nulldevice Posted June 12 Report Posted June 12 It’s been a while since we’ve had a good Kantei quiz here in NMB. Some of you have seen this sword or know it but keep your answers in spoiler tags and I’ll post the answer later. 2 1 Quote
nulldevice Posted June 13 Author Report Posted June 13 Nagasa is 68cm Sori is about 1.4cm I don’t have the motohaba or sakihaba but it doesn’t taper much and has a thin kasane. it has an old gakumei that was removed Quote
Alex A Posted June 13 Report Posted June 13 Thanks Nanbokucho, Perhaps what Kirill said, maybe Nagamitsu or something, top of heaad Nice sword Parts of it remind me of Gassan. Quote
Rivkin Posted June 13 Report Posted June 13 On the other hand, jigane almost wants me to say Aoe, and I think there is a very crisp to kaeri as well. Can be Nambokucho Aoe. Quote
nulldevice Posted June 14 Author Report Posted June 14 1 hour ago, Rivkin said: On the other hand, jigane almost wants me to say Aoe, and I think there is a very crisp to kaeri as well. Can be Nambokucho Aoe. Interesting. The boshi is slightly pointed (togari) on this blade. Quote
Scogg Posted June 19 Report Posted June 19 What looks like Ayasugi has got me stumped. Is that what I'm seeing? I know you've been working on your Nihinto photography, and it looks very nice. I'm not very good at this; and I really feel I'm shooting from the hip; but here goes nothing! Spoiler The best Naminohira i've ever seen? -Sam Quote
nulldevice Posted June 19 Author Report Posted June 19 I'll throw a hint in spoiler tags of a few features highlighted in the sayagaki that I can't photograph correctly: Spoiler Prominent midare-utsuri Plentiful chikei and areas of jifu Hamon is ko-choji mixed with kakubaru-ha with subdued peaks and valleys Saka ashi and yo present almost forming nijuba like structures in areas Boshi is a midare-komi with a pointed (togari) kaeri Plentiful ko-nie in the ji and ha 1 Quote
Scogg Posted June 19 Report Posted June 19 Spoiler With those highlights, my mind immidiately goes toward Bizen. Ichimonji maybe... Fukuoka Ichimonji? Quote
Takezo Posted June 20 Report Posted June 20 (edited) I’m leaning Ichimonji or maybe an oddball Aoe. I feel like it’s Bizen overall though. Edited June 20 by Takezo Quote
Rivkin Posted June 20 Report Posted June 20 That changes things since near absence of utsuri would shift the date forward. Jifu utsuri - mid Kamakura at the latest... Also near-discards Katayama Ichimonji which I seriously thought about. Could be ko bizen or fukuoka but the slanting is a bit aggressive, hamon is quite wide... Ko Aoe. Quote
Tcat Posted June 20 Report Posted June 20 Ko-Naminohira Yasumitsu perhaps? Edit: Looks like characteristics of both Bizen and Yamato. (Ko-Gassan?) 1 Quote
Takezo Posted June 22 Report Posted June 22 (edited) Jigane is throwing me off a bit for Aoe, as most works I've seen are in ko-itame, hence my "oddball Aoe" comment. However I will draw some similarities to this blade: https://www.aoijapan.com/katana-mumeiunsigned-aoethe-70th-nbthk-juyo-token/ especially the boshi and the saka-ashi. I will stick with it being either Bizen or Aoe though. Edited June 22 by Takezo Quote
nulldevice Posted June 22 Author Report Posted June 22 As for a final hint: There has been a dozen guess and a few that are what my non-official kantei brain would call "almost dozen" Quote
nulldevice Posted June 26 Author Report Posted June 26 Time for the answer: Spoiler Bizen Osafune Shigezane For those who went Motoshige or even the Aoe route, those were really good and close guesses. Motoshige and his school were soden-bizen smiths who incorporated Aoe elements such as saka ashi and jifu utsuri but mixed it in with soden-bizen work. Shigezane is generally accepted as the younger brother of Motoshige, although some older sources say he is the son. This blade in particular has a strongly standing hada which is a bit of an outlier for other Shigezane blades I have studied. But the squared off elements in the hamon and also some more subdued areas as well as a pointed boshi all align strongly with Motoshige and his school. The Tanobe Saygakai reads: O-suriage mumei, with an existing attribution to Bizen Osafune Shigezane. Enbun-joji form. The forging is a prominent itame-hada with chikei and jifu woven throughout and prominent midare-utsuri. The hamon is gunome with kō-chōji, intermixed with kakubaru-ha, with subdued peaks and valleys, with saka-ashi and yō, and abundant ko-nie. The bōshi is midare-komi with a pointed kaeri. We can see the characteristics of the Motoshige school in this sword, including the hamon with its small-patterned elements, thus I am in agreement with the attribution. 4 3 Quote
Scogg Posted June 26 Report Posted June 26 Thanks Chanlder, I really appreciate the excersize. Spoiler I should have done better having seen the Aoe and Osufune displays at the last couple SF shows . Still a lot to learn! Lovely looking sword. -Sam Quote
Takezo Posted June 26 Report Posted June 26 Nice. I guess Shigezane had a variety of approaches, as some of his works I have seen have been in ko-itame and some of them with a hada closer to this. The hamon makes sense now. 1 Quote
Rivkin Posted June 26 Report Posted June 26 Thanks, it was a fun and interesting blade, I did not realize jifu utsuri applies here. Quote
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