Ietada, Iyetada Long Wak. Trying to determine which one

[jason_mazzy]

I purchased this Nihonto from Japan a while back and it finally arrived:

 

 

 

I believe from my research there are 5 Iyetada from Kaga in Hawley's index from the provence including IETADA KICHIBEINOJÔ [KAN'EI 1624 KAGA] who signed many blades Ietada Fujiwara. He is ranked wazamo, so i would be very pleased if this was my new nihonto.

 

 

and i don't know why the tang looks so bright or clean, the auto fix made it look much nicer lol. I assure you it is not that new looking. I will be taking better pictures with Mark on monday.

 

edit: Grammatic and added first line.

[cabowen]

According to the Meikan, there were three Ietada signing kashu ju fujiwara ietada. You will need to compare the signature to that in a reference like Fujishiro's Shinto Hen.

 

Kaga blades are generally not given much respect but this appears to a well made blade with a nicely cut mei. It would be a fine addition to your collection!

[jason_mazzy]

Would somebody be of assistance in comparing the mei's? I do not have that book, and there don't seem to be many around for sale.

 

I would greatly appreciate it.

[Mark Green]

Jason,

I have it. We can look at it this week

It looks pretty good to me.

Mark G

[Jacques]

Hi,

 

From Shinto taikan:

 

[jason_mazzy]

I should be there tomorrow with the Gf and daughter

[jason_mazzy]

looks very close. which one is that jacque?

[Jacques]

Hi,

 

It is not precised but i think shodai (please look attentively the kanji Fuji and the kanji Tada).

[jason_mazzy]

I will do my best to compare when i can get with Mark. he was very sick today. Do you happen to have a link or picture or image with the information about shodai?

[jason_mazzy]

Who was the very first of the ietada fujiwara from the area? and what years did he smith? I have the sword at a known polisher (no i won't tell you who till i get it back), and he says the blade has a few koto qualities, including the nakago and it's patina.

[cabowen]

The mei is a very close match to the one posted above from Fujishiro. It is a Shinto blade. Your polisher should know this....There are no smiths named Iyetada working in Kaga in the koto period.

 

edit: I suppose it could be a koto blade with a gimei signature....didn't mean to come on so strong....

[Tsugio Kawakami]

Those are very close...but they still have a lot of dissimilarities.

[cabowen]

If I read it right, Fujishiro says there were two generations with the second dying young, leaving few works. The oshigata shown is the shodai, from his early days....If I have understood it correctly, it would be natural for a mei to change a bit over the course of a working career. I think that the mei shown in Fujishiro and that of the poster's mei share several idiosyncrasies that make it a possibility that this is a later work of the shodai.

 

It is a well made blade, regardless, so congrats to you Jason!

 

here are a few examples of the shodai...the first two are papered, the third said by the owner to be shoshin...draw your own conclusions....

[jason_mazzy]

could you email me these pics chris? this way I can open them up larger and compare mei easier. thank you.

[Lee Bray]

Jason, if your polisher cannot differentiate between Shinto and Koto with the blade in hand, I'd seriously consider using another polisher.

 

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7381&view=unread#unread

[jason_mazzy]

U r right lee. He did say it had some koto quality but it was shinto, just a few things caught his eye. he was just trying to help me determine which ietada, since he thought the nakago patina looked very old