Bruce Pennington

Scott, Really nice quality fittings on a custom blade. I don't know what the seller is asking but this item would run to the upper end of market prices, in my opinion. $1,200-1,800 USD (more if at auction). The large seki stamp puts the likely date of the blade in 1942. It's found on blades from 1940-1944, but he massive majority of them are in 1942. The more I study these, the stamp seems to be on really gorgeous blades. If they are showato, they are at least made very well and likely water-quenched, and maybe it's the type steel that sets them apart from being traditional. Maybe there is no folding? Who knows. But I'm being more and more impressed with the blades that have the large seki stamp. The Seki city website, in discussing the history of the city during the war, say that the swordmakers making showato were concerned about poor-quality showato hurting business. The Seki Cutlery Manufacturers Assoc began inspecting blades and stamping those that passed. So the implication is that stamped blades were showato. Ohmura's discussion of this supports the idea in that the tally chart of inspected/stamped blades did not include gendaito.

Adam, There is a known coloration some shops did to tsuba. Ohmura has a fine example found HERE: The one you found could be of this type. It looks like it's got age and wear, so probably not "monkey"ed on. But it also could be some sort of patination. The edges of some of the seppa seem to have the same coloration. Hard to say.

Those are military fitting so this forum is just fine. Beautiful blade by the way. To my knowledge the leather covered fittings were common throughout the war. I would not think this is a late war just because it’s leather covered. I have never heard or read personal stories from back then of guys that paid to have their family blade retrofitted. I have seen stories of shops that owned older blades and had them fitted for the war, so this could be a shop choice. But either option could have happened.

Thanks Dan, I missed that one! Gotta hand it to Komonjo, he posts multiple pictures and shows all the stamps. He even includes a pic of the nakago mune to show the lack of stamps.

I'm so new at this. I don't know if this is (or was) a popular art theme, or the Chinese ones are just copying a single one that they've spotted. I agree, this original is still better. Theirs looks cast.

Thanks Steve! I'm not able to read the rest, but I thought I'd seen such a mei before when the numbers are in the middle like that.

That stuff just makes my brain fizzle. The immediate reaction is "BUBBA!!!" But then look at the kabutogane. It looks old and worn. Could it be a Bubba re-paint over an original black? The red and white are Bubba in my opinion though. Yet we've see other discussion about red on yari and other blades that appear original.

So, I just came across this one on fleabay. It might be an example of patination. the metal parts seem to have been exposed to something that blackened the surface. You can see even the "silver" seppa got blackened around the exposed edges. The kabutogane and sayajiri are affected as well. Puzzling to me is the menugi seems unaffected (and habaki, but that could be explained by the fact it was inside the saya and protected). Enlarged, you can see the "staining" isn't uniform like a paint-job would be: So maybe @IJASWORDS has an explanation as to what would do this to brass. But his example I still believe is paint. You can see the layer of paint that was worn off:

That's some real quality workmanship. Thanks for posting!

I would have to first ask a metals guy - does brass blacken with age? If so, why aren't all WWII brass fittings, in our time now, black? Then, if patina, how could it have patinated so fast that the fittings then were dinged and scratched, bumped and scraped, back then to wear through that patina? Doesn't seem likely.

We haven't posted too many silver habaki yet, have we! Nice one. To me, one of the signs of great craftsmanship is the attention to detail. This guy took time to get the edges underneath:

Just a curiosity request, guys. This is being sold as a Kanefusa. Has a large seki stamp (which is going in my files) but I saw the "23" right in the middle of the mei. Is this one of those "Made by the 23rd generation so-and-so" kind of mei? The seller didn't provide a good full nakago shot. Just these sectioned cuts of it, sorry.

You will find every variation in this model. Real ray skin, artificial ray skin, canvas, paint. Here is a picture of the real ray skin on Omura’s site http://ohmura-study.net/752.html

No way! I know so little about metalworking. I wonder if the craftsman cut through the side as he worked? Or did he start with a hole in the side, and added the waves that curve into the empty space? I also wonder about the red. If that was original, or was added for some reason later.

I don't think we've touched on mon yet. Here's 3 Pietro posted from his visit to the NBTHK museum found HERE.

Thanks Jaime. I'm still a few weeks away from having some fun money. If it's still there then, I might have a go at it.

Yes of course. Just presented as another piece of evidence to add to the growing pile of evidence.

I realize my post of quotes from Leon Kapp was a bit confusing. They came from email conversations about star-stamped RJT blades and Leon's observations after polishing one. I listed his book so guys would know who he was, but the quotes weren't from the book. Sorry for any confusion!

Maybe caused by something it was exposed to? I just thought it was painted because of the straight line through one of the sakuras and how it follows the edge of the perimeter so perfectly (except for the sakura):

Yes, he responded yesterday (from one of my messages, don't know which one), and said he'd notify the owner. I just checked and he hasn't modified or removed the sale pages of either one, though.

Jaime, The fittings are legit! 1886 Cavalry Officer sword, Fuller & Gregory, pages 50-51: A bit rare. I'd love to own this! Also, that blade shape is a know shape (I'm terrible at nihonto) and I've seen a couple of these on various posts in the Nihonto forum. If I could find one, I'll post the link to it. I can't speak to the mei, but the officer that owned this wasn't concerned about that or he wouldn't have worn it. This is a legit very early cavalry sabre (Type 8?), late 1800s vintage.

Neil, the photo is from Ohmura's page: http://ohmura-study.net/998.html

Wow! It looks original, showing as much wear as the rest of the tsuba. Might very well lend some evidence that SMR had a shop making fittings, as some have suspected for a while. On another note, what the heck would cause that much wear to a tsuba? It looks like it was dragged behind a truck on a black-top road.

That's cool, John! I had to look at the others for a bit to see the difference, but I see it.

I apologize, guys, for hijacking this great thread with officer stuff. But it's the only one going, so hopefully we can work them both here. This one on a '43 Mantetsu Koa Isshin: Bad focus on the kabutogane, but it looks like it was painted black, too, but mostly worn off by now.