estcrh

Not sure about the mark (or not), but unmarked/signed/stamped swords are not at all uncommon.

Eric this blade is a showa-to no doubt. Take it as it is.

I never said it was not showato but this is a section for "Military Swords of Japan" right so what exactly does "take it as it is" mean? if you have nothing to add and have no interest why comment, there are people who do have an interest and knowledge of showato.

Hi Eric.

 

Please don't misunderstand my comment, it was not directed at your difficulty with the kanji rather the fact that Gassan blades have very neat and distinctive calligraphy as well as very well finished nakago with kesho yasurime.  A good place to start your comparisons is here, https://markussesko.com/2013/07/21/gassan-sadaichi/

 

Nothing about the nakago suggests Gassan to me so I feel you would be better off following up on the smith that Klaus suggested.  I hope this helps.

 

All the best.

Not at all Geraint, I understood your meaning and agree with your assessment. At this point it is not even confirmed as "Sadamitsu". Finding a mei to compare for any of the smiths mentioned is not easy it seems.

You know Geraint but are , I think , too polite to say .Wherever he is now poor old Gassan Sadamitsu would probably die of shame if he learnt that people were attributing this piece too him.

Ian Brooks

Gassan Sadamitsus landlady perhaps.

And remarks like this are helpful in what way? I know people who will not post their swords here for this reason, they are afraid of asking a stupid question when in fact there are only stupid answers. Really, is this necessary?

PS Rereading your question it was the ladle you were asking about, not so much the mold. Apologies. I guess the twist in Jan's example above would also help to dissipate creeping heat in the handle.

 

A couple here, again both iron:

Piers, I have seen some recently made reproductions without a handle or ones that are riveted together but have you seen any authentic, antique ones without a handle other than ones with the wood handle that has come off over time or where they have been riveted together rather than being one solid piece of metal?

The sharp edges and complete lack of signs of use make me doubt the age of this all metal one, the rivets look new, not worn at all.

I have been a member here for many years, this is the first time I have asked for help with identification. I have a small group of WWII swords that have been in storage for a while, I am not very knowledgable on the subject of WWII smiths so hopefully some members here have some insight that they are willing to share, thanks for the responses so far, greatly appreciated.
 
Some better images.
 

 

Well if you have trouble reading the kanji then probably not.  Gassan blades of this period tend to have very well cut mei and impeccable nakago.  Who knows?

 

All the best.

Geraint, actually I can not read kanji at all, which is why I am asking for opinions. So do you or anyone else here have a Gassan Sadamitsu mei to compare? The reason I even brought up this smith is that I saw a blade with a very similar mei dated October 1943 that was attributed to him, but the owner of that sword may not be correct.

October, not December and I would say Sadamitsu is likely, but I'm not sure.

Lead sheet, tama (lead bullets) and tama-inabe (ladle for melting lead on charcoal fire). I can not remember seeing a term for lead or the grinder shown in Peter's photograph.

I will post some images and see what comes up. It does not look oil quenched to me at least compared to the other known oil quenched blades I have but I can see no activity, an alternate type of steel perhaps or am I missing something.

Just an observation....I collect and study swords from many different cultures and I have never seen any non-Japanese sword described as being an "art sword", this includes the most incredible Persian, Indian and Ottoman swords with damascus steel blades.

It is possible that the inscription is actually a description, added more recently. A classification. 兵器式 can mean "weapon class/type", and 震天雷 is a known category of early cannon.

You need to see it in an ubu and healthy tachi from the Kamakura period.

Tachi by Koudai(late) Houjyu, ubu, Nanboku-cho - Muromachi(early), Blade length 80.2cm(2shaku 6sun 4bu 6rin), sori(curve) : 3.0cm, width(blade bottom) : 3.21cm, thickness(blade bottom) : 0.67cm, width(blade top) :1.94cm, thickness(blade top) : 0.32cm, Mekugi ana(hole(s)) 1, weight : 783g.

You need to see it in an ubu and healthy tachi from the Kamakura period.

Tachi

Kamakura period (early 13th century)

This slender ubu tachi in shirasaya has the deep koshi-zori curve becoming shallow in the upper part of the blade indicative of the very earliest curved swords, although the blade has a severe forging fault, is tired over larger areas, the hamon severely depleted, and the boshi lost, it must have once been a fine blade, portions of the hada which remain are of ko-itame with fine jinie, in places close to the chirimen-hada of early Aoe school work, the hamon has large cloudy koshiba leading to ko-midareba with complex activity

length 78.5cm.

Marius thank you.

 As a concept (fumbari) simple, but understanding it, has always got past me. Not helped by the man standing legs apart scenario. I see that as a tapering.

"Funbari (the difference in curvature between the back of the blade and the cutting edge just above the blade collar).

Even that did not help, but now there is a new word on my page, mune-kado.

So there was my problem, the 'back' of the blade is not the mune as I thought, but the line from which the mune rises from.

Now I know where it is, its just a matter of practice to see it.

Types of mune. "The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords", Kōkan Nagayama Kodansha International, 1997

Spotted in my email inbox:

 

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/rare-Japanese-cloissonne-bronze-samari-helmet-urn-4964CCCB0E?utm_source=house&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=exclusive&utm_content=art091017

 

I like cloisonne, but this object????

 

BaZZa.

How about a picture of the whole thing while we are waiting for a translation???

Eric,

There is no going rate on what an armour should cost. Its all about what the seller is asking and what the buyer has to spend. I cannot understand why you are directing a potential buyer to shop around when the armour he has found is reasonable priced. 

