Hello Everyone. I was hoping for some Mei signature help.

[Nate Stefan]

Hello Everyone,

 

I have been surfing this site for a while and greatly appreciate all of the kind info everyone posts here.

 

I am relatively new to Nihonto so I am sure I am going to come across as a simpleton.

 

I just bought a sword on ebay, I was not the winner of the auction but was contacted by the owner and after much assurance from the seller I bought the sword.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

 

It arrived as advertised but now I have more questions. Mostly about the signature. I suspicious of the blade and I am wondering what other people think.

 

I attached some photos of the date and signatures to help if you would be so kind.

 

I am sorry if it is improper of me to ask for this help and will not be offended if no help is offered.

 

Thankyou so much,

 

Nathan Stefan

[Ichi]

Tsuda Omi no Kami Sukenao was active during 1673-1688, and he is rated 150 Hawley's point which is classified as highly skilled smith. Not bad. Now, you gotta check if it's not gimei (false signature).

[Nate Stefan]

Thankyou very much for your help Ichi,

 

What would you consider the best way to go about finding out whether this is a gimei?

 

Again I greatly appreciate any help I can get.

 

Nate

[Ichi]

Hi Nate,

 

I am still at work and don't have books with me. I am sure our gurus are working on it. Hang'n in there.

[Nobody]

The date may be Enpo hachi nen hachi gatsu hi (延寶八年八月日). That is a day in Aug. 1680.

 

Other Sukenao: 津田近江守助直

FYI; http://www.touken-sato.com/web-gallery/sukenao.htm

The Mei resembles yours. However, I cannot judge the Mei of your katana.

[Nate Stefan]

Thank you very much Mr. Moriyama,

 

I greatly appreciate yours and Ichis' guidance. I never expected such a quick reply.

 

I wanted to buy a quality sword. I am always skeptical of getting a lucky buy on ebay :lol:

 

I will continue to look for more answers and enjoy the process.

 

Cheers,

 

Nate

[Nobody]

Hi Nate,

 

I found another Sukenao on the net. It is a Wakizashi made in 1692.

http://sinogi.ddo.jp/syasin/katarogu/15 ... nao-w.html

 

This one has an NBTHK paper (Tokubetsu Hozon).

[Nate Stefan]

Thank you again Mr. Moriyama,

 

The signature does seem similar to me but I don't have the qualifications to judge.

 

I believe the blade is in fairly good shape but it would need a polish to bring everything out.

 

Is the fact that it is not razor sharp a concern if it is not in perfect polish. Do blades loose their edge over time?

Sorry for the spam.

 

Nate

[Nobody]

Hi Nate,

 

The signature looks similar in its feeling. However, I think that there are several differences from the papered signature for each character. Also as for the date, 八 (hachi; eight) looks different to me.

 

I am a biginner and am not qualified to judge.

[Nate Stefan]

I agree and remain suspicious.

For me learning when and by whom it was "made" whether it is real or not was an important step. Thanks again for giving me all this info.

 

I am nowhere near sofisticated enough to tell the differences between real and fake signatures yet.

 

You guys rule,

 

 

Nate

[kusunokimasahige]

any pics of the blade itself?

 

KM

[Stephen]

the first link shows the blade here it is again

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

 

The seller is Eric Molinier he puts alot of swords on ebay, usually good quality gunto and a few now and then koto shinto and shinshinto, knowing Eric this is gimei or it would have went to one of is private buyers, then theres that ware.

[kusunokimasahige]

Thank you Stephen,

 

Its quite a ncie blade, I think that with a proper polish it will shine!

 

gimei or not...

 

KM

[Nate Stefan]

I really liked the blade and all the fittings on this sword. You are probably right about it being a gimei. That doesn't bother me so much. I just want to learn more about it if possible.

 

You guys are awesome,

 

Cheers

 

Nate

[QuangD]

Nate Stefan,

 

Some of the people in here are very knowledge in older period sword. In addition, they have sharp eye in details of the some famous smith work. Can you post the pictures of the whole sword for us to examine. Many times, the details of forging skills and characteristics in the sword confirm the signature.

 

If you refers us back to the auction then the pictures are not showing up after the auction.

 

Considering you are lucky, sometimes the second or third person on the lists got scammed on ebay by someone else instead of the original owner.

 

The signature does not look right to my reference book.

[Nate Stefan]

Hello Mr. Doan,

 

Sorry for the late reply, I am very grateful for all of the help I have recieved here and can't say enough about the kindness shown to me. People on here are extremely knowledgeable.

I want to post some more pics but I don't want to choke up the servers with large images. I will gladly send you and email with all the pics I have of the sword. My email is nathan_stefan@hotmail.com.

 

I really didn't purchase the sword for any other reason than I love Japanese swords. This one caught my eye and made the decision to get it

 

You're right about ebay auctions and buying outside of ebay. I did ask him to send pics that weren't in the listing and asked several questions before I sent the money.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to check the signature and replying to me. I want to know as much as I can about the sword as Ican, real/fake mei or not.

 

Thanks again,

 

Nate

[Ichi]

Hi Nate,

 

It's so difficult to appraise the blade even for the experts. This dealer used to do it for $40-50 fee and advise you whether it's geniune or gimei. But he is too busy now.

 

http://aoi-art.com/

 

Best bet is to join a nearby sword group and wait until the NBTHK shinsa comes. Guess there was a peaceful period during Edo when all samurai wanted show off his 'fake Rolex', and that's why they are so many Sukenaos. Hope it's a real one.

[Stephen]

the pix still work for me and it is a lovely sword and at that price he got a good deal id say. hard to find a shinto sword for under two K here are some pix i lifted from the auction.