Mei help needed, my first sword

[TKarpo]

This wakizashi was an anonymous gift to a buddhist teacher, a "bodhisattva gift", which is given on the occasion of taking the bodhisattva vows. It is therefore untraceable back to the previous owner, which is unusual. I have reason to believe it was part of the Christie's auction of the Walter Compton collection in 1992, and might be found in the auction catalog, part 3. The reason is that it came with copies of two pages of that catalog, with a particular blade circled, but the picture and description circled don't match the actual blade. My speculation is that the donor circled the wrong ones and that this blade could be found elsewhere in the catalog, but I don't have access to that publication. I have spent hours poring over character charts trying to decipher any part of the mei, but to no avail. The fittings are in a sad state of disrepair, but the blade is such a thing of beauty that I am obsessed with learning more about it. Can anyone help me with the mei? I want to know more before considering options for restoration, and anyway--I just want to know.

 

Thanks so much, in advance...

TKarpo

[Guest reinhard]

Hi TKarpo,

 

This sword was actually sold at Christie's NY on December 19th 1992 as lot No. 129 (p.82) of the Compton collection in the third auction round, which was a kind of aftermath. The mei reads: Hoshu (no) Ju TSUNAKAGE (i.e. TSUNAKAGE resident of Hoshu (Bungo) province). It was sold for 880 USD including buyer's premium.

 

Reinhard

[Nobody]

Hi,

 

I do not think that is Tsunakage (綱景) but Munekage (統景).

 

FYI: http://sinogi.ddo.jp/syasin/katarogu/18 ... 269078.htm

[Guest reinhard]

You are right, of course. I haven't checked the actual mei, just repeated the wrong infos given in the auction catalogue. I should have known better.

Never trust Christie's blindly.

 

Reinhard

[TKarpo]

Thank you both! I've been searching for mention of Munekage and Hoshu or Bungo, and came up with a little bit on the web. At http://www.sho-shin.com/sai13.htm I found this:

 

MUNEKAGE BUN-ROKU 1592: Another who enjoyed the gift of his

master's name, the MUNE of OTOMO YOSHIMUNE. ITAME HADA

with MASAME shows JI-NIE. Tightly defined NIOI HIRO-

SUGUHA is KO-MIDARE with ASHI and YO. GUNOME-MIDARE HA.

MUNEKAGE is considered the outstanding artist among his

late HIRA-TAKADA peers. Descendants in SHINTO.

 

So do you think that is the smith who made this blade? Would you need more details of the blade, and more images, to know?

 

TK

[Guest reinhard]

The condition of the blade was bad when it was sold 15 years ago and this seems to be the case still, therefore new pictures will probably not give new informations. Since I do not have any reference material to check this particular smith, especially his mei, I'll leave it to others, who might have. Fujishiro, who is supposed to be very reliable, lists only one smith with this name. He was a later member of the Takada school in Bungo province and worked around Shoho era (1644-47).

 

Reinhard