Prewar70

When looking through Roger's book, there are many things that are off with the signature but two things continued to catch my eye. The mei, in relation to the mekugi ana, it's unusual for this sword. And the Tada, what I would call the "j" looking stroke, it's sloping and curved. In almost all the oshigata I looked at 2nd Tadahiro signed with a very flat, angular, horizontal stroke, whether the sword smith himself or student.

Beautiful sword with provenance and pictured in a book, but not papered. Is the signature good or suspect? I'm not a bidder, simply wanted to see if anyone was interested in discussing. http://czernys.com/auctions_lot.php?oggetto=61514&asta=59

Here's a thought, what about using uchiko on an unpolished blade, to give it a light polish and perhaps over time, especially if you did it frequently, the process might enhance it?

Any recommendations on where to purchase here in the states? Thanks

Thanks for the help Steve. If I get a chance I'll post some pics of the set

What an incredible and beautiful sword. I'd love to see more pics if you feel up to it. Not sure how much you want to share but curious if this came from a dealer or private party. Was it hidden away in a collection for many years? I would think that a sword like this is on collectors' radar

Hey Grey take a look at that Hayne's Index book for the fuchi signature I'm looking for information on in the translation section! Thanks.

Don't want to beat a dead horse if nobody has any information on this smith. I did not find much to go off of using Toshimitsu. The fittings are good quality and the signature is nice, so hoping to find out more. Thanks.

Matt, I will hedge my bet here because this is all so new but I have been doing some reading on Tadayoshi . Please correct me where I'm wrong. Hizen kuni mutsu no kami fujiwara Tadayoshi. This is a rare signature for the Sandai to have used and not many examples. Maybe only used for a short time around 1660/61? Using Roger's extensive research, he signed fujiwara distinctly from the Shodai with a few different/extra strokes. And I believe the mutsu is somewhat unique when he signed using fujiwara too. Not sure if that is the historical piece you were referring to or not. I've seen this mei before, pulled it off the web somewhere and have a picture of it in my notebook. At least it looks almost identical to yours.

That looks right on John thank you. The mitsu looked more like a Z to me, like Moto shape . I will do some googling but if anyone is familiar with this artist or school please share.

Looks simple enough, but I'm at a loss. Thanks.

I thought that the entire 3rd kanji from the top is all of osafune. Sometimes I have seen it separated, top and bottom, but mostly together.

So here's the mei, and I think it is Bishu Osafune Sukesada. I'm starting to recognize some kanji, the Bishu Osafune is an easy one to remember. What is the 3rd kanji up from the bottom? I've seen this on other Bishu Osafune blades too.

Someone once said, "quantity, has a quality, all it's own."

Earlier this year 7 Ty Cobb baseball cards, worth over 1 million dollars, were founds in a crumbled, brown, paper bag while cleaning out a family members house. If I remember right, this doubled the number of known cards in existence. I think there are a lot of rare swords waiting to be discovered or lost forever. But they are out there.

You were never able to remove the tsuka! How would it look different, or would it? This is the question I ask myself as I struggle to read kanji and find a reliable method to solve the puzzles (but I'm working on it). A confident stroke of the chisel and patina seem easier for me to recognize even though the kanji look like a game of pick up sticks at the moment. And that's with a computer, books, and books on their way at my disposal. As I've seen reiterated here evaluate the sword, then look at the mei. But we are all human, and a nice looking signature creates a lot of influence. A good blade though is always a good blade, difficult to fake, regardless of what is under the handle.

Thanks for the help Jim

In the polishing documentary, are those polishers set up to receive swords from guys like us? Does anyone have contact information?

If anyone has information on this smith send it my way. I have found some, but very little. From the research section here, Shinto, 1st generation from Tegai school. Not highly rated by Hawley (if that matters), but I don't see any outstanding or ordinary examples of his work. The no kami title, "lord of", if I have it right. Is that important or as common as a vice president at a bank?

So I'm confused, but what's new. I was watching the documentaries on the other thread, all of them great. The one about the sword polishers was truly interesting. I had to rewind it when they began discussing what type of hamon was going to be polished. I believed that the hamon was determined by the smith, and how the clay was applied during tempering. Is it a combination of both the smith and the polisher?

I believe he wrote an article on identifying gimei work. Does anyone have a copy they can share or point me in a direction. Thank you.

Grey, I'm sending you a PM. If anyone else can assist with oshigata for this sword I would appreciate it.

Hey Grey is it snowing up there? Appreciate the translation. What do you know about this smith? I'm finding reference to Hirokane but not seeing any signatures to compare to. Seems like there are other smiths with that title Shinano no Kami that are better known.

Ian thank you. I'm posting some pictures, can you tell me which way these are slanting? If it's up and to the right it's very slight, I was thinking it would be more pronounced but I don't know for sure. One might not be 3rd generation.

I'm looking at a wak in gunto mounts and hoping you can help me with the translation. Thank you.