Ray Singer

Looks like a mushikui theme (worm-eaten trails). That is my interpretation at least. Shoami Shigenobu specialized in this motif for tsuba, but I do not recall offhand seeing this treatment in a fuchigashira.

The Shibata Ka has been withdrawn by the owner, who intends to have the piece given a new polish in Japan. Please archive this post. Thanks all who looked at this piece... Kind regards, Ray

Thanks everyone. This piece is still available. Any questions, please let me know. Best regards, Ray

Curran, I believe that what you were seeing is the natural starting point for the utsuri. If I remember correctly this is discussed in Nakahara.

Definitely signed Izumi no kami Kanesada. 和泉守兼定

Yes, kazuuchimono were not being made by the early Muromachi Bizen smiths. The Bishu "rule" is not applicable to swords of that time. Kansho Norimitsu was one of the best Muromachi Bizen smiths.

The mei does appear to read Munetada. As Jean said, I would be helpful to see the entire nakago.

If I were to take a stab in the dark, my impression is that the mei previously read Kunihiro.

I agree that this does look like a Sue-Mino tanto. Nakago shape is similar to Sue-Soshu as well. Appears to be one in which a gimei was intentionally made unreadable.

Omar, I was only briefly in the shinsa room and cannot speak to what was submitted. The most interesting item I heard about was a massive yari which was submitted on Friday and took two hours to complete the oshigata. A few photos from the show attached.

I have always attended these shows as a collector and have never had a table. This year was the same and the best aspect of these shows for me is the social one, connecting with friends from around the country and internationally that I may only have a chance to see once or twice a year. From that perspective it was very enjoyable. I probably looked at every sword that was out on the tables at least once. I would say that (overall) the quality of swords had declined with comparison to past years. I did not purchase anything for myself this time, but a few friends bought pieces I thought were exceptionally nice. Shodai Hizen Masahiro katana in shirasaya (shown in the NBTHK discussion) Nidai Hizen Masahiro wakizashi Orikaeshimei Soshu Hirosuke wakizashi in koshirae Mino Kaneuji tanto Another friend had a Yamato Senjuin ken that would have been a target if I have not just bought a beautiful Shizu. The same dealer who had the Kaneuji also had an exceptional Soshu Hiromasa that was unsold at the end of the show. A dealer also had a very nice Nobuie tsuba I enjoyed very much. Juyo Sa Yoshisada and Chu-Aoe daito were available as well. So again, I would have liked to see an elevated quality overall however there were a few gems to be had.

I could not resist sharing these new photos.

Not the first in queue, but yes Bob definitely in line for restoration in Japan...

Date is Eisho ni nen __

Looks like it is trying to read Bizen Osafune ___mitsu.

That's a great question, perhaps a 'man on the ground' such as Paul Martin could help track down that information.

Thank you Pete (and good seeing you in Tampa). I passed along his FB link but apparently he was not accessible there as well. Best regards, Ray

Hi Chris, The area mid-blade is a long-running area of yakiba. My feeling is that it would be more accurate to refer to this section as tobiyaki rather than nijuba (double hamon), but to be honest I have never seen this exactly type of hataraki before. While it is quite beautiful actually, it is also possible that the smith did not intend to have an area of tobiyaki there. If so, one could speculate that the tobiyaki might be the reason that this sword is the kageuchi (shadow sword) for this order rather than the one which was given to the shrine. Kind regards, Ray

Someone who saw one of Livio's swords on my Instagram feed is trying to reach him and was not able to do so by the phone number I had. Does anyone here have an email address for Livio? Much appreciated, Ray

Just realized I had not included the full mei: 肥前国橋本新左衛門藤原忠吉 Hizen (no) Kuni Hashimoto Shinzaemon Fujiwara Tadayoshi Best regards, Ray

This is something quite special. The blade is a long tachi by the hachidai (eighth generation) of the mainline Tadayoshi school. He was considered one of the best smiths of the entire Hizen-to lineage. Unlike most examples one will see, this sword is signed with the smith's zokumei (personal name). It is dated a day in the 8th month of 1836. The nagasa is 69.4cm and the blade is extremely healthy, even to the point of showing a trace of ubu-ba. The hamon is extremely interesting, and shows even better work than I have typically seen from this smith. The hamon while suguha based, is mixed with ko-choji and has deep ashi and yo. It resembles one of the fine works of Rai Kunimitsu and was clearly made to reflect the great works of the Rai school. The jihada is a uniformly tight and well forged ko-itame with ji-nie (konuka-hada). The blade is in shirasaya with gold foil habaki. This Tadayoshi tachi has been authenticated by the NTHK. Best regards, Ray

Listing an extremely interesting gendai katana by Morikuni. This sword was made as a kageuchi for a Shrine dedication in 1945 at Hachimangū (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsurugaoka_Hachimang%C5%AB). The full inscription is: 於大宮八幡宮辺,雲龍子源護國作 Oite Omiya Hachiman-Gu atari Unryushi Minamoto Morikuni saku (Made by Unryushi Minamoto Morikuni, at around Omiya Hachiman shrine.) 於神前,影打,昭和二十年二月日 (Made in a day in February 1945 at shrine as a shadow sword) The blade is extremely thick, with a nearly 9mm kasane. I viewed the sword in hand before polish and the massive weight and size of the piece was striking, that was the first thing I commented on. These are the full dimensions. Nagasa: 66.3 cm. Sori: 1.8 cm. Moto haba: 3.3 cm. Moto kasane: .85 cm. Saki haba: 2.3 cm. The hamon is a very wide and bright notare hamon with a few areas which billow out above the shinogi. Although the sword was found at a show here in the US, the owner brought to Aoi Japan for a certificate when the sword was sent for polish. It is in shirasaya with silver habaki and has no flaws. Best regards, Ray

I will message David to see if he can send over a photo of the mei. This has been bothering me since the show, and when I looked at it briefly I may have misread the upper section which references Sukemune. Hope to be able to share a photo/oshigata soon... Best, Ray

I was confused by the Tadayoshi when it was given to me described as hachidai Hizen Tadayoshi (忠義 is not a mei used by the Hizen mainline). I believe that this is the smith for the sword David had. 駿州助宗六代藤原忠義 (Tadayoshi, 6th generation of Sukemune) https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/TAD315 There was an additional reference to Tadahiro on the nakago as well. I wish that I had taken a photo of the mei.

That same seller had a wonderful Mino Kaneuji which a good friend purchased (with my encouragement). I loved the Hiromasa tanto he had almost as much as the Kaneuji. The Naotsuna naginatanaoshi was quite special, and was an additional seventh submission that he made at the end of the weekend (and which did pass as Sekishu Naotsuna).