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[Chris swords]

I got this sword from an antique shop along with some other items and I was wondering if anyone knows who made it or anything about it. Thank you. 

[C0D]

Bishu Osafune ju Sukesada

Tenbun 21 a day in the 8th month

[Geraint]

Dear Chris.

 

Please go very carefully with this, avoid the urge to clean it other than a wipe with some thin oil.  Cleaning can devalue a sword very quickly.  I am guessing that you know that Tenbun is a period in Japanese history from 1532 to 1555, that Bishu is a short form of the province Bizen, Osafune the village at the centre of sword production and Sukesada is the name of the smith who made it.  There were a lot of Sukesada in this area making swords.

 

Can we see photographs of the whole blade and did it come in mounts?

 

All the best.

[Chris swords]

Hi,

 

thank you so much for your help, mystery finally solved! So pleased, thank you very much. 
 

Unfortunately the actual blade isn’t in great condition with no mounts but it’s still nice to have some information on it! 

[dkirkpatrick]

As you may know condition is a relative thing in nihonto world; something that looks pretty beat up can be successfully (professionally) polished and conversely a sword that looks good at first blush is lost.  No matter older dated pieces are still pretty cool, Good luck!