Another Navy Last one No6

[Guns Knives and Swords]

This is the last of the lot.  The last 2 swords are Chinese junk.  That surprised me as nearly everything else in this collection is turning out to be the real thing.  This sword is a bit on the short side with a 25 inch blade.  The condition could be better but I think it is passable.  The sheath is poor being held together with black tape.  Is the sheath correct for this sword? 

 

[PNSSHOGUN]

Made by Asano Kanezane, this has some odd features like an Army Tsuka with naval menuki, blue Ito, a unusual coloured tassel. Does the latch lock into the saya throat or is there a piece missing?

[Bruce Pennington]

Michael, you have one heck of a collection there!  That's a really cool blade!

 

The fittings, though, are a real mess.  I don't know what to think.  The tsuka is mostly Army, but it has navy menugi.  The blue ito looks like it has period wear, so it doesn't seem to be a post-war re-wrap. The Showa stamp is normally only seen on army blades.  It has 2 mekugi ana, which means the blade was re-mounted at some point in it's life, which opens the possibility that this was re-fitted with the navy tsuba/seppa and menugi.  The saya was originally covered in leather, which was seen in both army and navy combat saya.  The only difference was the navy leather was died darker, sometimes black, whereas the army kept the leather brown.

 

I guess you don't know the story behind this gunto?

 

(Ha, I see John was typing the same time I was!  Sorry for the duplication!)

[Guns Knives and Swords]

It does not latch into the saya throat because it looks like a piece is missing from the end of it.  It all aligns and fits together quite nicely. I have no history on any of these.   It sounds like this one has had an interesting life.  I have several other swords that I have had for a number of years.  I may post some of them to see just what they are.  Thanks again for all the help and interesting information.

 

[PNSSHOGUN]

It does appear as if the saya is covered in a thin leather and this piece was added at the same time. Very curious indeed. Please check your PM's Michael BTW.

[Dave R]

Hybrid mounts, if all contemporary I would suggest it was carried by an officer in the Imperial Japanese  Naval Landing Force, (often miscalled Marines).

 The tassel/sword knot could be sun bleached, or the colour literally washed out.

 

... That Haikan is definitely too high on the saya though! 

[vajo]

Its mixed for me. Could be a civillian employee sword. But not looking bad at all. Haikan must be around 10 cm under the koiguchi.

[Guns Knives and Swords]

I never noticed it but now that you mention it it is quite glaring that the Haikan is too high to be of any use.  There is no sign of it ever being lower or a different one being in place.  The sheath does indeed seem to be covered in a very thin layer of leather.  I guess there is a possibility the sheath has been cut off and is originally from a different sword.  From what I am reading my take on this is that it is a collection of parts, however it does look like it was assembled long ago and shows no signs of an amateur being the culprit.  Even if the sheath was cut the work is very well done and is square to the brass and finished smooth. 

[Bruce Pennington]

57 minutes ago, Guns Knives and Swords said:

a collection of parts, however it does look like it was assembled long ago and shows no signs of an amateur being the culprit

I didn't notice the leather till you just pointed that out.  I think you summarized it well.

 

6 hours ago, Dave R said:

I would suggest it was carried by an officer in the Imperial Japanese  Naval Landing Force,

This is my leaning too.  Richard Fuller speculates that naval forces stationed on land working with Army may have adopted some of the army fittings.  He mentioned durability, but I think the gold-gilding might have been undesirable if trying to blend in with the local flora.  I believe there is also that element of being essentially abandoned on islands with no reinforcement, no resupply, and in the case of swords, no repair teams or access to the industry.  Field repairs and replacements would, to me, be a natural thing to do.  But at this point, we are WAY off the main road and deep into Speculation County.

[Dave R]

On 10/4/2020 at 6:25 AM, Guns Knives and Swords said:

This is the last of the lot.  The last 2 swords are Chinese junk.

 

 What decided you that they were junk. We have seen some very odd pieces here that turned out to be genuine, and some very convincing items that did turn out to be fake/junk.

[Guns Knives and Swords]

Both have the typical acid etched blades and poorly cast tsuba.  The entire blade is a Damascus pattern.  I knew they looked odd to me from the beginning but not until I looked up Chinese fakes did I know what they were.  The sheaths may be original items though.  I will post a few pictures of them for your opinions.  The wood inside the darker one has been broken and recently repaired.  To my eyes they both seem to show true age where the rest of the swords do not. 

 

 

[Bruce Pennington]

The lighter, top one is clearly a fake.  The darker, bottom one is tough.  The snaps look old, but the top end of the leather, especially inside the flap, look new, but the end looks artificially aged, with multiple cracks running all over.  I have a fake that came with a batch of swords, and the saya leather has that all-over-cracking like it was treated with a chemical or something.  I could be wrong on the bottom one, though.

[Dave R]

 To me, both saya covers, and possibly the saya' look old. Now let's see the blades! Stick them under a new heading if you are bothered.