echizento Posted June 23, 2014 Report Posted June 23, 2014 It's said that a smith can be identified by his hiromono. Here are several pictures of sections of a Nagamaki-naoshi that I've owned for a number of years. The Hiromono is So No Kurikara but without the Ken and it has a rendai at the tail. On the ura side are three hi one long center hi and one shorter one on each side, below the hi is a rendai and above the hi is the Bonji (sanscrit) I posted in an earlier post. Does any one know of a smith that may have use the hiromono without the Ken along with the type of Hi? Quote
leo Posted June 23, 2014 Report Posted June 23, 2014 Judging from the style of dragon, the engraving of the ken was originally planned, but never executed. I am sure, this horimono(of poor quality) was added later, so there is no way to learn anything about the swordsmith. Apart from the polish, the blade looks good to me and seems to be old. There were smiths, who carved their own blades but these horimono were usually of good quality. Regards, Martin Quote
echizento Posted June 23, 2014 Author Report Posted June 23, 2014 What makes you think it's poor quality? Can you elaborate or is that the standard reply to a non papered blade? Quote
echizento Posted June 23, 2014 Author Report Posted June 23, 2014 It seems a bit odd that the ken wasn't added, but it does makes sense that it could have been planned but not added for some reason. Quote
echizento Posted June 24, 2014 Author Report Posted June 24, 2014 Any other comments would be appreciated. Quote
ancientnoob Posted June 25, 2014 Report Posted June 25, 2014 I can't help you not one bit. I am eager to learn more about the sanskrit horimono. I was reading that attribution by Horimono is possible, but I am not sure if that is true in all cases, and I am not sure if it would be possible in this case. I have looked at lots of pictures of horimono and this doesnt seem to be the worst one of the lot. It could have been carved when it was made, or when it was reshaped and or at some later time. There is a lot of speculation in this field. I can not comment on if the horimono is low quality or high quality, although I just read that the simple horimono was common to the earlier periods and wasnt as intricate or flashy as they are in the edo period. I am hoping some the big guys here make comment. In my opinion I would suspect that the horimono was left unfinished and the only thing I see that is truely low qulaity is the photo... The piece is certainly worthy of better photos. Quote
echizento Posted June 25, 2014 Author Report Posted June 25, 2014 My picture taking is terrible at best. I will try and take better pictures. Quote
Darcy Posted June 29, 2014 Report Posted June 29, 2014 I think that's Kanman Fudo and then Fugen for the bonji. Quote
SwordGuyJoe Posted June 30, 2014 Report Posted June 30, 2014 What makes you think it's poor quality? Can you elaborate or is that the standard reply to a non papered blade? The horimono on your blade is very poorly executed. Here is an example of a well done horimono of a female and male dragon by Sakai Ikkansai Shigemasa. The difference in quality should be quickly apparent. Quote
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