hamidashi

[Ian B3HR2UH]

A client recently bought a hamidashi into the office for me to have a look at . The mei had me tossed but with the assistance of Steve I now think it means Long life sword .

The mounts are interesting . The tsuba , fuchi and kashira are all gilded copper ( ? ) engraved with both Kiri and kiku mon . Usually the combination of these would point to an Imperial connection . The menuki , kodzuka and Kogai all depict cranes which are symbolic of long life  . The blade is a real one of uncertain age and properly tempered . With the long life and Imperial family connection I wonder if the piece was produced  ( as a souvenir ) to celebrate the Emperors birthday or a milestone number of years on the throne . Has anyone seen anything similar or have any thoughts on what it might be?

Ian Brooks

[cju777]

Ian, can’t help with anything I have seen, but did want to highlight that the 5-7-5 pattern of the Kiri Mon as opposed to the more common 3-5-3 also adds “imperial” or some official flavor to the set.
 

Thanks for sharing curious to hear if anyone has seen something similar.