Tensho

Gangi-maki is my guess as well. Here is a papered example from Muromachi period.

Paraloid b72, and Butvar B76 and B98 are used on the preservation of fossils. Its a plastic that is dissolved in acetone that can be brushed on. It will add a somewhat "glossy" look though.

There was a smith in china making very good quality swords using iron sand. They were selling on ebay as bare blades, or you could have koshirae made. A lot of people bought and used them for tameshigiri. Story "someone" assuming another ebay sword business offered him good money for his business and ebay account and he stopped being a swordsmith. The swords for sale now are Nothing like what they were. I wouldn't doubt for a second all of these blades are coming from China. They can produce good stuff if someone pays for it. Look at all the modern "Japanese" swords popping up for sale on ebay by U.S sellers. Almost all of them have no habaki, and mekugi-ana drilled. Havent looked at them in a while, but I have seen them with what look like oil quenched blades. They're obviously buying them in bulk from somewhere.

Here's a good article. https://journals.openedition.org/ceroart/5272

Imo, looks like a modernish(less than 100 years)cast tsuba that someone messed with. I feel like I have seen this before considering the "drill bit bite mark" next to the Kogai hitsu-ana

I purchased a Jumonji yari in polish online. Pretty rare to find one in polish. Pictures looked good to me, and I was excited to get it. I got it, and it was bad... Geometry was screwed up. Lines were sharp in some places and completely rounded in others(you could tell where the polisher couldn't get to with the stones)To top it all off, the hamon was polished in(artificial) absolutely dead. Worst buying experience I had had, and I have bought garbage in the past

What do you consider "similar "? I have seen plenty of Shikomizue for sale over the years.

I agree with Piers, this definitely looks like a photocopy of the original. Too enlarged, angled and cut off in parts.

Look like Menuki to me. Why they're attached to saya I don't know? Edit: Seems to be a popular copy. Yours look nicer.

Do you have more pictures of this? This blade looks weird to me... I have never seen a "buffed" blade turn out looking like this. Almost looks modern.

Does the tsuka have more than 1 mekugi-ana drilled?

Thank you! Definitely matches the ones I have seen.

Quick help on this please? Thank you!

^^^^^Seller is notorious for shill bidding. You will never get the items at a good price. I was watching an item in old polish that should have sold for half the price it went for. Was re-listed on a different account in the same state 2 weeks later with other swords the seller "sold" beforehand. Common sense will tell you that bidders with the same feedback score aren't going to bid on every single item of his.

Its for a Yari saya. So, matching doesn't matter as I make the Ebu as well. I'm just looking for pictures of period Saya(edo) to figure out color schemes. I have over 60 samples of just Yari and they're 50 shades of black and/or red. And an occasional gold/black combo.

I am aware of that discussion. I have done a few searches on here looking for photos.

I'm interested if anyone has and pictures of Antique Saya(Swords, Naginata and Yari) with painted colors other than the standard red and black Urushi? I know there are several with inlays(crushed shells, malachite, etc..) but haven't really come across any Blue, green, purple, orange etc.. Working on a project and trying to get some other ideas on colors. Thanks in advance.

Echizen Koku Shimosaka Sadatsugu? Very worn mei on this one, but seems to fit? Translated as Kanesaki:

I'm sure it'll cost you WAY more to get a bohi added than you paid for the blade outside of China.

Yasurime appear to be directly above the center mekugi ana on both the omote and ura side of the nakago. The patina is also much darker there. Seems to me the very bottom mekugi ana would be the original. As far as the horimono placement I'm not familiar with why it would be covered under the habaki/tsuka.

Is this the "Japanese Art" book? If so, that price cannot be correct. I'm finding that online for under $70USD.

Old steak knife. Most likely was a hidden tang handle(in ivory or bone etc) where did you get the saya? Could very well have just been used to secure the kozuka in the saya of a display. Just some random steak knives.

Fred Lohman passed away a while ago. Either way, not a place to have this polished.

A piece together was my thought as well. I was in contact with the seller on it. She knew nothing about it and had a friend disassemble it for her(it was stuck in the saya when she bought it)No previous auctions of any swords. I'm assuming he did the damage to the release button. I asked about the Habaki and she never knew if it was there to begin with. The second mekugi ana drilled through the menuki threw me off as well as the replaced kashira. I did not bid on it.

Sword that was listed on the bay a while back. Bent the blade pretty good.