Francis Wick

Thank you Ray I asked them the Nagasa but they haven’t replied yet look long but poor polish

Greetings , a bit out of focus, looks to be a Shinto Blade ? Can be found at Affinty Auctions NY lot 106 cheers and happy new year Nihonto lovers

Thank you for this example. Do you know if this one was authenticated? I just I’m struggling to find other examples. It could mean one of two things. My Sword is gimei which objectively I doubt as the signature is well done small kanji and finely chiselled and seems to be contemporary with the age of the nakago ( rusted away and smooth edges in places )

Sage advice 🙏🏽👍🏻

I think you’re right it’s not machi okuri like I thought , Jusdi made a sketch which shows also it can’t be machi okuri. You are correct

Thank you Jussi your input is so valuable and appreciated! Your scratch makes me rethink the idea of the machi where it is and it makes complete sense that it is in the original position with your sketch 👍🏻 I am increasingly convinced it is late muromachi but be damned if I can find any other ones signed the same way from this period. I wonder if there is a way to get it looked at in North America by the NBTHK or NTHK ? I guess it would have to be polished first ? Thank you again 👍🏻

Wow amazing resource and great info thanks so much

Thank you Robert im not even sure there is an existing act to govern these things. The guy who has challenged me on imports more than once is the same person every time and won’t tell me who he works for. It’s all a bit nebulous and strange . I think it’s good to ensure that people don’t steal things from others or own things that are banned or illegal but this seems to be more of a form of harassment than anything else.

I had a more careful look at some of the items and a lot of them are pretty suspect actually. Quite a few of the Tsuba appear to have a base metal that has been painted over or had something applied that can be rubbed off. Shakudo remains shakudo It does not look like silver or copper underneath when you rub the surface. 😳 good eye Curran

It might be a hand finished casting ?

Thank you Rivkin as Curran points out , caveat emptor ! There are quite a lot of other nice things at this auction though. I might try get one of the Menpo.

If there are any members who collect Tsuba there are some really beautiful ones coming up at gallerie Zacke . Also some high end armour pieces https://www.zacke.at

Think the original machi was here

Sorry I can try some better pics 😣 thank you !

Thank you Jacques. It is still very thick with little surface wear. I don’t think it has had a huge amount of polishes. The blade is almost 1cm thick at the machi. No open grain anywhere. Whether it was mass produced I won’t be able to say I guess it depends on smith and period more than anything

The oddest thing about customs here is that I’ve been asked a few times to provide proof that things are “ culturally safe “ . I was questioned about this sword because of the cover that had the name of the officer in it . They wanted me to prove it was “ at least 100 years removed from its country of origin “ I’ve had this too importing Maori and Northwest coast artifacts too. It’s not even customs , they hand it off to an unnamed department of “ cultural protection “ and if you look it up they don’t seem to exist. Only in Canada .

Thank you ,I also think late muromachi possibly the Kanemitsu of Bunmei like Klee pointed out in the chart he so kindly provided. What makes the nakago look a bit weird is a machi okuri of about an inch. Together with purchase cost and a polish it will be pushing $7k ,likely a bit much for it ,but I like the shape and that it is signed so I’ll probably get it fixed up . It has plenty meat for a polish so even if the surface was etched it might polish ok. Thanks for the input 🙏🏽

Hi yes my apologies apparently my autocorrect doesn’t like Japanese sword terminology I meant to say boshi but like you point out it should read kissaki 👍🏻

Yes indeed pretty thick. The Hoshi I think has been a bit reshaped it looks like it was made shorter by a few mm probably to get rid of a big chip. Machi okuri also means it was refitted later to newer fittings. Not something a shinshinto blade would usually be subjected to ….?

Thank you Robert I personally don’t think it’s shinshinto as the nakago is very old and the mei is very deeply naturally rusted and smoothed , it’s not made to look that way. It’s an old sword. It may have been wiped with acid some time I’m not sure through , if you look at it under normal light you don’t see the same effect as in the pics. I didn’t have to pay for a lawyer and all my paperwork was true and accurate so it was one phone call and it was sorted, just a lot of stress. He was happy to do it for no fee, but nevertheless next time I’m not letting the shipper fill anything in !

Thank you for the opinion Hoshi 🙏🏽

Thank you so much. The hada just looks weird because of my crappy pics in good light it’s ok not etched fortunately. I think the Mei is original and contemporary to the sword. Obviously a later Kanemitsu as it is signed on the Omote , not tachi mei but katana mei . If it was kamakura or nambokucho it would have been tachi mei

Thank you Klee my pics are pretty terrible my apologies. That already gives me an idea of where to start looking for other examples. No papers I just bought it from Estateofmind auctions in New York a month ago . It was a WWII bring back the days has the name of the Japanese officer and his unit and the GI that brought it back