Altered Nakago

[Thekirsh]

I was just wondering about changes made to the nakago.

 

It is well known not to clean,cut,sand or alter the nakago as it will dramatically reduce the value of a piece but what if it has been done as per the photo attatched ?

Is it just classed as suri-age or o-surage ?

Is its value reduced and to what degree ?

Thanks Simon

[eugene walton]

[Rich T]

"made in China" Eugene ???????. It is signed Kawachi no Kami Yasu ??. Looks like it is signed in the Japanese style, it may or may not be Shoshin but I think it is a real Japanese sword.

 

Simon, I would guess this is a Shinto sword that has been altered to allow it to accommodate WW2 sword fittings, most likely Kyu gunto mounts ( not my field but I think an ok guess) Is the end of the nakago threaded by chance ?, more images of the whole nakago, and the whole sword in fact would be handy.

 

Cheers

 

Richard

[eugene walton]

when I saw this sword on e-bay I didn`t think it was the real thing

[Henry Wilson]

Jeepers!!

 

Never seen anything like that before! A bit drastic if you ask me..... Why is the end threaded?

[Rich T]

http://home.earthlink.net/%7Esteinrl/civilian.htm

 

See the mounts here on Rich Stein's site. These swords have a threaded nakago for bolting on the tsuka. I think this is what the nakago was altered to fit.

 

The fittings look legit to me, and the sword may well be as well. It looks like it has been re mounted several times

 

Cheers

 

Rich

[Stephen]

and early on I was going to go after it, cant now as I'm in boycott of Ebay, absolutely it was mounted in Kyu-gunto then to Shin-gunto as far as the mei goes its looking pretty good. Why not add the Ebay link for all to see now.

[Thekirsh]

When I saw the sword on ebay I guessed it was shinto but had reservations on bidding as I was not sure if the nakago alteration had devalued the blade and therefor asked the question.

Eugene, is the auction still going? I didnt put a watch on it due to my reservations.

Simon

[Stephen]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Japanese-SAMURAI-SW ... dZViewItem

 

its nakago is part of its history, some might want to cut the altered end off but i think it shold be left on polished and put into shirasaya with the gunto mounts having a tsunagi.

 

the mei may have read

Kawachi no Kami Yasuyie 1848 or

Kawachi no Kami Yasunaga worked 1661-81 with out the minamoto do to it being a wak

 

could be a nice little peace of history

[Thekirsh]

Thanks Stephen, sounds like good advice to me.Lets see if it stays at a reasonable price ( not likely on Ebay !! )

Since we are talking Kawachi,I have a wak " kawachi no kami kunisada"

and would like to find some infomation on the smith.Any ideas?

Simon

[Justin]

Possibly 'Kawachi no Kami Fujiwara Kunisada' from Iwashiro? Shinto period. KUN898 in Hawleys. 2nd generation. Large midare. 25 points.

 

Other than that I can't find much about him.

[Grey Doffin]

The altered nakago does seriously affect the value of the sword. Just off the top of my head and for instance (not talking about this particular sword): if a sword would be worth $3,000 with an ubu nakago, it might be worth only $2,000 or even less with the nakago as shown.

Grey

[Thekirsh]

Thanks guys.

Simon