Procedure To Follow To Date Mumei Blades?

[dominnimod]

I have a mumei unpolished wakizashi but with visible hamon.About it's period,being mumei it canot be known for sure but I would say late muromachi for the shape,however rust and koshirae don't seem from that period,maybe edo

Any hints that could help with its dating?

Thanks

 

 

 

 

[Darcy]

First step would be to post your images rotated 180 degrees. It's like trying to recognize a face upside down. 

 

Koshirae is a non-factor in aging a blade since they were frequently changed. 

 

Shape is a factor but not the only factor. Rust and patina is a factor but you need to determine if it's suriage or if it is original. Need to look alone the mune and see if there is any narrowing above the nakago to see if there's a large effect of polish over time. The quality of the work and style of forging and hamon also factor into knowing the period of the blade. 

 

Sugata is just the biggest and easiest guideline but there is a large grey area of an average type of shape that can slide into many different periods so it isn't everything. Hard to say for sure how old your piece is without a closer look. It is kind of guesswork as it's laid out here. The nakago could be suriage in this case. It's not a really standard shape that rings a bell for me.