Possible Munekage

[Geoffrey Ward]

Hello all I had a chance to take a quick look at a sword that will be for sale if I decide to buy it.I only had enough time for a quick look and to snap a couple of pics with a cellphone in poor lighting at work.The sword was in recent polish and had been also recently re-wrapped. Mounted in Army Gunto mounts the owner had a couple of documents that the person he got the sword from gave to him they state that the blade was made by Munekage? Hawley Rating 30 Reference /Page MUN765 I was wondering if anyone could confirm this is indeed the mei of the afore mentioned smith. Please excuse the improper layout of the photos as I did the best I could with the lighting and cell phone to reveal the kanji.I hope to get pics of the blade if the mei looks correct. All help greatly appreciated Regards,Geoff

 

[Gunome]

Hello,

The sword is signed hōshū takada ju fujiwara munekage 豊州高田住藤原統景

You must compared the mei with valid example

[Gunome]

I checked, no oshigata available in Fujishiro

[Geoffrey Ward]

Thank you kindly Gunome Would anyone happen to have a way to compare this mei with an authenticated version? I am a novice when it comes to art swords.I truly appreciate the help.

Regards,Geoff

[SteveM]

Hello Geoffrey,

 

Plug in Takada ju Fujiwara Munekage into a search engine and see if you get any hits that appear with NBTHK papers. If that doesn't work, try the Japanese version, which Sebastien has provided above. 

When I did this, one of the hits I got was the link below. It isn't certified, but the seller says he/she will guarantee it to pass NBTHK.

http://www.ricecracker.com/inventory/c1_katana_munekage/c1_katana_munekage.html

This signature is quite different from yours, particularly the 景 kage kanji. 

 

Dig a bit deeper and you can find a certified Munekage on ebay, that has a significantly different signature, one that looks more in line with yours.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WAKIZASHI-ANTIQUE-Japanese-SWORD-NBTHK-TOKUBETSU-KICHO-SIGN-MUNEKAGE-EARLY-EDO-/131719320774?rmvSB=true&nma=true&si=JH19JdVe4wI4nc9JF765DuxRRuo%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

At this point I start to wonder how many Munekages there were. I would look into one of the swordsmith databases that are linked somewhere on one of the links at the top of this page, to find out more. I can't say anything more than the signature on your swords kind of looks like the one being sold on ebay. What you ought to be doing though is looking at the sword itself, and looking up in a good reference to see if your sword has any characteristics of a Munekage sword (other than the signature). The Connoisseur's Guide (forget the actual name) is a very good reference for this. If your sword has the same characteristics as a Munekage sword, submit it for shinsa. 

[Geoffrey Ward]

Hello Steve M,Thank you very much for the generous leads! I will continue digging I certainly appreciate your time and guidance.

 

Regards,Geoff 

[Ken-Hawaii]

 

Would anyone happen to have a way to compare this mei with an authenticated version?

Geoff, as you get more experience, you will repeatedly encounter this advice: "Buy the blade, NOT the signature." The fact that you have submitted photos of the nakago alone tells me that you likely haven't checked out the sugata (first thing to look closely at), let alone jigane or hamon. May I refer you to Markus Sesko's excellent writeup on kantei: https://markussesko.com/2015/02/06/kantei-introduction/.

 

There's a lot of information available on most smiths, Geoff, but there's a definite methodology when it comes to identifying their work.

 

Ken

 

[Geoffrey Ward]

Hello Ken,Thank you for the link it is very interesting and I will definitely dig into it.As I am attempting to take the next step into educating myself beyond military swords I certainly appreciate any help and advice that is offered!

 

Regards,Geoff 

[TKarpo]

Is this topic still of interest to you? I have a wakizashi with the same mei, but just five kanji instead of the full 8 or 9 that you have. So just "Hōshū Ju Munekage". Did they sometimes put an abbreviated mei on the short blade of a set? I could post pictures, if you want. I haven't yet determined whether mine is from the Bungo Munekage of the 1590s or the Bungo Munekage of the 1640s. But my mei is very much like yours, and very much unlike the Munekage in the ricecracker link someone posted above.

 

Hilary