Kogatana mei questions.

[bluboxer]

Good day,

I have a kozuka and knife that came with a tanto I received which has the mei "Iga no Kami Fujiwara Kinmichi" The mei compares favorably with the nidai in Fujishiro's shinto volume. However this is the only mei I have for comparison and would like to get some other opinions please.

Also; was/is this common for a bladesmith to produce and sign utility knives?

This knife appears to have been in it's saya slot for a long time as it has the patina of an old nakago.

All comments are most welcome.

[John A Stuart]

A lot of these kogatana are signed in honour of a smith and not by the actual smith, however, there are many signed by the smith and legitimate. Yours may be legitimately signed, I am not qualified to say and you can submit it for verification if you really want to know. John

[bluboxer]

Thanks for the info John. When you say verified do you mean as through a shinsa?

Another question if I may; how would a kogatana be restored in such condition? Would it be polished in such a way as to leave the mei untouched or would this even be considered for restoration (time=$)?

Thanks again for the help.

[cabowen]

The side with the mei is not polished....