Jean

Hi Jeremy, Very difficult to say, but I would like to make a reminder. If you want to get an advice, you first have to fill a form of this kind www:http://home.earthlink.net/%7Esteinrl/swrdinv.htm Then give 3 others pictures : - Nakago - Kissaki - Monouchi I'll try to enlarge your picture but no enough definition. The nakago has suffered but seems to be intact. It seems old enough to be koto. It has one mekugi ana but the nakago is quite long. Hataraki are interesting and makes me think of my Kamakura Enju (ko ashi) and by some aspects makes me think of Rai school. In short Koto rather than Shinto. Kissaki is rather long, but boshi does not seem to be jizo The hamon is a mixture of Gunome midare beginning with a bit of suguha The nioiguchi seems to be thick, Is it nie deki or nioi deki? Let's dive : Late Koto, beginning Shinto : Azuchi Momoyama - perhaps Mino or Bizen (because of the boshi) :D Have I forgotten any of the Gokkaden :lol:

Hi Stephan, The purpose of this form of tanto was : To cut throat on the battle field as it has 2 cutting edges, it is easier to use back and forth. And generally, they are very thik and were use as Yoroi doshi, piercing armour. Very much in use during the 16th century, look at this one : http://www.aoi-art.com/sword/tanto/07071.html

Hi Max, Though not impossible, katakiriba is seldom see in Soshu tradition.

Hi Max, The blade, as shown in the pictures, seems incredibly healthy (though needing polish) ===> Nambokucho/Muromachi, An early Kamakura blade with its use should be much more worn out (there are always exceptions - In fact, it is a rule in Nihonto)

Hi Max, It is a nagamaki naoshi and not a naginata naoshi. You won't get any boshi like that on a reshaped naginata. Blades like this were common in Koto, I would say end of Nambokucho beginning of Muromachi. Suguha, be my guest, Yamato or again Kyushu school...

Hi Max, I was just having a glance, too much work. Nice sword in need of polish, from pictures, it seems that the blade is katakiriba . That is a start to make some research. I'll say end of Muromachi, this suguta uncommon if not rare was encountered mainly among Kyushu schools

Great Job Darcy, I have already mailed you this morning to reserve 2 books. Sorry NMB guys, but as French representing Europe, I am prioritary :D :D :D Take care

Milt, My heart is crying for your misfortunes BTW, splendid this tsuba

In all films, you can see this kind of errors, Heroes wearing their wrist watches in 17th action movies. My best one (I dig western movies) is from Sergio Leone's movie "The good, the Bad and the Ugly). The very Bad Lee van Cleef has a 44 Remington 1859 model cap-and-ball revolver and his belt is full of cartridges ... Not a surprise he gets killed at the end of the movie, he did not deserve to live as a bounty hunter .... :lol: :lol: :lol: too careless

Stever, I wish I could, in fact it's a very good idea. I am going to spare one $ a year and after 5000 years I'll have enough money to buy one :lol: :lol: :lol:

What shall I do in 5000 years, if I am remain alone on earth (if it is still there) without you my NMB friends

Dear Unknown, I would place this sword late Tegai sue Koto, some distinct features belonging to Yamato : High shinogi, Nie deki suguha. Nevertheless, We have no idea of the kitae which is a stong kantei point, we have no indication on the hamon, but the hamon should be hoso suguha or it is almost hirosuguha. Futhermore the hamon should be O midare with more nioi than nie and very tight. But as Nihonto as was saying late Jim Kurrash is full of exception, I'll stick to sue Tegai (based on the Nakago and the rust). The sword seems very healthy from the kissaki picture, but (probably too much drink) I see as a small hamon line 5 mm under the marked one.

Thanks a lot Pete (and good news for me

Hi Benkyoka, I have seen the Nagasa length on the torokusho but not the total blade length .... The best thing is to fill in the form at Dr Stein's website and give the distance between the 1st and Third Mekugi ana. http://home.earthlink.net/%7Esteinrl/swrdinv.htm I take this opportunity to ask all NMB members (hoping Brian does agree) when requesting an opinion (mine is unworthy), to attach this Inventory sheet which is quite exhaustive and attached 4 pictures of the blade, unless your picture are as good as Darcy's one : - Nakago close-up picture - kissaki close-up picture - whole blade picture - a close up picture of the monouchi

Hi Mr Benkyoka, We lack data about your sword (over all length, nakago length, distance between the 2 mekugi ana) it seems it is O suriage, from the picture it looks like there is a high shinogi but I can be misraken by my eyes. The Nakago colour seems to indicate a much older sword than WWII. The Kanji uses for Kane is the on from Yamato school. Kanenaga is a famous lineage of Tegai, one of the five Yamato schools Refer to the following link : http://www.nihonto.com/fwb8.html For more information have a look at Bob Cole site (outstanding) http://www.sho-shin.com/yam8.htm

This one is Katana size 8X8 cm Tsuruta san told me : "many school tried to make this kind of design. Higo, Syoami, Akasaka and so on" Any idea?

Thanks a lot to all, From your answer Rich, I could say it's a real lesson on line. They are both coming from Fine Sword. Next time, I shall try to make an overall view, then one of the Hitsu ana and one of the Rim. Sorry Rich, I was lazy and too tired to write "or" so I put a "/" between Higo, Akasaka.I know by name the different Tsuba schools but nothing of their subbranches. I know Higo as a school but I did not Know that Higo was just the name of the location (province) of different schools: Kamayoshi, Jingo ... Now I shall post another one, not a great one but it was my dream from years ago to have one (it comes from Aoi Art) Last question : What is a Higo Koshirae? I have noticed for years that the only time a koshirae as an attribution it is always a Higo one? and what are the characteristics? because it seems to cover very different style. Concerning the first tsuba I don't like the Kogai hitsu ana (sorry Milt) Concerning the second one, why two Kogai hitsu ana?

Hi Milt, I have not seen a lot of bizen swords with so much kinsuji/sunagashi. Bungo (wakimono) a mix of Bizen/Soshu .........

For Milt, Rich .... I have bought 2 tsubas. Are they both Higo or Higo/Akasaka? And as I am a learner on Line (LOL :lol: :lol: ) what is the diffrence of the 2 schools in this kind of tsuba. A friend of mine told me it was a question of rim ...

I would not say broken kissaki (boshi is visible on the pictures), probably a big accident (hagire, dent) slightly under the the Monouchi. It makes the sword either a very powerfull waki or a katana. That's All Folks (Merry Melodies'Music :lol: :lol: )

Milt, I just PM you :D :D :D

HI Milt, PM what is your price for this tsuba and if it is in my budget we strike the deal (Must be possible as the reserve is not met). My budget is limited because I must keep on feeding myself with Foie Gras, DuckBreast and drinking Bordeaux or Burgundy :lol: :lol: :lol: BTW, if you ever come to Paris, I'll cook you a real French meal

Milt, As a French representative I must strongly protest. Life in France is not so expensive, Foie Gras is very common (I cook my own) and duck breast is almost everyday food. This leads me to think you are probably exagerating (I won't call you a liar but perhaps a braggart), and the ultimate proof is that the tsubas on sale are only Waki size and not katana size (so the bill is not so high) :lol: :lol: :lol: BTW, though too small for me, I love the Masasada. If it is not sold, we can reach an agreement. (Unfortunately, I have my weaknesses too )

Hi Reinier, I have people at home which are very interested in the futon :lol: :lol: :lol:

Hi Mike, A wild guess, I would place it between Tenbun and Tensho (1532 - 1573).