My Ten Dollar Tanto

[Dan D]

I was at our local flea market and spotted the this tanto laying on the ground amid socket wrenches and broken vacuum cleaners. The seller quoted me a price equal to a couple of happy meals, so I bought it and brought it home to do some research.

While I've collected antique knives for many years, I'm a novice when it comes to Japanese blades. But one thing I've learned about old knives is 'when in doubt, do nothing". Having seen a few of the Chinese fakes recently, I was pretty sure this one was a real Japanese blade. My question was, by whom and how old.

After posting shots of the tang engraving on a couple of Asian arts boards I was told that the two characters could be translated in several possible ways, including: Masamitsu, Masako, Masateru and Seiko. After a bit of Google searching I could only find Masamitsu and Masateru as known swordsmiths. The following link turned up a tanto by Masateru that appears to my untrained eye as very similar to my sword (in much better polish), but the second kanji of Masateru blades don't match with that on my tanto.

http://www.tetsugendo.com/swords/Tan_117_masateru.html

I did some searching for Masamitsu, and found at least three smiths that signed with the same characters as my example, with production dates ranging from 14th century to 20th century.

So I'm asking for any comments and opinions on my tanto, concerning age, authenticity and condition. The blade is missing about 1/16" off its tip. And it has miscellaneous shallow scuffs and scratches, and the hamon is rather faded. I'd like to know if the tanto is a candidate for a re-polish or if it would make more sense to leave it as-is. I'm hoping that identification will help answer that question. Of course, I know that the signature may mean nothing. (Anyone can mark any blade with any name).

So I'll shut up now and post some pictures. Thanks for your help.

Dan

[Lee Bray]

Definitely authentic Japanese work.

Masamitsu, though no comment whether it is gimei or not.

Are the kanji in gold or have you highlighted them with talc? Difficult to tell in the photo.

If it's fresh rust giving the colouration, have a search here for nakago care and get some light mineral oil on it.

 

Repolish?

Considering your initial cost, it's certainly a viable option but it looks in pretty good condition anyway.

If the tip was intact, I'd say leave it alone until you can get to a sword show and have an expert try and identify it in hand.

[Stephen]

LOL you know how many ppl your going to have slaping their forhead....dont find nihonto for ten bucks nowdays. Think its signed Masamitsu.

 

edit

 

See Lee beat me be to the name, two pages of Masamitus, youll have to go by hada hamon to work out which one it could be.

[nagamaki - Franco]

Hello, congratulations, yes, many Masa Mitsu signing with two characters making it reasonable for this tanto to have a valid signature. Perhaps, someone here recognizes the shape of the nakago jiri and can suggest school(s)?

Overall shape 'suggests' later Edo vs earlier, imho. Regarding polish, I see nothing alarming with a quick look at the images. As polish goes tanto are the least expensive. If this tanto is something you'd like to keep a polish is a reasonable consideration.

[Stephen]

also wed like to see pix of the mune/hamachi...to see how tired it really is.

[Dan D]

 

 

Wow, thanks for the quick replies!

 

Of course I'm pleased to hear that it appears to be correct. The NCJSC show is coming up in August. I'll try to attend and get some hands-on opinions. I haven't had this much fun with a flea market find for a long time. We have a really excellent flea market in Santa Cruz, and this will be the second nice Japanese blade I'll have found there in the past decade or so. I was once told that forged signatures are very common on Japanese swords, so I'm being cautious at this stage.

 

The engraving on the tang is not inlaid, but appears to have some old residue of chalk or paint inside the characters. It looks like it's been in there a long time. Here's a couple close-ups of the area in both indirect and direct sunlight. Also a closeup of the muni/hamachi. Are they tired?

Dan

[cmjohnson]

That is quite a good find at a flea market for ten dollars! I could only hope to be so lucky.

 

It's in good shape, tip damage notwithstanding, and even in good polish. Even the habaki is clean, well shaped, and

unworn and undamaged. The machi are clean and fairly deep, so it hasn't been polished to a sliver of its former size.

 

I'm frankly stunned that you'd find such a good blade and in such good condition overall at a flea market.

 

Your photographs of the blade are notably good, too. Well done, sir!

 

You didn't get ripped off. Of that there is no doubt

 

 

Chris Johnson

cmjohnson@cfl.rr.com

[nagamaki - Franco]

[attachment=1]tanto6.jpg[/attachment]The NCJSC show is coming up in August. I'll try to attend and get some hands-on opinions. I was once told that forged signatures are very common on Japanese swords, so I'm being cautious at this stage.

Dan

 

There will be a number of polishers at the show you can ask for opinions, you'll want to ask the polishers specifically for their thoughts on re-shaping the broken tip and the flaw appearing on the side of the mune. Forged signatures can be problematic if they appear to be that of an important smith. I don't think that is a concern here. This is pure speculation on my part, but I think this tanto will turn out to be the work of one of a number of lesser smiths signing with a 2 character mei.

[David Flynn]

Lucky Bas***d, :lol:

 

David

[Dan D]

Thanks for the comments and information. Chris, I'm an amateur photographer, but have found that photographing Japanese blades is devilishly difficult. Daved, sorry about that.

 

Dan

[Toryu2020]

Dan -

Don't forget the NCJSC meets the third Sunday of every month in San Franciscos' Japantown, no need to wait till August - visitors are always welcome and you have the opportunity for hands-on examination, where you can receive a number of opinions and help with your research.

 

A very lucky find indeed!

 

-tom

http://www.ncjsc.org

[Dan D]

Thanks for the invitation Tom. It sounds like it would be well worth the trip up.

 

Dan