Mei & History Query: Fire-Damaged Kanesada Wakizashi Comparison

[Iwo87]

 

 

Hello there,

   I am new to the world of Nihonto and recently acquired this entry-level study sword. I bought it not as a high-grade collector piece, but as a personal tie to my family history—my ancestors were samurai retainers of the Aizu domain in Aizu-Wakamatsu.

As you can see, the blade has significant condition issues: the nakago (tang) shows obvious historical fire damage (saiha/yaki-naoshi), and there is a pronounced chip along the edge.

I recently came across a papered wakizashi by the 3rd generation Aizu Kanesada, and I put together some side-by-side pictures for comparisons with my study blade. I would love the forum's insight on a few quick questions:

Specs & Attribution

• My Blade: Wakizashi // Nagasa: ~46.5 cm (18.3 in) // Shirasaya with copper habaki.

• Attributed Smith: 近江大掾藤原兼定 (Ōmi Daijō Fujiwara Kanesada) // Mid Edo period, circa 1660–1740.

• Reference Blade (Papers Attached): Aizu Kanesada 会津兼定, Omidaijo Kanesada 近江大掾藤原兼定// Nagasa: 54.2 cm (21.34 in) ō-wakizashi.

My Questions for the Forum:

1. Mei & Sugata Comparison: Looking past the fire scale and heavy pitting on my tang, does the Mei on the study wakizashi look like it's Kanesada?

2. Historical Context: I’m curious about the reasons why an owner would go to the trouble, time, and expense to find a qualified artisan to save/re-quench a blade in this condition? What time period would this have most likely happened, and what period would they most likely have had the reason and access to a skilled artisan to do this work?

3. The Edge Chip: Any opinions on what type of impact or stress caused this specific chip? Is it highly probable this damage occurred after the historical retempering?

I have attached the side-by-side layouts and close-up details of the tangs. I tried to play around with the pictures of my sword's nakago using different filters to make the Mei more legible. Thank you all in advance for your time and expertise!

Best regards,

Kyle

Top Pic is papered Kanesada, below is my Wakizashi.

Left is papered Wakizashi , RT is mine.

Middle Pic is Papered Kanesada, 2 other pics adjusted for better visibility are my WakizashiChip in blade

Full view of my Wakizashi.

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Kyle,

If you use a black background for your pictures we will be able to see more detail. Why are you so sure the sword is retempered? The large chip likely happened at the hands of some yahoo playing samurai.

Grey

[Iwo87]

Hi Grey,

   Absolutely not sure if it’s been retempered, just from I’ve read this would most likely what happened after a sword was in a fire. I’ll try your recommendation on taking pics w a black background to see more detail , thanks for the suggestion!

Regards,

Kyle 

[Scogg]

I agree with Grey, that the chip is more than likely the result of mishandling. Battle damage usually looks pretty different. 

This sword was sold in January on facebook from a well-known seller. That seller did not state in the description anything about fire damage or re-tempering. I believe that this seller would have mentioned that, because i've seen him sell blades with fire damage before (if i remember correctly).
 

Best,
-Sam

Description from that facebook seller in January:

Quote

....
Wakizashi in Shirasaya,

signed as:

近江大掾藤原兼定 Omi Daijo Fujiwara Kanesada

近江大掾藤原兼定 Omi Daijo Fujiwara Kanesada is a Mei used by multiple generations of the 会津兼定Aizu Kanesada smith lineage.

the 兼定Kanesada smith group of 会津Aizu area (today's Western Fukujima prefecture) is the Edo period descendents of the famous 美濃兼定 smith line.

The 4th generation 兼定Kanesada of Mino migrated to the Aizu area by the request of 蘆名Ashina clan, and since then the smithline continued their work all the way until the 11th generation (Meiji period). During the 幕末Bakumatsu period (last stage of Edo period), they worked for the 会津藩Aizu-han clan, who were known to be one of the last Samurai group that strictly follow the traditional way of Samurai, and acted as the major force of the 幕府Bakufu side against the revolutionary 薩摩藩Satsuma-han and 長州藩Choushu-han. The sword of the vice commandor, 土方歳三Hijikata Toshizo, of the famous 新撰組Shinsengumi Samurai group who belonged to Aizu-han, was also made by the 11th gen of Aizu Kanesada.

though specific generation is hard to attribute, I personally believe this blade should be from around mid Edo period

as shown in the photos, near the middle of the blade, there's a light chip on the edge resulting from cutting hard object —— which is easily removeable during next polish (though sending it to polish just because of this little chip is not recommended). Besides this, it's a handsomely forged blade with neat mid Suguha style straight Hamon, large intact 帽子Boshi on the sharply constructed Kissaki.

a lovely piece of history, decent study sample and affordable beginner blade

measurement:

Nagasa:

~46.5cm or 18.3inches
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