Gimei On Tosogu

[Stefan]

I knew that is possible to remove Gimei on swordblades. But  how is it in the terms  of tosogu ?
I knew that in swordblades the signature ist punched in ( therefore the makura ) and  in tosogu they are carved.

In my understanding there is no material to be pushed back in tosogu.

I have no idea  how an  Gimei can been removed here.

It is  possible to get papers on tosogu with a false signature ?

( If the  the same  rules are applied  as in blades the answer would be  "NO" ) I am not sure.

[ROKUJURO]

I have seen signatures erased on FUCHI. It does not seem to be too difficult to push the soft material into the grooves, but the MEI did not disappear completely. It was just unreadable. 

[b.hennick]

I too know of a fuchi that has had the signature removed. 

[Ford Hallam]

it is possible to completely 'erase' a gimei from tosogu. Done skilfully the job would be undetectable and shinsa judges unaware of the 'correction'.

[Gunome]

Ford,

 

Does this depend of the material (iron, shakudo, ...) and type of tosogu (fuchi, kozuka, tsuba ...) or is it possible on all kind of tosogu ?

 

Thanks

 

Sébastien

[Steve Waszak]

I have a tsuba that has been attributed, both by the NTHK and via shumei (don't know who did the shumei), to Sadahiro (Owari).  I had the tsuba for more than two years before one day, turning the guard in the light, I saw what is an "abraded" or almost-erased Nobuiye mei.  The signature is of the Futoji-mei variety, and what remains of it (the "Nobu" ji is still visible; the "ie" ji is essentially scrubbed away) confirms the particular style of rendering that ji that the nidai Nobuiye employed (some scholars have this artist as the shodai, but most, I believe, recognize him as the nidai).  I have been perplexed as to why there would have been an attempt to remove the mei, unless some previous owner considered it gimei.  A shame, since the piece itself is clearly---according to many production details---genuine nidai work. 

 

Here are photos of the tsuba, including close-up images of the seppa-dai.  I have also included photos of two similar guards made by nidai Nobuiye (first two images).  The "journeys" these works take over time is fascinating...

 

Cheers,

 

Steve