 

On your list you have Jones & Jones (dead link) they have the kirisuke armour that I mentioned, it's just over 10K and again reasonably priced. The one above is far better, and you would expect to pay more for it. I'm networked to most of the dealers that sell kachu internationally and we often talk to each other about pricing.

 

I'm very aware of market prices as I still sell armours all year round from my Gallery.

 

So my opinion and advice to Dan is a professional one.

Really...one dead link..oh my!!!  Your advice is the advice of a DEALER, my advice is the advice of someone who once was in Dans shoes, I will always give the proper advice to any buyer. Dealers of course would like nothing better than for someone to buy what they are selling without the buyer asking questions, comparing prices, asking for more pictures etc etc. 

Perhaps it is a language issue but the sarcasm is very clear to me.

Berry, if Dan went to the Nihonto forum and posted that he knew next to nothing about Nihonto and was thinking about spending thousands of hard earned yen, euro, dollars etc to buy a sword seen by a friend in a Japanese antique shop there would be a collective answer of "NO, dont do that, take time to read and learn more, check out some of the recommended Japanese sword dealers, look around and do not rush etc etc"....but somehow for Japanese armor its ok for knowledgable (supposedly) members to say...."hey nice armor, yea buy it dude"....well I will always be the one to disagree with that, whats your opinion?

I think is a nice matching set (based on the pics)!

Nevertheless, the buyer should be aware of all the small additional costs. Shipping, handling, customs and last but not least (depending on the country) the beloved import VAT

So Uwe, you would actually tell someone who admits that they have no real knowledge of, or experience with, buying Japanese armor to buy the first armor shown to them (by an antique dealer not even an armor dealer). "Hey Dan, nice armor, yea buy it, dont bother to look around and see what else is on the market, dont bother to learn something about Japanese armor before buying, dont worry about asking the seller for better images showing each piece individually from both sides, etc etc, etc"!!!! Honestly Uwe, I expect more from you.

$17,322.30 US or 14,541 Euro......With just these pictures....I think it would be a good idea to look around a bit. Here is a link with Japanese and European dealers, spend some time and do some research. http://samuraiantiqueworld.proboards.com/thread/50/Japanese-armor-weapons-dealers

Hi guys,

 

I´m new to this board. I have been collecting knives since I was a teenager, and have always been fascinated by samurais swords. Now 25 years later, I have some more means and since a friend if mine spend a year in Japan recently, I asked him if he could source me a nice ancient armor and a sword, to put up in my house.

 

I am not looking for a specific period etc. as all this is really new to me. I would like a nice ancient armor to admire and put up in my bedroom.

 

I am willing to spend some money on it, as I intend to keep it, also as sort of an invest that maintains it's value and taht I can enjoy looking at and learning about.

 

So back to the story: My friend has an aquaintance in Japan who is a travel guide for foreign high rollers, and also takes them to antique shops if they want to spend some money there.

 

He just send me some details of an armor (and on a sword, l'll write a second thread for that) that was offered to him.

 

Here is what I got so far from the guide.

 

"Blue Yoroi Armor set

Dated to 1764 (Mid-Edo period)

Complete, with original box

Armor also comes with a wooden display stand

Price, including shipping to Europe: 1.900.000 ¥

 

The wooden plaque (written by a previous owner) reads:

 

Hon-kofuda (true lacquered parts ~ refers to the small individual black armor pieces being made of lacquered wood as was traditional in that era, rather than metal.)

Kon-ito tsunageta (laced together with dark blue thread)

Ni-maido Gusoku (complete set with separate front and back plates)

Meiwa ni-nen (Dated the 2nd year of Meiwa = 1764)

 

The owner is also suggesting two accessories to go with the armor set for display purposes, both of which are contemporaneous to the armor and quite rare:

 

A "Saihai": a short staff with paper wand used to wave troops into battle.

Price: ¥48,000

 

A "Jinbaori" jacket: a brocade battle jacket that was worn over armor.

Price: ¥75,000"

 

If some of you could get me some of your input, I would really appreciate.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Dan

 

Dan, at least you were smart enough to ask for advice BEFORE purchasing. First, it would be very helpful to turn the images so that are not sideways, this is disorienting, second.....the individual scales (hon kozane) are not wood, if not metal then they are rawhide. I personally feel that the price is way to high and you can do better. Take some time to look around, if you want, people here will recommend some Japanese armor dealers both in Japan and Europe that sell decent armors so you can compare. Take your time and do not rush into this.

One other thing, the images provided are not very good, they are small and do not show each individual part of the armor, both inside and out, this is something that would allow you to see any flaws and also to help show if the parts are matching to this armor, or if it has some non matching parts.

Not that the USA needs any more weapons but I have a couple of blades I need to get over there. 

 

I haven't had to do this sort of shipping for some time now and was wondering what experiences members here in the UK have had and if there were any recommendations as to the best options.

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

regards to all

 

Ford

Ford, if you (or anyone else) are successful in shipping your swords to the US can you post your method. I recently had a UK seller tell me he could not find any legit way to ship a sword I had purchased and he refunded my payment. He was reluctant to lie about the contents of his package and was turned down by every well known shipper he could find, thanks.

Hi to all,

I don't know if this was already posted before. If so, please remove this post.

This article is about a restoration project of Japanese armour. It's a nice article and real fun to read.

 

http://to-ken.uk/onewebmedia/Diary%20of%20the%20Restoration%20of%20a%20Suit%20of%20Japanese%20Armour.pdf

 

Regards, Ed

http://samuraiantiqueworld.proboards.com/thread/202/craftsman-robert-soanes-restorer-samurai

http://samuraiantiqueworld.proboards.com/thread/229/restoration-conservation-kikko-kobakama