Jump to content

Bruce Pennington

Gold Tier
  • Posts

    10,762
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    127

Everything posted by Bruce Pennington

  1. It can’t be a coincidence that it matches the zigzag pattern of army general tassels. I bet some admirals got a private contractor to make these for them.
  2. Well shoot!!! The links weren't to Doug's site, they are to Antique swords. com! I got a brain-fart when I saw them and my head said "Gunto Art Swords". So Doug had nothing to do with these. He did respond and said as much. SORRY! As to why "WE" are talking about these ..... [sigh...] ..... you guys have been around for long enough to know the answer to that. Should be " 'nough said", but for the new guys that may not have read THIS discussion over and over - WE are discussing this because we enjoy "Military Swords of Japan." WWII didn't just have a beginning .. it had an end too. I study WWII, beginning to end. I find all aspects of the Japanese sword production, from beginning to end, fascinating, and I enjoy them all. Yes, the late-stage gunto are Mucho Ugly, but they were part of the story. Lives were spent making them, and many of those craftsmen died under Allied bombs while serving their country. To me it's not just about the sword, it's about the people as well. It's about respect. Whew! Got that out of my system .... SO, Still chasing down the emblem on the tsuka. No positive ID yet.
  3. I see that. It's too small an lacking detail to make it out. Same with the tiny stamp (which seems to be different) on the nakago.
  4. Thanks for the links Peter! I agree, exact same. I wrote to Doug at Gunto Art Swords to see if he can give us his source for claiming the model came out in 1938 as an NCO early prototype. I'll update when he responds. His reference to pg 78 of F & G is a discussion of what we now call the Rinji Seishiki, or Type 3. This version is clearly not a Rinji seishiki. We have 1945 dated blades in standard RS fittings. These are more inline with the loosening of mil specs in the final year of the war. The identical-ness of the growing example, though, does imply they were all made by the same shop or factory. I wish we could find one with an inspector stamp. It would help pin down a location of manufacture.
  5. I'm with you on this. The mumei blades are in the 1945 serial number range and are only found in the unique late war fittings only found with Mantetsu blades. Whether the fittings were actually made by SMR or simply by a contractor working exclusively for SMR is unknown, but they fit the end-of-the-war discussion about how Japan was transferring sword production out of the mainland and had loosened the mil specs on everything in an effort to keep the supply coming. This late war variation appears to be the last of the Mantetsu line.
  6. Here's one I can't find. Comes on a possible late-war gunto HERE Stephen found these, and they seem to be the same:
  7. Thanks Inna! I'll get some guys to look at that mon. Steve can comment on the blade, but I like it. I'll get back when I get word on the mon.
  8. Brian listed this exact type blade in the Fake Blades post in the Gallery.
  9. I can't speak to who made this, but I've always loved this style blade. This is quite gorgeous!
  10. Inna, still with us? Could we get a clear, close-up of that emblem on the menugi I had enlarged in post #12? Also a good clear close-up of the blade tip and a section of the blade showing the temper line? Brian, what do you think of moving this thread to the Military Section?
  11. I have always wondered about that too. Mal Cox' survey of 426 oshigata found only half had dates, and in my meager survey of around 200, only half are dated. There are a higher percentage dated after 1942 when the Army took over all sword production. Of the Seki stamped blades after 1942, 72 are undated and 62 are dated, compared to the Showa stamped blades where 102 are undated vs 26 dated.
  12. Don't put any weight on my opinion on this, as I'm usually wrong about the smiths, but if that's a Seki stamp at the top, maybe it's this one:
  13. Still, yours may be heading more in the right direction. The number of rays, for Japanese police badges, in Dawson's book, are 5, or 8, or, 16 (one odd one with 6). This one seems to have 9. I don't know if the Manchuko govt used police. If so, could this be a Manchukou?
  14. I can't find that mon (though I'm not the best at finding them!), but it reminds me of the early Army sun-ray pattern found on a couple of custom kyu, recently. Nick Komiya said the pattern was army, with a large "org" in the center. Smaller orb was for police. Discussed HERE on Warrelics.
  15. I'm looking into the mon, too. Chinese fakes don't have mon on the menugi.
  16. I've enhanced the last 2 shots. I've short on time today, but I'd like to continue this later. The kabutogane looks legit late-war and the nakago is made much better than what we normally see in fakes. But I's still bothered by that "Made by" stamp. How is the fit with the tsuka (handle) and tsuba/seppa (handguard and spacers) set? Is it tight or loose? Would still like a closeup of the blade tip.
  17. Well, I’m pretty sure they were not doing this during World War II. But I could be wrong.
  18. Jesse, Thanks for the link. This one is TRYING to look like the ones above, i.e. Army fuchi, but failed badly. Now I don't know what to think about this one. I knew the habaki looked crude, from the beginning. At best, this is something made in China during the war, late in the war. We have been dealing with the topic for some time. Without better pics of the blade and nakago, it's impossible to say if this falls into that group or is just fakery. (pics posted to save for future when auction site is lost)
  19. Dale could be right. Is this yours? or pictures from a seller? I'd really like to see clearer pics of the tsuka (handle), close-up of the blade tip, and clear close-ups of the nakago (tang). It has many characteristics of a late-war island-made sword (like the canvas same'). But the gold stamp yells "Chinese fake". Maybe one of the translators can come in on that stamp? The island-made swords don't usually come with the round, plate, tsuba either. At best, an unknown; at worst a fake.
  20. Thanks James! That was a good add to the database. So far, all blades triple-marked - 2 on nakago 1 on mune - are in the 1944-45 date range, and almost all are made by RJT smiths. Your Nagamitsu and Niel's Norinaga aren't listed on the Japaneseswordindex RJT page, but they could have missed their source data somehow. No star, so probably not traditionally made.
  21. Mark, I assume you've gotten the smith name already, but just in case, I make it to be: 兼清 (Kanekiyo) Also - no date on the other side? If not, it is most likely 1940-41, though could be earlier or later, but the massive majority of Showa stamped blades are '40-'41. To call it a shingunto would be appropriate. It simply means "New Gunto" (gunto - army sword). By the showa stamp, we know it's "New" and by the leather cover, we know it was brought, or sold, or donated to the army for the war. So, it was a new, army sword! B.E.A.Utiful blade, by the way!
  22. Don't want to duplicate a thread, but I thought I'd let guys know (that may not prowl all the forums) about the STAMPED NUMBERS ON HABAKI thread on the "Tosogu" forum. It's an old thread I've resurrected. Since it was already on Tosogu, I left it there, rather than asking to transfer it to Military. I'm open to suggestion on that, as I doubt there are stamped numbers on civil habaki.
×
×
  • Create New...