Mumei wakizashi, possible Sendai Kunikane school

[SAS]

I bought this sword recently; it had some condition issues, but the price was tempting. After some cleaning I was able to see some features that lead me to Yamato den, Hosho or Sendai Kunikane school as a provisional identification. My photos do not really show the features well that led me to this idea; i will try to get better ones.

Nagasa 49 cm, motohaba 3 cm, sakihaba 2 cm, chu kissaki 3 cm, nakago 13.5 cm, nakagojiri iriyamagata, sujikai yasurimei with kesho, chu suguha hotsure hamon, ko maru boshi, masame jigane (hard to see) steel whitish in ko nie deki, nijuba, uchinoke, and hakikake visible. One small ware in ji, pitting in monouchi and kissaki, pitting/possible kirikomi on mune.

I am thinking it may be middle generation Sendai Kunikane school based on the attributes and the shape of the nakagojiri,mid to  later Shinto. Please share your thoughts, especially Peter.

[SAS]

Sugata photo..... it also has a nice silver/copper 2 piece habaki.

[SAS]

A few more non great photos...

[Vermithrax16]

Steve, I think you have the era correct, shape and stoutness of the blade say Kanbun era or around there to me.

 

As a masame hada lover, I would love to see the grain on this one, but I can't in the pictures. I know how hard it is to capture for sure! So I can't offer any real input as to Kunikane work.

[Peter Bleed]

Well, gee. As Jeremiah said, we really need better information on the hada. Pending that, I would respectfully endorse your assessment. Still, there are a couple of factors that suggest it is NOT a Sendai shinto. If you are seeing real nijuba, that would point me to koto Yamato den. And the nakago does not look like Kunikane style, It could be cut down, of course, but the file work looks,  ahhh, relaxed. Also it looks like the blade has been substantially thinned. Pre-shinto, mebbe???

Cries for shinsa.

And Thanks.

P

[SAS]

The yasurimei has kesho, which is a Shinto trait as far as I know, and the blade is heavy, which also points to Shinto. As you point out, it seems to be thinned from polishing, so it must have really been a beast when new. Some of the later generations of Kunikane school kaji had pointier iriyamagata nakagojiri like mine; my working hypothesis was this was a unsigned student sword destined for the armory. I might take this with me next month and show it to Bob Benson, if he is available.

[SAS]

The masame run like bright lines in the ha, ji, and shinogiji, but are very hard to see....I may not be able to photograph it., but will try.

[SAS]

More photo experiments; still no luck capturing the masame, which run like bright lines in the ha, ji, and shinogiji. At a certain angle of light, it is very apparent to the eye; also, some nijuba and other hataraki show discreetly.

[Vermithrax16]

Try to darken the room. Use a black or red background. Use the flash a touch away from a clear section of masame, then see what you have. You need to be closer or use zoom on phone.

 

Like this:

 

[SAS]

Thanks Jeremiah; I am using a Nikon auto focus DSLR that has no manual focus ability.  I will take some more photos later when it is not bright outside.

[Vermithrax16]

Yes, darker lighting and you need to get closer. Maybe Steven K or others can offer assistance with DSLR.

[SAS]

A few more, I think some of the activity is visible....

[SAS]

Like Peter and Jeremiah, I am leaning toward earlier than i originally thought, perhaps late Koto or early Shinto....or, another theory being something even earlier like a  katateuchi cut down for wakizashi use, done early enough that the nakago was altered to make it look original?

[Ken-Hawaii]

It's really hard to get Jeremiah's level of detail without a macro lens on a DSLR camera with manual focusing. I don't shoot photos with my phone, & so wouldn't bet against someone getting the shot with the latest iPhone or Samsung.

[BIG]

We had a Mino wakizashi, yamato base with soshu elements in nioi-deki in our last meeting. Whitish steel resulted from fine ji-nie, so maybe it's a Mino blade.

 

Best

[SAS]

Naoe Shizu came to mind from your comment, Peter, but there is no togariba, and the yasurime does not agree.

[SAS]

How about the possibility of Yamashiro den, late Muromachi?

[SAS]

I showed the sword to Bob Benson on my recent Hawaii trip; he thought it was Kanbun Shinto, reminiscent of the Izumo no kami Kunisada school; I had considered  that as well, but had thought it might be earlier.