F/K help

[Mark]

I bought a sword and the kashira was hanging off the tsuka and then broke off (fortunately not before i bought it). The fuchi is signed Naotoshi, looks like H 06807.0 from Haynes index, Hamano circa 1775......

 

The fuchi and kashira came together but i do not know if they are a set or have been put together in the past, the carving is in 3d on the fuchi but flat on the kashira. I do not know Japanese subjects that well so i do not know if this is telling a story and belongs together or not.

 

Any input would be appreciated

 

Thanks!

[Soshin]

Hi Mark,

 

I am not aware of the story behind the design of the kashira but I feel the fuchi is not original to the set. From the photos the detail of the design and the inlay workmenship on the fuchi is better. The mei of your fuchi is signed nicely as well. Someone butting together the koshirae of your Nihonto likely placed fuchi and kashira together. I also noticed that the inside surface of fuchi opening has been filed likely to fit a new nakago of a different thickness.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

David Stiles

[Mark]

David

 

thanks, i had the same concerns. I wanted to verify they did not belong together before i broke up a set that actually went together and had a theme someone recognized.

[docliss]

Mark’s fuchi is signed NAOTOSHI with kao, and Haynes lists no fewer than nine artists using these kanji. The kao is most like that of Hamano Naotoshi (H 06807.0), working ca 1775, and it should not be too difficult to identify the artist, who used a variant of the ‘Nao’ kanji with the third horizontal stroke of the 目 turned vertically. This fuchi is certainly not a pair to the kashira, which is possibly late Mito work.

 

John L.