Sword Hunt........ :) I think I've got a good deal!

J

JoeL

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Oct 4, 1998
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It is an interesting blade that I bought yesterday, in a local knife shop (which sells American made knives), and wanted to get your opinion on this and is it worth to send it to get it polished.

The spec:

Length: 67cm
width: 2.7cm
curvature : 2 cm, Koshi-zori

Bo-hi present, kata-chiri, Kaki-toshi

chu-kissaki, Boshi is difficult to tell, choji...midare?

Jitesu seems to be Mokume or and masame, quite white (I mean incomparison to the darker jitesu of the Kunisuke wakizashi).

Hamon seems to be small reversed choji midare changed to suguha near the habaki, nioi-deki. If it was suriaged from a tachi, the ha on the outer side is much more elaborate than that of the inner side.

Mei, outer side for a katana (inner side for a tachi), Suriaged and polished by "someone" for the pacific war
inner side for a katana (outer side for a tachi), carried by "someone"

There are grain openings, but mainly on the hi. evidence of blocking scarr on the mune.

The sales think that it was a gunto and know nothing about nihonto so I bought it with the price of a better gunto.

What do you think?

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=519721&a=9276671

[This message has been edited by JoeL (edited 10-09-2000).]

[This message has been edited by JoeL (edited 10-09-2000).]
 
Hmm...I can't see the kanji in the pics well enough to read, but I wouldn't think it's a mass-produced showato, particularly considering you can see hada.

I suggest taking it to a good polisher and getting their take on it, and have the lines and shaping cleaned up.

I'd say you probably got a good deal on it, but polishers and kantei experts would know best. Always nice to know. And if you find out, lemme know. I'm kinda interested.

Thanks for sharing, sorry I can't help all that much from this standpoint.

Shinryû.
 
Rob,

The blade is going to leave for Japan tomorrow. Tsuruta San at Aoi Art thinks that it was a late Muromachi period Tachi suriaged. As the blade only come with a silver-single habaki. It definitely deserve a shirsaya.

I was starring at the sword for a full 3 hours yesterday and my family thinks that I am nuts.
smile.gif


The lines are crisp and the sugata is graceful. The only drawback is the weak Jigane, but man, I think I saw utsuri. With the whitish jigane and (maybe) utsuri, I guess that it comes from the provence of Bizen. We'll find out when Tsuruta San got the blade at hand.

Joe
 
It's getting gradually harder to find great deals on great swords, but there's still a few out there I'll bet.

If you ever do come across a great opportunity on a wakizashi in person, maybe we could arrange a way for me to purchase it from you. Ehh who knows...down the road when I have a little bit of money, maybe I'll have an option or 3.

Thanks for sharing, and let me know if you get any good specs on it!

Shinryû.
 
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