Soliciting comments on this waki

[Harry]

A recent purchase I am inviting comments on. It’s a learning piece so please don’t hold back. TIA!

Harry

[Geraint]

Dear Harry.

 

No dimensions so I am assuming that this is a tanto rather than a ko wakizashi.  When you look along the nakago ha into the blade is there a noticeable slope just above the machi?  If so then that would suggest quite a few polishes.  How does the thickness look at the machi?  Again, a narrowing as the blade leaves the nakago would suggest the same thing.

 

All the best.

[Harry]

3 hours ago, Geraint said:

Dear Harry.

 

No dimensions so I am assuming that this is a tanto rather than a ko wakizashi.  When you look along the nakago ha into the blade is there a noticeable slope just above the machi?  If so then that would suggest quite a few polishes.  How does the thickness look at the machi?  Again, a narrowing as the blade leaves the nakago would suggest the same thing.

 

All the best.

 

Sorry about that. Here are the dimensions:

Nagasa 33.5 cm

Nakago 11.5 cm

Sori 4.5 mm

 

There does seem to be a slight slope to the ha just above the machi. And the blade thins, but not in a way that seems unnatural.

[Geraint]

So it's a ko wakizashi, point one, when were they created?  From the pictures the nakago looks to be ubu, would you agree?  The nakago finish does not look Koto.  From what I can see the boshi appears to be in suguha and with this hamon if it were Koto one might expect the hamon to continue into the boshi.  One would not expect to see the features associated with several polishes in a Shinshinto blade, nor the features of the boshi,  and the optimum time for Shinto ko wakizashi is early Shinto.  Allowing for a little narrowing of the blade as a result of polishes then the original sugata would have been a little fuller as would the boshi.  

 

Given that all this is based on two, pardoning your photographic skills, rather limited photographs, and that I know nothing this would suggest an early Shinto ko wakizashi.  I take it that the hada is obscured, what can you see in the hamon?

 

Over to you.

 

All the best.

[Harry]

Dear Geraint,

Many thanks. I am new and this is very helpful. I think the nakago is ubu but a chop-down would have to be fairly obvious for me to recognize it. Here are some additional photos. BTW - taking a good photo of these blades is a lesson in humiliation! I hope these help. I don’t think the blade is anything special but the hada and hamon seem OK to my untrained eye. My photos do not do a great job of showing this. Thanks again for your help!

 

Best regards,

Harry

 

 

[Ken-Hawaii]

Possibly sunnobi tanto?

[mywei]

I'm getting Shinto Mino vibes

[Harry]

Hi Matt,

If it is Shinto then it is older than I expected. I really don’t know what to think of it. I bought it on faith (no papers) and the seller did not provide any details. It came at a price low enough to seem suspect, but the hamon and hada seem OK and I could not see any fatal kizu. However, I would be surprised if I am not missing something - and probably something obvious!

 

 

[Rivkin]

15 hours ago, mywei said:

I'm getting Shinto Mino vibes

 

Yes, Jumyo comes to mind.

[Harry]

Hi Kiril,

Is it the midari hamon that suggests Jumyo school? 

Early Shinto, Mino province, Jumyo school. Is this blade perhaps better than I originally thought or just older?

[Rivkin]

its very periodic which after 1500 is sort of mino. jumyo was a bit conservative in this so it survived into shinto like that. to be honest i would say its just older.

[Harry]

Thanks everyone. This has been a big help and I have learned a lot. Much appreciated.

 

Harry