Surfson

Michael, to echo the others, this appears to be a naginata naoshi zukure blade, which, in english, means a blade that is made to look like a cut down naginata (a type of halberd) but is in fact made the way it is found. I agree that the mounts are nice and the blade is in decent polish. It unfortunately is not signed. It has a two piece habaki that may be solid silver and it has an okissaki, or large tip, which collectors generally like. It is missing the handle wrap and menuki, which, if they were as good as the fuchi kashira, were probably pretty nice. I would say that in an ebay auction it would go for around $1500-2500 (I recall that you asked about value with the tanto and am assuming the same here). Another great find!

This looks like it has the potential to be a very nice piece. The horimono is very well done and it's a famous maker and school. I had a blade once that had never been polished. Rough filing and dull edge throughout. It was made in Hokkaido and there was a thread on it in 2014. I ended up selling it because I could not tell for the life of me whether it had ever been tempered. Here is a link: Since this tanto has a horimono, I would guess that it has been tempered, though I honestly don't know if horimono are only carved after yakiire, or if sometimes a horimono can be done first. I would presume that the heating and quenching would distort a horimono. Any information about that?

You are always the voice of reason Geraint and I, for one, appreciate it. I completely agree with your comments. As it turns out, this thread is more confusing since the tsuba is arguably Kamakura Bori, and there are examples that were made very early (although I'm not sure that they go back as far as the Kamakura Jidai). Here is a link showing the attribution of such a tsuba to Kamakura (in this case, referring to the style, not the age). Cheers, Bob http://www.shibuiswords.com/ELkamakura.html

I have one of these (kamakura style) somewhere (my collection is still in upheaval from our move). The design is very pleasing.

That would be my thinking Manuel. Maybe John can tell us if the front of the tsuba is a bit carved out? If so, it would support the idea that it once had a mei.

I wonder if it once had a mei. Is the rough part at the seppadai lower than the rest of the plate?

Michael. I would like to echo what the others have said. It's a yoroi toshi in aikuchi mounts that are very tasteful. It's in pretty good polish. The shakudo vine inlay in copper is reminiscent of Umetada work to my eye, though others may feel differently. The mounts don't appear to be signed. The small blade has the interesting feature of having both the imperial kiku mon and the Tokugawa kiri mon on it, which I have to admit I've not seen before. Usually the signatures on these small companion blades are tributes rather than the actual maker. As to value, I would say that in a better auction it would go for around $2500-3500 or so as the hammer price, more or less. In general, yoroi toshi blades don't fetch as much as the standard hirazukuri blade. Did you buy or inherit a collection? If the others are like this, you are lucky to own them.

Hi Fred et al. I got a couple new toys. Here are some photos. Cheers, Bob

All fair comments Michael. It would be pretty disappointing if the koshirae turned out to be Taisho...

That is a very reasonable price - a bit more than $20,000 including the commission.

I tried to register a bid but their system prohibited me and they never responded to my emails for help. Maybe somebody will get a very good deal if the bidding is inadvertently restricted to just europe or France.

I see no indication one way or another that there once was a mei. My sense is that this sword is either late koto or early shinto and just a bit machiokuri and slightly suriage. It may have been mumei or it may have had a mei removed, but my inclination is mumei originally. Two makers come to mind that worked in that era and made okissaki blades like this that were fairly straight. One was Jakushu Fuyuhiro: http://www.sanmei.com/contents/media/O54012_S3055_PUP_E.htm Another was Daido, though he commonly had muneyaki. This style was definitely revived during shinshinto, but the age and evolution of the tang make that less likely in my mind.

Hey, whiskey goes down the sewer pipe, but a tsuba is forever....

I have heard the opinion that "tekkotsu", or iron bones, can result from uneven wear such that the softer iron is worn away and the harder steel of the tekkotsu becomes more prominent. I'm not presenting it as fact, but just a concept that has been presented to me.

Here is a link to some discussions. The photos I saw were of the date, but you can see the style that I was referring to immediately. https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/16387-sukehiro-2nd-gen-real-or-gimei/

Sorry I don't have time for a long answer. My recollection is that he had two main periods of signing, one was called Kakumei and the other was Marumei, meaning square and round. If I am not mistaken, the maru mei period was the one in which he mostly used Tsuda, and the signatures were quite flowing, almost like grass script. I'm sure you can google Sukehiro signature examples and find lots of discussions about it. Even looking in Fujishiro should make it clear.

When is the auction?

Interesting toy, thanks for the information. Is that a spinning top of some sort or does it just stand in balance?

Get a piano key or some other piece of ivory and start rubbing on the active rust on the iron. After each pass, you can wipe off the powdered rust or gently use a soft toothbrush and a little mild dishwashing soap. Be very careful not to disturb the inlay.

Steve has it exactly right, Sukehiro, and without study, I think you are exactly right - it looks gimei to me.

Sue Mihara is after 1450, which is still early in muromachi, a time when koto swords were made that often were koshizori.

I am waiting for many items by seamail. It is very slow, but reliable, I think. If you really like it, be patient.

Yep, just a little surface rust there. I am guessing it has been in its boxes for 100 years, so it is pretty amazing how good the condition is!

Maybe an odd kao?

Thanks for that link Christopher. Several of the "jewels" have deteriorated with time in that koshirae you have shared, and the same is true of mine. In any case, I have been in communication with Markus about it and he said that he has been meaning to write a blog article on the subject of kazaridachi. We are planning to discuss this piece further, perhaps over the weekend. At this point, the view is that the mounts are "good" but the blade is probably more modern. Although the listing in the auction stated that the blade was shinto, my feel from it is that it is probably shinshinto. It is not fully ububa, but the beginning of the ha is slightly dull, so my impression is that it has perhaps been polished twice, but that is just an impression/guess. I will have a look at it tonight to see if I can see a hamon. Geraint, having a kake made is a good idea. Do you know anybody in the US that does that sort of thing with the right materials?