Precious 'Date' Family Tanto by Sendai Kunikane

[nagamaki - Franco]

https://nihontoart.com/shop/precious-date-family-tanto-by-sendai-kunikane/

 

What's not to enjoy.

[Brian]

Oh my goodness! Look at that hamon and masame!
Peter Bleed, where are you?
Wow...I love it.

[Valric]

I also enjoyed looking at this piece. I find the Koshirae very attractive. 

 

Not sure who exactly is the maker of the blade. Sendai Kunikune appears to be both a maker and a school. 

[Wim V]

According to the tag in the pictures it's by the 13th generation Sendai Kunikane, so should be made somewhere between 1847 and 1881.

[Peter Bleed]

Well gee! This is a fabulous little sword. I can only think of 18 thousand reasons not to own it. Indeed, the 13th generation was a fairly interesting guy. He died at the age of 61 in Meiji13 so that was - what - 1880. He was active in Bakumatsu times, but this sword makes it look like the Date Daimyo were as "active" at that time. This clearly was made as an important guy's sword.

Like I said, WOW.

Peter

[Ken-Hawaii]

I like the blade far more than the koshirae. Jeremiah should like that masame, too.

[Peter Bleed]

I have enjoyed looking at this blade. It is very impressive and I look forward to reading more about it as additional information is posted. I wonder, however, if I am the only observer who gets an older vibe from this sword. It doesn't look like a bakumatsu blade to me -- IMHO.

Peter

[nagamaki - Franco]

Definitely made to look older, look forward to shinsa results???

[TETSUGENDO]

Totally appropriate for the time of its creation, even the koshirae has a slight "archaic" nuance.  It's a gorgeous blade, mounted in a subtle elegant style....the perfect presentation.

 

-S-

[Vermithrax16]

I have been studying this one for a few weeks. This is a sweet offer Nick has up.

 

I am still a newbie on koshirae so I can only say that I really like the set. It's far too intricate a work for me to offer any real thoughts or analysis on.

 

13th gen Kunikane works are seldom seen (or at least seems that way to me). Aoi has a nice katana up by this smith ( https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-ou-kakae-masatomo-oushu-sendai-ju-kunikane-saku-kore-13-th-generation/ ). What I LOVE about this tanto is at the kissaki the masame lines condense and then turn UP and out the mune. Throw back to Hosho masterpiece works. The blade seems period correct to my eyes, though the execution level is high, so maybe seems like an older work? Later Kunikane gens did not display the nie deposition that the best masame smiths often feature, and that's really the only thing missing here.

 

If the providence can be documented, it's a historical and important piece. 

[lonely panet]

It's a real gem, and at that price...

Can't find the wetdream emoji Brian

 

How long would I have to do WORK EXPERIENCE to pay that off

 

Hahaha

[Peter Bleed]

Since we're on the topic, ...

Here are a couple of snapshots of Kunikane signatures that we could use - not as any kind of a standard - but as a place to begin consideration of 13th generation signatures. My opinion has been that both of these are by KK 13. Neither has been shinsa'd.

Peter

[Vermithrax16]

Peter, responded via DM

[Jean]

My friend Nick has always fantastic combinations of sword with Koshirae, not Darcy’s level but among the top 5 Western Nihonto dealers

[Valric]

I like that he focuses on getting attractive packages of a sword and its Koshirae. Nick puts a big premium on cutting tests, interesting horimono, beautiful Koshirae and all sorts of things which add to the collectibility of a blade. He also offers great deals to members of this forum. 

[Surfson]

Gorgeous blade and I love the mounts too.  Does it have papers?  

[lonely panet]

Nick has said it's just been submitted for

TH . That really just gets better the more I look at it. How needs a kidney????

[Valric]

It's already TH. It objectively ticks all the boxes. 

 

The problem for the western market is that 18K is too expensive for hozon. 

 

So Nick is forced to spend 500$ in transportation and shinsa fees just to get the TH paper. It's hassle and its expensive. 

 

This sort of thing makes me happy I'm not a nihonto dealer. 

[Surfson]

Sorry, question about papers referred to the koshirae.  

 

I think the vast majority of the value is in the mounts (what is the blade worth, even with TH? - which he says is at shinsa now for TH).  Apparently the mounts are signed goto somewhere, and though the quality is there, at that price, one would want NBTHK papers on the koshirae (not to mention seeing the mei and knowing that it applies to the entire en suite set) and a solid attribution.  

 

It is really gorgeous, all the way around though, and I also like it because I have a connection to Date and Sendai, having spent some time in Sendai and having a Sendai sword discussed in another thread.