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Bruce Pennington

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Everything posted by Bruce Pennington

  1. Bruce Pennington
    Thanks Piers! Guess HB had it right from the start.
  2. Bruce Pennington
    Let’s see if we can get a Japanese resident to ID these trees- @Bugyotsuji Piers, what do you think?
  3. Bruce Pennington
    Dang!
  4. Bruce Pennington
    I sent the pictures to Richard Fuller, and here are his thoughts: ”Hi Bruce I think its late war. I have one where the scabbard chape is entirely celluloid although the upper mount is brass. The grip appears to be proper same. The navy had to make swords and daggers for the last officer draft so the shortage of materials may well have necessitated faux materials”
  5. Bruce Pennington
    Hoping to hear from guys that collect these. Looks legit in age, but never seen one with fully molded celluloid tsuka. Richard Fuller has one that used celluloid for the fittings, but don't know if this is along those lines or not. Here's Richard's We also know that Tenshozan was making and selling souvenir dirks after the war, but have no idea what they looked like as we've never seen one with the Army PX sales certificate.
  6. Bruce Pennington
    Seeing these on fully civil swords seems to support Thomas' ( @Kiipu) idea that these were mass produced fittings during the war that were being used by both civilian buyers and Gunzoku.
  7. Bruce Pennington
    I used to own this one, but I traded it to Ernie @Stegel. Pretty sure it's the thicker one. I'll see if I can get a measurement from him.
  8. Bruce Pennington
    Oh, I see what you mean! Thanks for the added photo.
  9. Bruce Pennington
    Yes, several things together can point to war fittings. Can’t see the kabutogane very well in your first photo. But if it’s plain, I certainly would agree with you. With the earlier date of the blade, then, it might have spent most of the war in a civilian home and later donated to the war. Or it might simply have just been re-fitted at some point due to damage.
  10. Bruce Pennington
    I've never seen a nakago with that type of finish. Does anyone think the mei is legit? I don't see a "Kane" there, but I'm not great at mei reading.
  11. Bruce Pennington
    That's a really good question, George, and one I don't know the answer to. Maybe John - @PNSSHOGUN - knows.
  12. Bruce Pennington
    Here's a unique haikan, posted by @Marcel HERE.
  13. Bruce Pennington
    Curious why you think the fittings are late war? I have 26 of his blades on file, and 4 of them were in civil fittings refitted for the war. It doesn't get talked about very often, but there were plenty of swords made during the war that were sold and fitted in the civilian market. Then, they found their way into the war effort and had the military refit, in varying degrees. I admit that haikan is really crude. Is that what seems late war?
  14. Bruce Pennington
    And that is a Tenzoshan souvenir on the table. Can you get photos?
  15. Bruce Pennington
    It’s like coming across a garage 1953 Corvette. From a mechanical and engineering perspective they were crap. But it’s the first of the series. Everyone wants the first of any series. I have mine!
  16. Bruce Pennington
    @PNSSHOGUN, John will step in and help with the 94 vs 98 question. From what I can see, with the offset chuso (latch button) and thinner tsuba, I'd guess this was made as a Type 98. The 94s had a thicker tsuba (handguard) and centered chuso. The second haikan (belt hanger) was removable and many were discarded by the owners, or lost over time by collectors, so that by itself isn't a great determiner, unless of course it is still present!
  17. Bruce Pennington
    Just saw these on a screensaver. They are dragon blood trees, but they are found in Yemen. Wonder if Japan has anything similar?
  18. Bruce Pennington
    Any idea what the images are? Dragons? Clouds?
  19. Bruce Pennington
    That's great, Leonidas! Following!
  20. Bruce Pennington
    Shame there's no date on the other side. But 3/4 of the blades with the Showa stamp are undated. Thanks Dee! Lance, this is a WWII Japanese officer sword, either a Type 94 or 98. Fittings shot might help tell the difference. If in Type 94 fittings, the blade could have been made between 1935 and 1938, as that is when this model came out. Most blades with the stamp, that have dates, were made in 1940-41.
  21. Bruce Pennington
    Ah, just the lighting then.
  22. Bruce Pennington
    Sam, Here's a really early aluminum handle 95. Found by @Bob in Ohio. Don't know if he got more shots or not:
  23. Bruce Pennington
    And if the 70% rule of thumb still applied in that year, then there were 344 smiths working in the whole country. Great find, Thomas!
  24. Bruce Pennington
    Wow!!!!
  25. Bruce Pennington
    Terrific! Please let us know if and when you find out anything.
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