Understanding My Shikkake Katana

[Daso]

Hello all, 

 

I spent a while with my flashlight looking at every angle of my Shikkake katana last night as I wanted to understand the nature of this schools unusual mix of hada.  Per the description of the original dealer who had this sword, I still can't quite see the fine points of what is being described on the blade itself. I know it is the same blade :-), so any thoughts in my learning process would be greatly appreciated.  I will have the great opportunity to bring it to the next NY Token Kai where many more an expert eye will be able to guide me as well.

 

Dealer description:

Two of the most recognizable features of Shikkake are the ko-mokume hada becoming masame in the ha, and the “stacked” habuchi occurring in the yakiba known as nijuba and occasional sanjuba. There are also uchinoke, kinsugi, and inazuma. Earlier works have a brighter habuchi and more vibrant jigane, while in later works the jigane became whitish and the habuchi less reflective. There are also ko-nie and strings of kinsuji mixed among the hamon of ko-gunome/suguha with ashi. The yakiba will have concentrated hataraki, inviting one to search for the activity available. The boshi is typically komaru or yakitsume with hakikake.

 

Understanding that this is a very old blade, the transition from Ko-Mokume Hada becoming Masame in the Ha as a trademark seems erratic and non consistent throughout the blade or am I missing it completely.  My photos are not great but to more trained eyes, is this obvious or subtle?

 

Thanks,

Darius

 

 

[John A Stuart]

The description seems fair, but, for one thing Omokume to Masame in the ha, not Komokume. John

[Daso]

The description seems fair, but, for one thing Omokume to Masame in the ha, not Komokume. John

John, Thank you. 

[dig1982]

I clearly see masame in the ha...especially in the first pics...

[seattle1]

Hello:

 It is hard to say much about the hamon from the pix as the images are bright and segmented. The key to Shikkake yakiba usually seen, aside from the presence of nie, is what the dealer described as "stacked" hamon, usually referred to as hotsure I believe. That looks like a subduction of the hamon in places where one level goes below or above  an adjacent segment as one's eye moves up and down the hamon. I think with the blade in hand it would show it to some extent. Beyond that I would say the Yamato characteristic of a relatively wide shinogi-ji is present, however it seems "tired" in places, hardly unexpected on an earlier sword. It would be nice to see more images of the kissaki, as kissaki and nakago on a sword are the two spots richest in kantei information.

 Arnold F.

[Daso]

Hello:

 It is hard to say much about the hamon from the pix as the images are bright and segmented. The key to Shikkake yakiba usually seen, aside from the presence of nie, is what the dealer described as "stacked" hamon, usually referred to as hotsure I believe. That looks like a subduction of the hamon in places where one level goes below or above  an adjacent segment as one's eye moves up and down the hamon. I think with the blade in hand it would show it to some extent. Beyond that I would say the Yamato characteristic of a relatively wide shinogi-ji is present, however it seems "tired" in places, hardly unexpected on an earlier sword. It would be nice to see more images of the kissaki, as kissaki and nakago on a sword are the two spots richest in kantei information.

 Arnold F.

Arnold,  Thank you, I will take some better picture of the Kissaki and post.  I am slowly undertsnd what I am looking for.  In this case it is one of the more complicated mixes and my eyes not quite trained in the intricacies (but learning)

[paulb]

Darius

two key features in indentifying shikkake are the hada becoming masame as it runs into the hamon creating layered sunagashi and the frayed "old mans beard" look of the kissaki. Actually these pointers are mentioned for a lot of Yamato work but they seem to be thought more prevelent in Shikkake swords. Your sword certainly shows the masame in the hamon and I think although the image is a little unclear the lines in the kissaki are also what you would expect to see. So Ithink it is fairly understandable why the shinsa panel reached that conclusion.

The other thing is your sword has a great deal of nie in the hamon. This is most often seen in the work of the earlier generations. As with most schools the quality deteriorated somewhat in later generations.

Based on what can be seen I think it not unreasonable to conclude your sword is from one of the earlier (better) smiths of the Shikkake school

The fact it received tokubetsu hozon papers suggests the NBTHK think the same

Congratulations most of us have gone through many more years and very many more swords before reaching this level. I look forward to seeing your future additions!

[Daso]

Darius

two key features in indentifying shikkake are the hada becoming masame as it runs into the hamon creating layered sunagashi and the frayed "old mans beard" look of the kissaki. Actually these pointers are mentioned for a lot of Yamato work but they seem to be thought more prevelent in Shikkake swords. Your sword certainly shows the masame in the hamon and I think although the image is a little unclear the lines in the kissaki are also what you would expect to see. So Ithink it is fairly understandable why the shinsa panel reached that conclusion.

The other thing is your sword has a great deal of nie in the hamon. This is most often seen in the work of the earlier generations. As with most schools the quality deteriorated somewhat in later generations.

Based on what can be seen I think it not unreasonable to conclude your sword is from one of the earlier (better) smiths of the Shikkake school

The fact it received tokubetsu hozon papers suggests the NBTHK think the same

Congratulations most of us have gone through many more years and very many more swords before reaching this level. I look forward to seeing your future additions!

