Jump to content

ChrisW

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    2,330

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    7

 Content Type 

Everything posted by ChrisW

  1. ChrisW
    Generally lineage means a master-apprentice relationship; sometimes with them being related by blood, adopted, or sometimes neither. In the case of a lineage, they share the same name such as Kanesada (unless a successor earns a title or changes it later in their life). Your best bet would be to investigate these two smiths and see if one trained the other. You could check Hawleys for that. At the very least, they belong to the same school. Higaki yasurime is typically a trait of the Mino school.
  2. ChrisW
    The Indiana Token Kai's presentation on Japanese Swords went off very well at GenCon Indianapolis! Our next meeting date is Saturday, August 26th from 10 to 2PM at the Morgan County Public Library in Downtown Martinsville, IN. The topic of the meeting is tosogu! We will be bringing our favorite and most interesting tsuba and other fittings to share. All are welcome to attend. Contact me if you need more information and/or assistance with attending. We do offer Zoom attendance for those who cannot make it there in person.
  3. ChrisW
    That is pretty amazing. Not very often do you see something like this!
  4. ChrisW
    Well, there's always the Chicago Sword Show every April. As for clubs, there's the Indiana Token Kai (message me if you want more details). There's also several of us who buy and sell swords in the region.
  5. ChrisW
    Buy from known dealers listed up above in "nihonto info" under links -> commercial #1-4 or buy from fellow collectors here. It may also help to know what part of the country you're in so that you can reach out to nearby collectors or possible token kai (sword study) groups.
  6. ChrisW
    And the elder sages of this forum should have the patience to guide newcomers who may not know all the rules, etiquette, and quirks of this forum. Its a lot to take in for someone new. No sense trying to make them take it all in at once!
  7. ChrisW
    Remember to start your own thread to get the highest possible chance of a response! And so you're not hijacking another person's thread. BUT... This blade is a fake. They NEVER stamped serial numbers onto the habaki (that copper collar that slides up against the blade). The shape of the blade is all wrong, the tsuka (grip) is not correctly made and I don't see any legitimate parts on this. It is unfortunately a lower-end fake, probably from China.
  8. ChrisW
    Unfortunately, someone has greatly harmed the blade by cleaning the nakago (tang) of all black rust. This makes it both more difficult to date accurately and devalues it. It still looks nice over all! A good togishi should be able to repatinate it.
  9. ChrisW
    Late 70's green papers. I agree with Jesse here. If new papers? Then you could ask more.
  10. ChrisW
    Even without an obvious yokote, this most definitely displays prominent o-kissaki.
  11. ChrisW
    Looks good to me! I especially like the fuchi, kashira, and tsuba.
  12. ChrisW
    Simply put, there are two valid schools of thought on uchiko: 1. Don't use it at all, leave it to the professionals. 2. Careful and measured use of it, only on out-of-polish blades where the application may clean off grime and help arrest corrosion.
  13. ChrisW
    There is always a chance it is gimei; however, as Jan points out, Naotane was well known for rounding his age up. Several other smiths did this as well and the article by Markus Sesko should explain it nicely! It looks like a nice piece, would you mind showing the rest to us? I bet the workmanship matches to what Naotane did.
  14. ChrisW
    The steel looks like "anti-rust steel" but I am not sure that level of pitting could occur on such a blade if it were made of that material. Honestly, it just looks like someone ground the tang down with a buffing wheel.
  15. ChrisW
    Our last meeting was wonderful. We had a great time discussing the Chicago Show shinsa results and even had a member bring a Juyo blade! The meeting minutes are posted to the Indiana Token Kai website: https://indianatokenkai.wixsite.com/indiana-token-kai Our next meeting is July 15th (Saturday), 10 A.M. at the Morgan County Public Library. Any and all are welcome! The meeting topic is: Gokaden: Soshu Den. There will be a number of very nice Soshu pieces available to examine! DM me if you have questions about attending, etc.
  16. ChrisW
    I think I had a stroke trying to understand that ito wrap.
  17. ChrisW
    until
    The next ITK meeting will be Saturday, June 3rd from 10AM to 2PM and will be held at the Carnegie Public Library in downtown Martinsville, Indiana. The topic of the meeting is "Shinsa Results," wherein members will be bringing blades and kanteisho sheets from the 2023 Midwest Token Kai Chicago Sword Show Shinsa to discuss the results and findings. This meeting is open to the public and attendees are also allowed to participate via Zoom (please contact the ITK website administrator for details or message ChrisW on NMB if interested). The ITK website is: https://indianatokenkai.wixsite.com/indiana-token-kai
  18. ChrisW
    Thanks for the heads up Brian! Wish I could make it to the SF show to shake your hand. If you're ever in Indiana, let me know!
  19. ChrisW
    It may not be removed completely, just obscured by the grinding indicated. You'd have to get it into the hands of someone more knowledgeable such as a togishi (which is a trained Japanese sword polisher).
  20. ChrisW
    Definitely looks like someone went at this with a buffing wheel. Kissaki's geometry is destroyed beyond recognition.
  21. ChrisW
    Looks like a police issue saber.
  22. ChrisW
    The next ITK meeting will be held at our standard location on June 3rd. The topic will be: Shinsa Results, wherein we will discuss our shinsa results and experience! As always, reach out to me if you have questions on attendance or in general.
  23. ChrisW
    If anyone wants an early-war dark cocoa tassel, slide me a message. And y'all are very much so correct; these tend to appear in large groups as they made their rounds through large markets/dealers.
  24. ChrisW
    Sure, but I'll have to send you a link to the google drive with the images as they're all too large to post here on the forum!
  25. ChrisW
    I had two successes: A mumei 27.5' o-kissaki katana in red Higo koshirae came back ID'ed as Aizu Kanesada (11th generation), placed at 72 points. A mumei 8" yoroi-doshi tanto in plain black shirasaya came back ID'ed as Nanki Shigekuni (also probably 11th generation), but it placed at 75 points. Not bad for a couple of mumei! Weirdly both Ansei era, but it is what it is! BIG thanks to Mark Jones and Chris Bowen for putting on the show and shinsa! I really enjoyed this year.
×
×
  • Create New...