IbexiSterlinfa

Steve, thanks very much for your analysis. I googled the first set of kanji you provided and got similar artworks, so I can see that being a description of the artwork. I checked on the artist's name you provided in the second post but returned with nothing, so not sure on that one. Based on your observation do you have any indication of its quality or when it may have been produced? To me it appears handmade and seemingly brittle from age when I hold it. Please let me know what you think, thanks very much for the information you have provided so far.

Good afternoon everyone! I recently went antiquing in the back woods of South Carolina and came across what I believe to be a Kakemono or Kakejiku. The price was quite reasonable so I picked up. I am interested to know what the kanji on the piece translates to. I am assuming it is Japanese but it may be Chinese. I know very little about hanging wall art but this piece interested me and I figured was worth further review. Any thoughts and opinions are welcome. Thanks very much.

Hello everyone, I have been looking at a set of blades for a friend, and one of his signatures doesn't appear like traditional kanji script. I'm expecting it to be gimei based on the other pieces he has. If anyone can give me pointers on this blade, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks very much.

I had gotten in touch with Roger Robertshaw about this blade, and his best estimation is a 4th Generation Tadayoshi. I have the blade in my possession now so I will post some better pictures sometime soon. It has three family crests, which Mr. Robertshaw says are of the Nabeshima Daimyo. I do plan to go ahead and paper the blade and it has been maintained properly so it has no risk of further damage to it.

Thanks for the advice Ray. I have reached out to Roger to get his feedback and see if he can provide insight into the blade. I'm also considering his book, the Tadayoshi line of smiths seems to be quite popular and interesting! I will check out the resources on Gimei. Thanks for the information.

Thanks for the reassurance. Is it common for the blade to be blunt? I found that to be very strange. The consensus I am hearing is that it is a quality blade. I am seriously scared that it may be gimei, even if that doesn't mean it's a low quality blade to me it just doesn't feel right. Is there any way to verify who exactly made this blade since there were many people writing Tadayoshi on their blade? Is this only a result of the papering process? Is it even worth it to have this one judged? Quite a rollercoaster of emotions in this blade. I just don't know whats right to do with this blade. I am familiar with proper maintenance so to have it sit is not a problem for me, it just makes me wonder what exactly I have sitting in my safe... Thanks very much for the analysis Ray.

I'll provide a little backstory in case this helps to prove if it's gimei or a true Tadayoshi. It was a bringback from a veteran who served in WW2, and also lived in Japan a few years before bringing it home. Upon bringing it back (along with several other items which are now sold, 2 of which being southeast Asian blades represented as Japanese) his family was told that this sword in particular was gunto. They referred to it as gunto and just assumed that is what it was. They didn't have any notion of what a gunto is, and upon inquiring about the original gunto mounts, they had never seen any of the military pattern mounts. To my knowledge, it has been in these same mounts since it left Japan a few years after WW2. Here is where I am speculating that it may be fake. The blade is not sharp except for 3 inches from the tip along the cutting edge. The seller says that the cutting edge from above the tsuba to the first curvature of the blade is blunt, but not from use? I can't imagine if this was a wartime capture that it wouldn't be sharp, and if it wasn't remounted during this veteran's time in Japan, it couldn't have seen service. This paired with the fact that it was referred to as gunto makes me wonder if it was purchased/given to the veteran during his time in Japan and not as a result of a sword capture. I am leaning toward reproduction, but I have not seen nearly as much as the experts that reside here. Does anyone have any more researched opinions on this blade? Please let me know.

Thanks for letting me know Brian. I did not know that was a possibility. Is there any way to verify the validity of the signature without papering the blade? If it turns out to be a false signature, does it retain any value?

So as it turns out my friend has just sold the blade to me. I should be receiving it late this week. John mentioned an appraisal, where can this be done and what is involved? Is this a dealer appraisal or would this be part of the papering process? I would really like to know the generation and age of this blade, but I do not have any resources to consult on achieving that goal. I will definitely be fixing the nail in the mekugi hole. I have spare wooden mekugi available to fix that. The mounts to me do not do the blade justice, could/should it be remounted to better protect it and increase the value? I have been told about Shirasaya, but I don't know what that entails as I have never remounted a blade. Any advice for a new Tadayoshi owner? Thanks everyone for the information so far!

I will advise him about the mekugi, I agree that it detracts from the blade. I did receive more detailed pictures, is it possible to determine the approximate age? I have received information that there are several generations associated with Tadayoshi, just trying to get the full picture. Thanks for the information!

Thanks so much Ray! Quick response too! I will relay your information to my friend.

A friend of mine sent me a picture of a signed blade and wanted my opinion on it. I haven't seen a mei with this kind of script, so I was kind of skeptical. The mounts are falling apart, and it doesn't appear to be a gunto sword. It bears hamon and has a full-length cutout in the blade which I think is a bo-hi? I suspect that the blade is much older than the mounts, so I am seeking a professional opinion. I can get more information or pictures if need be, any info helps. Thanks very much.

Thanks very much for your reply Bruce. I suppose that confirms that this is a Seki blade if the tsuba has a Gifu stamp on it. I think it's interesting that they didn't leave a visible stamp if it was legally required to do so. There are no visible marks where someone recently could have removed the stamp, so if it was added and removed, it must have been done around the time it was created. Thanks very much.

I just checked the tang again today, and I do not see a definite seki/showato stamp. I have some new pictures of the overall blade/mounts and a closeup of a stamp that appears to be a Z? It may have been stamped so light that it didn't leave a mark on the tang at all. Since this is a 1944 blade it should have a seki stamp shouldn't it? On a side note, I have a picture of the Tsuba with a stamp on it, I am not sure if that helps or not but I would like to know what the stamp means. Thanks very much for all the info so far! I am taking note of everything and I plan to print out copies of this thread to keep with the blade containing all the history on it.

Thanks Tom M for the book selections, I will definitely get a few and see what information I can find out. I would like to find out more about this smith if possible, but all information I can find appears to pertain to Minamoto YoshiChika which makes research difficult. On to Bruce's question, It looks like it has a single push button retainer, which also came to me broken and it does not appear to retain the saya. I'm not sure if it is fixable, but it if damages the value at all to repair I will likely keep it as-is. I suspect that it was damaged when it was disassembled to inspect the mei, but at what point I am not sure. The handle is very stiff and not very easily removed, usually taking a soft rubber mallet to remove. I'll see about removing the pieces above the tang to see if the stamp is hidden, as well as take another picture of the mounts for a better overall grasp of what I have here. Thanks very much everyone.