Assistance needed for sayagaki + mon

[DirkO]

Hi,

 

I came across this sayagaki from a mumei tanto from the kamakura era and I was wondering what it says, especially seeing there seems to be a badge of a clan-mon (Tokugawa?) attached. This is the first time that I see something like that on a shirasaya. Does it have a meaning, except maybe to designate one of the previous owners as a member of the clan ???

 

Any help is greatly appreciated...

 

 

more pics

http://www.genpuku.com/PICS/tanto/2.jpg

[Darcy]

What you have there is a tanto attributed to Shintogo Kunihiro.

 

The attribution reads Kamakura Junin Kunihiro.

 

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Shintogo Kunihiro is the son of Shintogo Kunimitsu and there may be two of this line using the name, and furthermore he may have become the second Shintogo Kunimitsu (the first gen Kunihiro that is).

 

Shintogo took the name Hasebe at some point, so it makes some arguments that the main line of Soshu descends down through Kunihiro to Hasebe Kunishige, Akihiro, and Hiromitsu, considering the names and shared characters and the use of the Hasebe name. That puts Masamune kind of on the side.

 

Anyway that's another discussion.

 

To the right you have Mumei Nagasa 8 Sun 9 bu, around 27cm so kind of large for a Kamakura tanto. The shape is a bit awkward for Shintogo Kunihiro, his father is the best maker of tanto to exist and he (Kunihiro) probably made a lot of those. I find this one, the nakago looks a bit strange and it widens quite a bit at the machi (looking back at it, some of this is an optical illusion caused by the lighting on the second sugata picture, it whites out the ha and just leaves the ji behind... giving the impression of more taper than is there). Also the horimono looks a bit more like something from the Nanbokucho period, something that makes me think more of Nobukuni though the sugata is not right for him either.

 

I think the nakago was probably bent into furisode shape.

 

I would have the tanto very closely examined though and since it is mumei it can be submitted to shinsa as-is. I would get a top level opinion about that bent nakago, if it is indeed bent (look for some marks at the crook where the angle abruptly changes, look for something that indicates it was crushed here by a fulcrum and maybe look for stretching on the opposite side). It could be made more gentle or fixed if this is not the natural state.

 

It is possible that this is a middle Muromachi tanto, the kind that was made by Kanesada (Nosada) in Mino, who made tanto as copies of Rai style, that would have this kind of nice suguba with a nice turnback, but would have just slightly awkward triangularish sugata.

 

The other possibility for a big tanto in this shape is Sa school but that is ruled out by the boshi.

 

If I were to bet, I would bet on it being one of these Rai copies that was altered to make it look more Kamakura period by bending the nakago and then having the horimono added. Then you attribute to Shintogo Kunihiro because that is kind of smarter than saying Shintogo Kunimitsu :-). My opinion, for what it is worth...

 

Do verify and get more opinions, definitely see about papers in case the above is BS and it ends up being Kamakura period. Hold out for that wish, if so it's a win no matter who it goes to.

[DirkO]

Thanks for the explanation, Darcy ! As always, I'm in awe of your knowledge Alas for me, it was snatched before my eyes, coz even if it was a Rai copy, I really liked it. I wanted to buy it, but the site was down, and by the time it was back up, it was too late. Ah well, hunting is a big part of the fun

[Darcy]

Well if it was on a site, then you should apply the rule of pragmatism. Someone probably already looked into it and figured that they could get more for it selling it as-is then by following through with papers.

 

A lot of the time people would rather buy into a mystery than into fact, part of the thrill of the hunt. Some dealers can and do take advantage of this, and I am aware of several situations where existing papers were thrown away or (failed) attempts to paper a blade were not revealed to buyers.

 

Always be skeptical.