Paul,  Thank you.  I am very excited to have reached one of my goals so soon as well (as many have said, the right sword will find you).  Now that I have, I realize I must fully appreciate what I have and study (The hell) out of it and learn from it and to not just have it as a wall hanger.  It is just that reason that I have taken advantage of everyone's knowledge here as I am trying to see these points in the sword and only see part of the story so far.  An excellent learning experience and a really nice sword to look at to boot :-)  Thanks for your help. With each post of advice I look at the sword that night to see the points I might have missed.  Best, Darius

[seattle1]

Hello:

 This is an old thread but for illustrative purposes a Shikkake popped up on Aoi Arts this morning that displays in the oshigata image a nice illustration of the classic sort of hotsure subduction effects in the hamon that Shikkake sometimes shows. It is item AS16205 and for a Juyo the starting price seems modest. It is also interesting to note that the Juyo paper is not in hand yet as it just received that designation: submission and up for sale at once.

 The nakago also shows an interesting feature - see if you see it too - which if I am seeing it correctly might make for the basis of another discussion.

 Arnold F.

[Stephen]

Looks like a mei was removed,

 

http://www.aoijapan.com/katana-mumei-attributed-as-shikkake-yamato-school

[Daso]

Hello:

 This is an old thread but for illustrative purposes a Shikkake popped up on Aoi Arts this morning that displays in the oshigata image a nice illustration of the classic sort of hotsure subduction effects in the hamon that Shikkake sometimes shows. It is item AS16205 and for a Juyo the starting price seems modest. It is also interesting to note that the Juyo paper is not in hand yet as it just received that designation: submission and up for sale at once.

 The nakago also shows an interesting feature - see if you see it too - which if I am seeing it correctly might make for the basis of another discussion.

 Arnold F.

My nakago does not look nearly as nice at the one you posted, but Here's the photo of my Shikkake's nakago.  I am curious as to what you see.  Stephen, is area where mei might have bee at top of nakago? ( I am talking about the Juyo blade, not mine)

[Daso]

On a fully separate note, how does one go about, how costly and is it a total waste on a lesser sword to have an oshigata made?

[Stephen]

I may be wrong looks like the area  to the right of top hole has been altered?? i was more asking than telling

[Daso]

I may be wrong looks like the area of top hole has been altered?? i was more asking than telling

That's what I thought as well, looks slightly different than rest of nakago

[Ray Singer]

On a fully separate note, how does one go about, how costly and is it a total waste on a lesser sword to have an oshigata made?

 

IMHO, it's a great educational opportunity to go through this process yourself. A nice way to intimately study the details of a sword you own and see features you might otherwise have overlooked. I believe that there was a video tutorial on oshigata drawing online that was filmed at a past sword show. If I can find it, I will share the link here.

 

Best regards,

Ray

[Stephen]

corrected area to the right of top hole ...left and right brain , seldom in step

[Daso]

IMHO, it's a great educational opportunity to go through this process yourself. A nice way to intimately study the details of a sword you own and see features you might otherwise have overlooked. I believe that there was a video tutorial on oshigata drawing online that was filmed at a past sword show. If I can find it, I will share the link here.

 

Best regards,

Ray

Ray,  I wold venture to try, but a little tough with a 6 year old tugging at you to play after work and just too exhausted once 10:30 rolls around and you just want to wind down   I'm still game to try.  Would be great if you come across the link, I do agree 100% it would be a great learning learning tool to understand any sword in one's collection.  Best, Darius

[Stephen]

Ray know all about them tuggers...lol

[seattle1]

Hello:

 I can only see clearly  what I think I see on the vertical images Tsuruta san has posted, and I might be very wrong (!), but it looks as if something has been removed on each side. There is sort of a convention among collectors of swords it seems to remove mei after failing a shinsa, and "try again". It sort of as if it wasn't there with respect to future assessment of the blade. Of course if there was anything there at all it might have been something other than a mei and date.

 I don't have strong feelings one way or the other of such a thing as we all have heard of cases  when a mei is removed for the sword  to return from some future shinsa with a mu mei attribution to the same smith! If a removal is done I think it would be easier to accept if you knew about it before hand but couldn't tell afterwards. It must be very hard to remove a long and complex inscription, particularly on newer blades and I would guess that a niji mei on an old koto warrior would be the best candidate.

 With regard to the reference sword, this is all just guessing on my part, but it should remind all of us how much value is in the nakago and its careful study.

 Arnold F.

[Ray Singer]

Ray know all about them tuggers...lol

 

Too true, I definitely get it.

 

A bit of information below. Also, Grey Doffin wrote a longer article on oshigata making for the JSSUS and has offered to share it with members in the past who requested a copy. 

http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/oshigata.html

 

It was Grey's oshigata demonstration I was thinking of, and at the moment only see videos online for his sword etiquette demos (also worth watching).

 

Best,

Ray