https://www.amazon.com/Kiridashi-knife-Japanese-Woodworking-Fujiwara/dp/B01FX8701K
The "dive" knife in the original post is a kiridashi. Non traditionally made and not worth much. None of them appear to be worth much, but for better valuation, you should remove the tangs so if any signature exists it can be evaluated. Even if there is no signature, the tang can still prove a lot of information, if you know what to look for. Excluding the very first one, "dive" knife from here on out: The others with the exception of the second one are Hira-zukuri (named for blade shape), the other one is Kanmuriotoshi-zukuri. First one is in shirasaya (Resting scabbard) with suguba hamon. Second (kanmuriotoshi) with gunome hamon and is in what looks to be a very late, probably meji or later tourist koshirae. Third is in a lacquered shirasaya, looks like a letter opener or a prop for Chanoyu. Fourth looks to be a Kwaiken in Aikuchi koshirae with no evidence of a hamon.
Support BladeForums! Paid memberships don't see ads! Nicely done, thanks for putting us on the right track.
