Lareon

Thanks, I spent quite a lot of time on this before i started the kantei, It is much of a learning exercise for me too as i've spent most of my time in the last few years studying ko gassan works and this was a departure. Apologies if any of my replies were misleading it is difficult to give hints without giving it away. When it came to the classification of his work and school etc, obviously he is an edo smith of the senjuin lineage but I found references referring to his style as firmly in the osaka style. he studied under Izumi no Kami Kaneshige and is compared heavily to kotetsu understandably as they share the same teacher. from nihonto koza Japanese: 盛国は大和千手院派の出身なれども、その作、姿・刃文共に大阪新刀の風を帯び、助広・国貞の影響著し。元禄姿を示し、大阪伝に列すべきものなり English: Although Morikuni is from the Yamato Senjuin school, his work, appearance, and blade pattern are in the style of Osaka Shinto, and the influence of Sukehiro and Kunisada is evident. It shows the Genroku style and should be ranked among the Osaka tradition. and Japanese: 和泉守源盛国　[良業物] 元和頃大和千手院の出で江戸に住す。寛文・延宝・天和・貞享・元禄の頃に作す。初め千手院風を帯ぶるが、後には助広・国貞の影響を受けて、濤瀾風の乱を焼く。姿、元禄風にて、地鉄よく練れて精美なり。 English: zumi no Kami Minamoto Morikuni [Ryōwazamono] Originally from the Senjuin line of Yamato, later lived in Edo. He worked from Kanbun through Enpō, Tenna, Jōkyō, and into the Genroku eras. At first he retained aspects of the Senjuin style, but later he came under the influence of Sukehiro and Kunisada, producing ō-toranba (billowing wave) hamon. His sugata is in the Genroku style, with well-forged, refined jigane. I would be interested in peoples opinions and thoughts on classification here as this was one point i spent a while researching and trusting to excerpts from books in another language and doing visual comparatives of other swords and smiths to compare style are the only tools available i guess other than expert opinions so all comments are welcome. and as jacques pointed out he is in shinto-hen (full page included) but i also did not find him under any of his names in Meito Zukan there is some slight loss of metal here which obscures this character a little. i included a picture of the damage. It is suriage but has Tokubetsu Hozen papers

I will pass it to Alex i believe he was closest The smith was Senjuin Morikuni (Izumi No Kami Minamoto Morikuni) The kantei was very useful and fun for me, it made me research each suggested smith and look into subtle differences in the schools and era. Thanks everyone for contributing, was fun!

Ironically Mine just shipped

I've got a confirmation email and payment has been taken. That's it so far

I might have something for you Adam, I can ping you across a PM with some examples from my collection, i might have something low end of your range and top end.

Alex, you are extremely close here, they probably bumped into each other getting their morning paper at some point. you're almost on the money and Kunisada is an excellent choice. My smith is slightly less famous and took influence from kunisada and sukehiro but you're in the right school right area and right time. I would probably say my smith is the next wave of osaka den and also considered a master though probably just a little less than kunisada.

This is a very good guess, very close in quality and refinement. Different school but right area, think more Osaka den mainstream. Close to the right level of refinement but stylistically leans away from kyoto

67.5cm suriage sori: 0.45cm moto-haba 2.88cm Tokubetsu Hozon

exactly the right period there is a close connection for sure. Different school and different area.

let me know if i've compressed these a little too much, i've tried to keep detail in the blade. i'll start with these and add more photos as we go

Hey Guys, Was going to post a few photos of one of my latest blades and see how close to the smith people could get from photos alone. I've taken a few today but am happy to take more. I'll leave precise measurements off for now

Berlin samurai museum is great

Why do you feel that way? It's never even crossed my mind, what are you doing that makes you think you'd be banned? Lol

I agree with an additional tier. That has no extra benefits just supporting the forum. Ok you are just feeding off the gold members that are willing to pay more but I think many would. Banner ads don't bother me. With the sword photos sharing etc. i know a lot wouldn't this is normal but I think enough would. I really enjoy it and sharing what I have for open discussion.

Probably got the timings on the search about right then if it's only a little annoying and could lead to a member upgrading. @Brian the thought of the private clubs is something I'm not super keen on. I wonder what information I would miss simply by being in the UK. It's already restricted enough here :p Over the years I learnt an awful lot just from watching conversations play out by people who have spent decades recording serial numbers or are arguing over a mei and the angle of a chisel stroke. Having this locked away by region is something I would feel sad about. So since Im Shooting this one down I'll think of some gold features. High Resolution Gallery for kantei, oshigata or Mei? With community / moderation (perhaps only papered examples). Only available to gold members and only swords owned by members. Think Hawley but with a small selection of high quality images per smith. This would also invite debate. We're not reinventing shinsa but storing for research. Gold members only. Or a new tier (platinum) I suggest this because the way I research usually requires a lot of trawling or the web or books. We're not replacing the knowledge of people like Markus or Hawley but adding to our combined knowledge with examples maybe not seen before. Obviously a lot of people don't like to share what they have as in all collections but I would very much like this resource. I've sent private messages to many people asking for images of their ko-gassan Mei for example as it is my main field of study. Gold members, 1 month sticky on for sale page to keep listing at the top? Unsure on this one as volume of sales isn't high so there isn't a big turn around. More controversial but - a limited number of posts on the translation forum for non gold members. I've seen a lot of people clearly using the translation section to get info for their sales elsewhere. Which is fine but a contribution would be welcome for something that Is enabling your business. This wouldn't restrict those few coming to seek help but would mean people who are using the forum for gain have a small contribution to the knowledge they receive. Say 20 posts (not topics) per year. Probably enough for someone to get translation on one to two swords max if they've got a hand me down or are just starting etc. A small perk - how many years of gold you've purchased since joining. Could be tiered like the current ranking system. If I think of more I'll add them.

Same with me, to be honest the incentives on the membership plan i don't even think about. I only subscribe to support the forum which has been invaluable to me over the years, one of my daily websites

Jon, where do you shoot? Bisley?

Exactly this, the activity, hada and presence of crystalline structures is where you can identify. I guess the easiest way to say it is, this is the study of blades not signatures.

The dark peaks in the Hamon to me indicate an oil quench. hard to tell with the photos, any indication of a hada? although it's in poor polish sometimes that's hard to tell. It can be hard to tell at first but once you know you can tell, turn it in the light and if it looks ...solid? it's most likely oil, the hard peaks are sure signs, sometimes you get a shadow line too underneath. Water quenched feel more "airy" and bright. You get almost a glow out of the hamon Best way i can describe something that is half visual half feeling

Thank you. It would be interesting to see the spread of the different styles across the country and how they deviate. I guess that's a topic to read into at some point.

Interesting. I assumed it was a common pattern for the Osaka guns. If not then it is a happy coincidence. And yes relieved as my constant fear is to damage or do harm in some way to them. Now that I am pretty certain it's just a layer of dirt/gunk it's nice to bring out some of the inherent beauty in it. The biggest problem is now where to keep my ever growing Armoury

There is still quite a lot of the stubborn substance on there but slowly and carefully it is coming up.