shoshin ?

[Bungo]

this SMALL wak or long tanto comes with the kodogu I like......so I consider it a bonus , not primary target.

 

anyway, a pretty famous shinshinto smith.

here's the pics and I will also post some illustrations from N. Cal Sword Club's To-ren later for comparision purposes.

 

milt the flying ronin

[Bungo]

these come from the latest To-ren on Toshizane........

 

this dude is famous for choji type hamon, but my sword is atypical.....suguha !!

 

Now would a faker put mei on swords that's not typical of that school's style thereby pointing out the sword id gimei ???

 

mei compares quite favorably........ what do you all think ?

 

milt the flying ronin

[John A Stuart]

Hi Milt, My poor eyes find the mei not to correspond very closely at all but what do I know? As for suguba hamon, haven't we all seen smiths famous for a particular hamon use suguba on shoto or tanto quite often? John

[nagamaki - Franco]

Seasons greetings,

 

Shoshin mei, hmm, I would not be lighting up a cigar just yet. As for suguha, it holds slighty more hope than say an Atypical midare hamon. What does the rest of the sword say?

 

The sword confirms the mei and not the other way around.

 

PS. the mei is close enough to submit say to an NTHK shinsa, as it could be a student signing for the teacher, and they would know.

[Bungo]

" What does the rest of the sword say?

 

The sword confirms the mei and not the other way around. "

 

school is famous for chogi and the sword is suguha........... so hard to use that to confirm the mei.

 

milt the ronin

[Nobody]

Toshizane made Hoso(=thin)-suguha and Kikusuiha as well as Choji according to a book written by Tokuno (得能).

[Bungo]

Thanks, Nobody San, I don't know that.

it is thin suguha, the ji is slightly out of polish but I don't see much " grain " there..

someone previously must have removed a chip on the ha as the hamachi is " missing " leaving the kissaki slightly " odd " size, sort of like fumbari ( spelling ? ) in reverse.

 

milt the flying ronin

[Nobody]

Here are photos of a wakizashi with the mei of Toshizane of the same date as yours.

 

http://sinogi.dee.cc/katarogu/1703/tosi ... aisyou.htm

[John A Stuart]

All the mei show common characteristics except Milt's. Sorry but I don't believe the mei is right. John

[Bungo]

here's the hamon and the boshi ( have to see through the scratches ).........

 

milt the flying ronin

[Rich T]

the construction of the Zane character mate, for me this is the furthest away from shoshin. It is crowded and not at all controlled like the shoshin examples. Also the Shi character is quite different to my eye. Not as well executed.

 

I also notice that the ends of the strokes are done with more flair and a heavier hammer that the shoshin examples.

 

Just my observations. I may of course be well off.

 

Richard

[Bungo]

usually it's the " direction " of the chisel......

note some of the direction on the to-ren sample on " zane " don't match either.......

 

milt the flying ronin

[nagamaki - Franco]

The literature makes note that his later work includes sudareba similar to Yoshimichi and his hada is muji (tight).

[Jacques]

Hi,

 

May be i've all wrong, but look at the location of the mekugi-ana on the oshigatas it is always above the first kanji.

[Guest reinhard]

Even very famous smiths produced completely atypical patterns on a sword every now and then, but they displayed their skills in doing so. There was a Tanto with hitatsura hamon by Oya Kunisada to be seen at this year's Token-Ichi and there's no doubt about its genuineness. Up to now it is the only one of its kind. Wether these kind of swords were made by special order or were the result of a mood can hardly be reconstructed. Anyway, a particular style, especially of the hamon outline, is not necessarily the key for identifying a blade.

Looking at this particular sword, there's not much more than the nakago and the mei to do so. What is most irritating is the Kanji of "nen"(year) in the nengo. It is too far from Minryushi Toshizane's norm. Whereas many of the irregularities of the mei, and the nakago in general, could be justified more or less, the Kanji for "nen" is too far off and the mei in all probability gimei.

By the way, the yasurime should end in kessho-style. Do they? It's not visible on the pics.

reinhard

[Bungo]

more of a kodogu dude than a sword student.......May be I'll have it polished and have another beautiful tsunagi ( besides my other polished hitasura ha-giri tsunagi :lol: )

 

more pics on the hamon, I see a " black/dark " line running through first the hamon, then slightly under and parallel, quite long....... hope the pic will show you all what I described. What do you call that ?

 

milt the flying ronin

[John A Stuart]

Hi Milt. A really good example of sunagashi. John

[Bungo]

Hi Milt. A really good example of sunagashi. John

 

danke,

Looking at other swords i have, I see the same on the ji above the hamon, also a long one above the shinogi ( spelling ?) line, call them sunagashi too ? I am talking about other swords, not the most likely gimei Toshizane.

 

milt the flying ronin

[John A Stuart]

They can be in the hamon or in the ji above the hamon. A similar activity is kinsuji found in the same places. Inazuma are more jagged and thinner but in the same kind of vein. John

[Jacques]

Hi,

 

Hi Milt. A really good example of sunagashi. John

 

 

Suganashi is made of nie.

 

Looks more like nijuba but difficult to see correctly :?

[John A Stuart]

Well what do you think that is made of?

 

http://www.nihontocraft.com/nihonto_hamon_hataraki.html

 

Nijuba and sunagashi both follow the grain, in kuichibaiba. John