Dean1981 Posted February 6, 2020 Report Posted February 6, 2020 Hello forum members Been offered this sword and would love some of your opinions. Lots of pics below The seller is looking for $1500 Is it a good maker of sword, does the blade look ok Thanks in advance Quote
paulb Posted February 6, 2020 Report Posted February 6, 2020 Dean, The problem is you can see absolutely no detail in the blade. It looks clean and healthy but until it's polished you wont know. Kunisada is a good name, whether they mei is correct and which Kunisada it is I don't know. The fittings have been assembled at some point, part military and part not. If you buy it you would need to consider having it polished to get the most from it and possibly mounted in a shirasaya. At $1500 it is not an over expensive buy but only you can decide whether it gives you what you want at a price you are comfortable with. Quote
Dean1981 Posted February 6, 2020 Author Report Posted February 6, 2020 Dean, The problem is you can see absolutely no detail in the blade. It looks clean and healthy but until it's polished you wont know. Kunisada is a good name, whether they mei is correct and which Kunisada it is I don't know. The fittings have been assembled at some point, part military and part not. If you buy it you would need to consider having it polished to get the most from it and possibly mounted in a shirasaya. At $1500 it is not an over expensive buy but only you can decide whether it gives you what you want at a price you are comfortable with. Thanks Paul B If the smith is a good smith and worth getting it done I will get it polished. Maybe someone here can say whether the mei is correct. It’s a WW2 bring back. Quote
Dean1981 Posted February 6, 2020 Author Report Posted February 6, 2020 2 generations working from 1624 to 1673 Kawachi Daijo Kuni Sada.Both rated smiths.Made good swords .Can not find an Oshigata to compare the signature with !. All This info came from my friend Bill Quote
Brian Posted February 6, 2020 Report Posted February 6, 2020 Hmmm....No hamon visible at all. So really nothing to make a decision on. It is just a generic sword.Now you have a nakago that appears slightly short to me. What is blade length?And a mysterious second mekugi ana even though the signature suggests not really shortened. Mounts that don't use it.Doesn't excite me tbh. Quote
David Flynn Posted February 6, 2020 Report Posted February 6, 2020 I'd be leaning towards, Showa Period. But as we know, hard to tell from photos. Quote
16k Posted February 6, 2020 Report Posted February 6, 2020 I would agree with shinto. The nakago is well finished, but since you can't see neither hamon nor hada, you have to take into account that polishing will add a lot more to the original price. Might be worth it if not gimei and no major flaws are found. Otherwise... Quote
Bruce Pennington Posted February 6, 2020 Report Posted February 6, 2020 As to the fittings - there is quite a variety of mixed civil/military fittings. You can find privately owned blades that made it to the war in every combination from fully re-fitted to full civil and everything in between. You will find some post-war mix/matching done, so it's impossible to 100% say either way. But this one is believable as a war-time partial re-fit for a privately owned sword. 1 Quote
raaay Posted February 6, 2020 Report Posted February 6, 2020 Dean the Birmingham arms fair is in a couple of weeks I believe , go and meet some collectors there and Token members and it will save you the trouble of importing a sword into the Uk , just my two pence worth . 1 Quote
Geraint Posted February 6, 2020 Report Posted February 6, 2020 Dear Dean. This mei is unusual in that the character for sada is not the one expected. Check out this link for information, https://nihontoantiques.com/project/name-sword-fss-795/ Apparently this smith is ranked josaku so not that great, not to be confused with other more famous Kunisada. If it is priced in dollars then expect some extra coin getting it to you and as it's out of polish then you are looking at several hundred to put it in order. You don't mention the length but it looks like a wakizashi. All in all I would take Ray's advice. All the best. 1 Quote
Dave R Posted February 6, 2020 Report Posted February 6, 2020 I think I see what might be core metal, which would account for lack of hamon, and I am wary of the mounts. Pudsey (Leeds) Arms Fair is this Sunday and Birmingham in a couple of weeks. Plenty of decent dealers at each..... Quote
Jacques Posted February 6, 2020 Report Posted February 6, 2020 2 generations working from 1624 to 1673 Kawachi Daijo Kuni Sada.Both rated smiths.Made good swords .Can not find an Oshigata to compare the signature with !. All This info came from my friend Bill https://www.k-sword.com/goods.php?id=697 http://asahitoken.jp/contents/01_token/details/token-C/C005.html Quote
Dean1981 Posted February 13, 2020 Author Report Posted February 13, 2020 Thankyou everyone Sorry for my late reply, I’ve had the flu for some days now Quote
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