Sword in koshirae on display in local museum

[Scogg]

I donated a flag to the OBON society this weekend, and had the opportunity to tour their WWII display in the Maritime Museum in Astoria. I was surprised to see this sword on display.
 

I’m no tosogu guy, but it immediately stood out to me as looking pretty nice and predating WWII. No saya was displayed unfortunately. I was hoping some of the tosogu folks here might be willing to offer their opinions on it, particularly regarding its quality, age, and any other details that might be apparent from the photos. What is the material under the ito? Also, I cannot tell what's in the center of the menuki for the life of me.

Just a curiosity because I was immediately attracted to it. Behind plexiglass, so I did my best with photos.
 

Thanks for taking a look!

-Sam

 

[Matsunoki]

Hi Sam

The material under the Ito looks like heavy silk brocade often used on itomaki no Tachi and sometimes found on all other varieties of Nihonto especially more luxuriously mounted ones. I think it has faded a bit.

[Matsunoki]

…..and the centre of the menuki look like a Ho-o bird kamon with all the swirling feathers but not easy to “see”. The sword is a Tachi and as such the koshirae is “upside down”…ie designed to be seen with the cutting edge downwards, but even rotating the image it’s still tricky.

 

[ROKUJURO]

These long handle ornaments are called KENUKI GATA MENUKI after the HEIAN JIDAI TACHI style swords.

[Matsunoki]

Given the apparent circumstances surrounding the surrender of these swords (on the Missouri?) its fair to assume they belonged to Officers of considerable rank. The one in question could be a custom ordered koshirae that vaguely looked like a military sword but was leaning more heavily towards an old Tachi. It looks like it contains an old Tachi blade, possibly something rather exciting?

[Scogg]

Thank you Colin and Jean! That's very interesting. I flipped my image below for better vewing. I wish I took better/more photos of it. 

Blade in suguha with fine consistent nioiguchi, with very tight/fine jihada. A little hard to see behind glass. No views of nakago. Nice polish, no rust, lots of what looked like more recent scratching in the monouchi area. If it's an old blade, I agree it could be very exciting. It definitely caught my attention. 

I wonder if the curator would flip the display if I reach out to them. I'm building a relationship with the OBON society, so maybe I can get a better look at it someday in the future.

Thanks again! Ya'll are the best.

-Sam

 

[ROKUJURO]

Sam,

the museum needs advice and support, and I hope you will get into contact with relevant staff members there! 

[Bugyotsuji]

BYW Kenukigata often referred to as  ‘dog bone’ in the West. No guesses as to why.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Interesting that those swords are noted as being related the Missouri, there are number of different accounts of when and where the delegation were relieved of their swords: 
 

 

[Scogg]

Fascinating, John. Thank you for that.

On the plaque under the swords, it states that these were donated from the estate of "Vice Admiral Daniel E. Barbey".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_E._Barbey

"

Promoted to vice admiral on 9 December 1944, Barbey directed 30 more assaults in 1945, mostly in the southern Philippines and Borneo.[4] He conducted the last amphibious operation of the war, the landings at Balikpapan, Borneo on 1 July 1945.[1] In all, "Uncle Dan", as he was known, planned and conducted 56 amphibious operations, landing more than one million Australian and American soldiers and marines.[25] For his wartime service in the Southwest Pacific, the U.S. Army awarded Barbey the Army Distinguished Service Medal.[26] On Australia Day in 1948 the Australian government honored him with an honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire, which was presented at the Australian embassy in Washington by Norman Makin, the Australian Ambassador to the United States.[27]
"

 

[Scogg]

Considering the context, and that we've already got input on the fittings. Maybe I should relocate this to the military section

[charlesf]

Could this be a Mantetsu tachi?

 

charles.

[charlesf]

See thread 'South Manchuria railway company presentation tachi',October 11th 2014 in Military Swords of Japan started by Medina San1.

[Matsunoki]

25 minutes ago, charlesf said:

See thread 'South Manchuria railway company presentation tachi',October 11th 2014 in Military Swords of Japan started by Medina San1.

Great spot! So maybe not an old Tachi blade.

Sam….have they got the saya?

 

[Scogg]

That looks just like it! So much so, I would be surprised if it were something else. I wonder if this is the one that Ted has seen, or a new one entirely.

 

I have requested more information about the sword and to connect with the curator.  Apparently, the building next door is named after Daniel E. Barbey, so his estate or family must be involved in the area and museum somehow. 
 

I will keep y’all updated! Looked to be a nicely made sword.

-Sam 
 

 

 

[Scogg]

48 minutes ago, Matsunoki said:

Sam….have they got the saya?

Oops sorry I forgot to address this. I’m not sure about the saya, it was not displayed with the sword. But neither was the saya for the Type 98 displayed above it. Hopefully both saya are still with the museum somewhere. I imagine that they are.

 

This museum is right on the coast and the blades are in good condition. Must be in some climate control, or have been well cared for and kept oiled. 
-Sam

 

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Just checked some other SMR tachi and the floral pattern is the same!  Same menugi, too.  Sure would be nice to get shots of the nakago.  Good call, Charles!

[Scogg]

Small update:

It sounds like the curator is willing to talk to me about the sword, and they seem very interested in adding information about it. 

Although, they're opening a new wing to the museum this fall and are swamped currently. They've requested that I hold any curator inquiries until after October. 

So stay tuned in November! Maybe I'll get some more images and hopefully some nakago, and nakago-mune photos for you Bruce.
Always fun to find an interesting sword. Thanks for all your help guys, and especially @charlesf for your keen eye and memory.
All the best,
-Sam

[Bruce Pennington]

Just glad you're in position to be able to check into it, Sam.  Looking forward to a November update!  

[Kiita]

I passed through there earlier in the year and noted the brocade which struck me as quite unusual, showed some pictures to a kimono collector who guessed that the cloth might be Edo period, on what grounds I don't know. Had meant to make a post asking about here it but I never got around to it. The sugata struck me as fairly recent in its massiveness in all dimensions so I'm glad there's some there's some evidence pointing in that direction.

 

There's a third gunto in its saya in another part of the exhibit, with the Type 99 rifle, but it appears to be a more common and less interesting example.