Robert S
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Everything posted by Robert S
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Sandpaper, and still pitting beyond the sanding. I have a sword like that, which is being restored. Based on the photos, this one doesn't look so tired that it can't be recovered, but like Chandler says, it would require a photo of the entire sword to have more idea of whether it is genuine, and how much life is left if genuine.
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Please help Wakizashi identification
Robert S replied to Steven6's topic in General Nihonto Related Discussion
I believe it is indeed authentic, but I'll leave the more precise analysis to the experts on this forum. -
Amazing work. That's the kind of work that is rarely undertaken, but will be valued for a long time.
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Those accounts of nihonto breaking when striking something with the mune side are interesting. A strike like that typically would put compression stress on the mune, and tension stress on the hamon area, which it is possibly less well able to bear.
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This is very interesting. It definitely indicates that cast tsuba were being made in the 17th century, but only gives evidence for non-iron cast tsuba. It would be interesting to see whether there is any evidence or examples of cast bronze/brass/shakudo tsuba survive. Particularly, it would be interesting to catalogue the fragments of moulds found, and see if those can be matched to any existing tsuba, iron or not. I love archaeology :-)
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It's still definitely worth taking off the tsuka and adding a photo of the tang, as well as the whole blade with no koshirae on it, as that will help with getting some idea of what you have.
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Agreed. And additionally if the tang isn't already marking the inside of the tsuka where it binds, you could usefully put a little graphite (soft pencil lead) on the tang before you insert it, which will rub off on the tsuka where it binds, allowing you to see the high spots
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I think the thought is that this blade would have been made by the grandfather of the person who made the blade that you referenced, so the mei might have varied from that example.
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The shape of those kofun period arrow heads is interesting. I wonder what the thinking was behind that shape? Increased mass? I would expect them to be less good at penetrating, especially any type of armour.
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Not an entirely happy story concerning the retention and care of nihonto in these Spanish institutions, but also not an uncommon problem with not only nihonto but also many pother classes of artifacts in museums globally. Museums are chronically plagued by a combination of over-collecting and under-funding.
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And it looks like your grandfather took good care of it too, which is great to see. Many ended up in attics, and are not in as good condition.
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Why so many new torokusho?
Robert S replied to Moritsuchi's topic in General Nihonto Related Discussion
I'm also wondering if in some cases swords are continuing to turn up in abandoned houses as they are fixed up or torn down, which have never been registered. I know of some cases where previously unregistered swords have been found, which I suspect are coming onto the market. I've also bought one sword out of Japan which had no registration - it had clearly been sitting somewhere without proper care for a while. -
Posted a picture on the "What do you drive" page :-)
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recent shipping concerns
Robert S replied to chi fan wong's topic in General Nihonto Related Discussion
There's talk of that around Canada Post too. Sigh... -
Piers: I'm sure that was a super tough decision... and you're 100% right - no looking back!
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Great News from the NBTHK Japan
Robert S replied to R_P's topic in General Nihonto Related Discussion
Well done! These will be fascinating reading. -
The area near the mekugi-ana is hard to see at this resolution - you'd probably need to provide some higher resolution photos.
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I'm having exactly this problem with a 1932 Rolls Royce 20/25 Sports Saloon right now. Could I afford it? Well, technically yes. Should I afford it? Probably no. Arghhhhh! I feel your pain, and look forward to hearing the outcome!
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I would call this a high quality cultural item. That is to say, it doesn't reflect a period when a blade and koshirae like this kept their original meaning, but rather from a period where it reflected on the cultural values of a previous period. So it might have been made for Japanese or tourist market, at a high level of craft, but more as a symbol than a reality.
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Pretty significant chips and damage. Restoring this blade would be so major that remaining value might be limited. Unless it's very cheap and you're happy to live with it as is, I'd pass... and I'm someone who will buy pretty tired blades.
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Franco: What are you seeing that makes it look tired? The tired blades that I have are a lot more tired than that :-), so my eyes may be jaded.
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I wonder why Cornell is hanging on to the "rusty crap" one. It would make sense if they were making a point about cast multiples, and especially if they had good provenance on one or both of them... but no evidence of that, although it might be worth digging into. Other than that, it appears that Cornell has a special focus on scrap metal collecting... but there are much more interesting types of scrap metal out there than that. Personally I go for gears out of 1950's and earlier manual transmissions :-)
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A Modest Book Offering: Samurai and Shōguns
Robert S replied to Marius's topic in General Nihonto Related Discussion
Marius: Is your book available anywhere outside of Amazon? I'd love to get it, but an trying to avoid supporting Mr. Bezos as much as possible :-) -
Wow, they took every machine tool to this - some kind of rotary grinder as well. Polishing all that out would be a significant job.
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Also, unless the photos are fooling me, the kissaki appears to be not exactly symmetrical from one side to the other, which would be indicative of a pretty poor polish at some point.
