Identification / Age / Details / Battle Damage

[chgruener]

Hello all,

 

Looking for some help with this one. Unsigned Nakago. 4 Mekugi holes, one looks like it was filled at some point? Fuchi has remants of gold? Tsunamis looks like it had some gold on it at one point. There is some kanji on the Tsuba as well. The Habaki is beautifully detailed. The Menuki also looks decorated with gold. 
 

The scabbard was struck by shrapnel in several places, along with the blade. The damage isn’t too bad, but it did leave a nice gouge/deformation along the Mune. Blade is still straight.

 

Is this traditionally made? Estimated age? Thank you all!

Edited yesterday at 01:15 AM by chgruener

[John C]

Interesting. Does appear to have some sort of "battle damage", though it isn't in gunto mounts or in a leather-wrapped saya. Could be the type carried by a gunzoku or maybe suffered from some over zealous previous owner testing out his marksmanship on granddads souvenir.

 

John C.

[chgruener]

34 minutes ago, John C said:

Interesting. Does appear to have some sort of "battle damage", though it isn't in gunto mounts or in a leather-wrapped saya. Could be the type carried by a gunzoku or maybe suffered from some over zealous previous owner testing out his marksmanship on granddads souvenir.

 

John C.

The scabbard was in pieces when I received it, held together with old tape. I believe it could have had a leather wrapped Saya at some point, no way to know. I know of a couple other non-gunto swords with legitimate battle damage. These were still commonly carried in theater. 
 

The damage is legitimate shrapnel damage, not damage from a bullet. As evidenced by the light damage to the scabbard in multiple areas, and not just in one. Shrapnel damage would be unbelievably hard to replicate and I don’t see why anyone would attempt it. Especially on such a nice sword. I just don’t see that scenario as plausible.

Edited yesterday at 02:24 AM by chgruener

[Rivkin]

Its traditionally made and probably late Muromachi or early Shinto. The school... I don't know, the elements look like Bizen, but the arrangement is Mino. Probably late Muromachi Mino Kanetomo or maybe someone (other) from Senjuin lineage. Some of them did do Bizen-like chouji.

[eternal_newbie]

Agreed Kirill, it's a Bizen-like choji but it's done in a sanbon-sugi repeating pattern. Quite unusual.

[ROKUJURO]

11 hours ago, chgruener said:

....Tsunami(s) looks like it had some gold on it at one point. .....

TSUNAMI on a sword? That sounds really dangerous! 

Did you mean to write TSUBA? That one looks a bit like JAKUSHI style. I cannot see the MEI properly which might be TOMOKANE (not sure), but the writing is not the typical JAKUSHI grass-script style.

[eternal_newbie]

1 hour ago, ROKUJURO said:

Did you mean to write TSUBA?

 

I suspect another victim of autocorrect (more and more people visit this site on their phones now).

[ROKUJURO]

Yes, probably Autocorrect. But we are no victims to a foreign power, we can read and re-read what we have written before we shoot it out. But in this case, it is more funny than a problem, I think. 

[chgruener]

6 hours ago, ROKUJURO said:

TSUNAMI on a sword? That sounds really dangerous! 

Did you mean to write TSUBA? That one looks a bit like JAKUSHI style. I cannot see the MEI properly which might be TOMOKANE (not sure), but the writing is not the typical JAKUSHI grass-script style.

Yes I meant Tsuba, autocorrect got me there! Lol

[Robert S]

23 hours ago, chgruener said:

The scabbard was in pieces when I received it, held together with old tape. I believe it could have had a leather wrapped Saya at some point, no way to know. I know of a couple other non-gunto swords with legitimate battle damage. These were still commonly carried in theater. 
 

The damage is legitimate shrapnel damage, not damage from a bullet. As evidenced by the light damage to the scabbard in multiple areas, and not just in one. Shrapnel damage would be unbelievably hard to replicate and I don’t see why anyone would attempt it. Especially on such a nice sword. I just don’t see that scenario as plausible.

To me that main impact which carried through to the blade does look like a bullet, not shrapnel.  Shrapnel would likely be much more jagged, and create a more "shattered" look to the saya.  There may well be other damage which was from shrapnel.  Someone was having a bad day... or a very good day, if the sword deflected the bullet away from him.  Prior to the damage, that was quite a nice lacquer finish on the saya.