Late Generation Kinmichi with Kiku Mon

[Kaigunto230]

I stared at this one for awhile today, trying to do some research on the fly. Had a shinsa worksheet but no origami, and I worried that the middle of the kiku's circle was off, being too uneven and larger than others I've seen (i.e. potentially a later-added gimei). Then the bidding went north of my $500 mental limit, and I let it go. Thoughts? Did all but one of us miss out on a good one?

https://bid.sofedesignauctions.com/lots/view/4-39AP3I/late-edo-Japanese-samurai-wakizahi-sword-in-old-shira-saya

[ChrisW]

Yeah.. the signature definitely looks off. Too bright around the edge of the chisel marks.

[Tanto54]

Dear Michael, my guess would be that it is what it purports to be - a late generation Kinmichi (not particularly valuable, but a reasonable price in my opinion).

[TheGermanBastard]

Not a bargain

[Kaigunto230]

Yeah, that's what I figured. When it was $300, I thought it'd be neat to have a late Edo piece with some interesting lineage history, but after it started jumping, and without papers, and in that rough polish, etc. etc.

Shifting the topic a little bit, how do folks approach auctions? I feel like it's very easy to find a large antiques/militaria auction and instantly want to buy everything. When you're not holding the pieces in hand to study, I worry you can go overboard quickly. I'm glad I didn't here.

[Kaigunto230]

1 hour ago, ChrisW said:

Yeah.. the signature definitely looks off. Too bright around the edge of the chisel marks.

That's what I thought too! I'm an absolute novice at reading mei/determining gimei, but between the kiku which I thought looked amateurish (which struck me as odd given its importance) and that brightness, I was worried.

[Kaigunto230]

52 minutes ago, Tanto54 said:

Dear Michael, my guess would be that it is what it purports to be - a late generation Kinmichi (not particularly valuable, but a reasonable price in my opinion).

Thanks for commenting! Not knowing this school at all, I didn't want to guess, but the things I mentioned just looked off. On the other hand, the NTHK NPO kantei worksheet gives it some credence. Could you please say more about why you thought the mei was genuine?

[Sunny]

4 hours ago, MichaelSeeley said:

I stared at this one for awhile today, trying to do some research on the fly. Had a shinsa worksheet but no origami, and I worried that the middle of the kiku's circle was off, being too uneven and larger than others I've seen (i.e. potentially a later-added gimei). Then the bidding went north of my $500 mental limit, and I let it go. Thoughts? Did all but one of us miss out on a good one?

https://bid.sofedesignauctions.com/lots/view/4-39AP3I/late-edo-Japanese-samurai-wakizahi-sword-in-old-shira-saya

good thing I passed on this one too....got one of the others that were up though this evening from Sofie 

[Kaigunto230]

@Steven Edmundooh, so tell! Do you have the link to which one you got? There were a number of them I was tempted by but have run out of real spending money for a time.

[Sunny]

Yes ...there were quite a few nice pieces they had.

Pretty pricey too.

Hope you don't mind but I'm going to wait till I have it in my hands before I kiss and tell.

[Tanto54]

2 hours ago, MichaelSeeley said:

Could you please say more about why you thought the mei was genuine?

Dear Michael, as you may know, there were 10 generations of Kinmichi.  Several of the early generations are very highly regarded - the later generations not so much.  Each generation has a different mei (some are quite artistic and others are very crude).  The famous ones have fairly distinctive Kikumon (16 petal chrysanthemums in "windmill style" "checkerboard center", etc.) and the one you linked is clearly not an attempt to copy one of those famous ones.  In addition, only certain generations used the title ("Nihon Kaji Sosho") and only some used "Raijo", so you can use that and other characteristics to narrow it down to later generations.  The 10th Gen. received the title in the mid-1800's, so the sword doesn't need to be that old to be legit (therefore the bright "pillows" on mei and the nakago may not necessarily be a concern).  I think that many of us cry gemei too easily.  By the style of the sword and the mei, the sword is purporting to be a later generation Kinmichi.  Those have never been very valuable.  The sword looks OK (not great, but OK).  There really isn't any reason to fake a sword with this mei (some will say that it still happens, but I don't think it happens as often as they may believe).   My first sword was a 4th Gen. Kinmichi (50 years ago), so I've always been interested in this school.  The mei on the sword that you linked looks like some of the crude Kikumon and mei placement that I've seen in the past on a few later generation Kinmichi.

[Kaigunto230]

1 hour ago, Steven Edmund said:

Hope you don't mind but I'm going to wait till I have it in my hands before I kiss and tell.

Love it! We’ll look forward to the photos

 

@Tanto54 incredibly interesting! Thank you for the very thorough and thoughtful reply. I really appreciate the insights.