Edward G Posted July 22, 2011 Report Posted July 22, 2011 Good evening to all. Please look at the group of pictures hosted at image shack and tell me if anyone can make out the date side of the tang or the signature side of the tang. It is very old and I have tried to take numerous pictures from different angles. Any help will certainly be appreciated, the signature side is very faint, however, the date side seems relatively strong except for the begining portion. Anyway, whatever you may come up with will be more than what I have now. Edward G. Quote
k morita Posted July 22, 2011 Report Posted July 22, 2011 Hi, It is impossible to decipher the date(Era) and the signature. Nice habaki. Quote
Jacques Posted July 22, 2011 Report Posted July 22, 2011 Hi, Measurements (nagasa sori etc...) and pictures of the whole blade would be helpful, to try to give an attribution about era Quote
Curran Posted July 22, 2011 Report Posted July 22, 2011 Have we not seen this habaki before in another thread a while back? The koshirae in the corner of photo 4 looks interesting, though the whale baline has seen better days. Quote
Ray Singer Posted July 22, 2011 Report Posted July 22, 2011 The first two kanji in the date appear to have been obliterated by later added mekugi-ana (both open and filled). What is remaining reads niju nen ni gatsu hi: A day in February, in the 20th year. The specific era name is missing. I cannot make out the mei. Looks like an interesting piece, I would love to see more photos. - Ray Quote
Edward G Posted July 22, 2011 Author Report Posted July 22, 2011 Thank you for your thoughts and consideration, Curan, Jacques, and of course Morita. Yes, the Habaki was listed on May 28, 2011 for a translation as it is signed as well. The cutting edge measures 23.5 centimenters or 9.25 inches. The Sori is straight or no curvature that I can detect. The Tang measures 92.7 milimeters from the Mune-Machi, the thickness in the Tang is 6 milimeters (with encrustment). In the past, this blade has been polished and the thickness now is 5 milimeters near the Mune-machi. The back ridge is mune-takashi. I have posted some additional pictures of this Tanto. .....As you can tell the tanto blade is quite old and I cannot make out the Mei or date on the tang. Any opinions as to an attribution of era, school, or smith is appreciated. are of course welcomed. Thank You Again Edward G. Quote
Grey Doffin Posted July 22, 2011 Report Posted July 22, 2011 Edward, If you can confirm that the date does read Ni Ju Nen (20th year) it should be pretty easy to figure which year that is. Only a few Nengo were 20 years or longer, and only Shohei 正平 was before Muromachi. Shohei 20 would be 1365. Grey Quote
Edward G Posted July 23, 2011 Author Report Posted July 23, 2011 Grey, Thank You kindly for the information and thoughts, I plan to go to Minneapolis in October, Maybe the Shinsa Team will be able to tell me more of what I would like to know about this Tanto. Perhaps if you attend the show and Shinsa we can discuss it further in person with the item available for inspection. Thank You again Edward G. Quote
Grey Doffin Posted July 23, 2011 Report Posted July 23, 2011 Hi Edward, I will be there, sharing a table with Mark Jones. Love to see the tanto; please do look me up. Same goes for all the rest of you. Come by and say hello whether or not you have an interesting tanto for show and tell. Grey Quote
Jacques Posted July 23, 2011 Report Posted July 23, 2011 Hi, Maybe i'm wrong but i don't think the date reads "ni ju" i think it reads more likely "ni nen" Quote
drbvac Posted July 23, 2011 Report Posted July 23, 2011 You with the young eyes - All I can drool over are the mounts and the are indeed very nice - no doubt the owner believed the blade worthy of them so you probably have a pretty interesting and noteworthy tanto Quote
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