Requesting Assistance with Mei

[OG_Jedi]

I recently inherited a number of swords that we know little about.  I have learned some information from surviving family, but none of it useful in identification, etc.  I am learning a lot from the site, but am still way out of my league with trying to make identifications myself.  I thought I'd throw some info out here on a few of them to see if anyone would be willing to assist me in my quest.  

 

Two of the swords in the collection are signed and there should be some pics attached.  Any information on what they say/mean and/or what I now have on my wall will be greatly appreciated.

 

  

[quoshy]

For the sword on the right: Miyazaki echizen no kami naomasa saku kore  宮崎越前守直正作之　The last character is cut off.

https://nihontoclub.com/smiths/NAO76

[uwe]

I think the left one reads “中井住越前守直正” (Nakai jū Echizen no Kami Naomasa).

The right seems to be “宮崎越前守直正作 (cut off)” (Miyazaki Echizen no Kami Naomasa saku /cut off).

[Shugyosha]

Hi Will,

Welcome to NMB. I got the same as Scott and Uwe - The one on the left reads Nakai ju Echizen Kami Naomasa - resident of Nakai, Echizen kami (honorary title) Naomasa (smith's art name) - 中井住越前守直正

 

The one on the right reads [at] Miyazaki (place name) Echizen kami Naomasa Saku [kore] - Echizen Kami Naomasa made [this] - 宮崎越前守直正作 [之]. Shortening the tang has cut through the last character.

 

Assuming they are both genuine signatures (forged signatures are not unknown) then according to Markus Sesko's compendium he was working around  Genji (元治, 1864-1865), in the province of Ōshū.

 

 

[Nobody]

The mei on the left one is

中村住越前守直正 – Nakamura ju Echizen no kami Naomasa.

[uwe]

Indeed,

a closer look reveales this little stroke I've missed...

 

 

 

[Shugyosha]

1 hour ago, uwe said:

Indeed,

a closer look reveales this little stroke I've missed...

 

 

 

+1 yep - I missed it too. 

[OG_Jedi]

Amazing.  I can't thank you all enough.  I was wondering if the one had been cut and appreciate confirmation. I think I'm safe from forgeries, but one can never be too certain, so I'll be looking into that as well.  Many, many thanks.   

[PNSSHOGUN]

Hi Will, are these swords in matching mounts? Were they brought back from WWII or from a collector in the family?

[OG_Jedi]

PNSSHOGUN:  Apologies for my ignorance - I'm new to this - I'm not sure how to evaluate the mounts well enough to answer your question.  More pics should be attached.  The detail pic for the second sword doesn't show all the parts well and now it's put back together and in storage.   What you can't see well on that one is that the fitting behind the tsuba (the seppa ?) is black and embellished with gold dragons.  Hasty photos and I'm only now realizing I didn't get a shot of that beautiful feature.  As to how we ended up with them; we're still working to figure that out precisely.  My family has accomplished many things, but we didn't write much down and the critical ones have now passed, before anyone recorded key specifics. For at least the last 45 years, they've been at the bottom of a very large cedar chest wrapped in carriage blankets.   Still more questions than answers beyond that.  

 

 

 

 

 

[PNSSHOGUN]

Thanks Will, I ask because it is usually a sign of a collector to have two swords with such similar smith Mei. The other possibility was they were mounted as an ensuite "Daisho" that shared the same motif on the fittings. A very interesting discovery and some nice swords, they don't appear to have suffered any rust damage after all these years. To care for them do not touch the blades with bare hands under any circumstances, keep them oiled with a light mineral oil and avoid testing their sharpness on anything!

 

More information on care here: http://www.nbthk.com/