new member - Hi & some questions

[markturner]

Hi, my name is Mark, I am a newcomer to the hobby, having recently fulfilled a lifelong ambition to own a genuine Nihonto. I found the name of Mr Don Banyen, on these boards and being local to me, went to him for the purchase of my first acquisition. I was very pleased with his service and actually came away with 2, a katana & a Wakizashi !

 

I was hoping that you guys could give me some more detailed information about the pieces. Firstly the Katana. I was lucky that this piece is pretty well documented, it is from the Bigelow Collection, and was sold at auction in New York in 1979, it is a shinshinto Katana by sanjo munechika 16th generation munetsugu, in shirasaya, with sayagaki by Honami heijuro. It is in flawless condition. I would like to know as much as possible about the school or smith anything else of interest.

 

Secondly the wakazashi - signed Bishu osafune ju sukesada, dated 1509. Again, the blade is almost flawless and is in shirasaya. Again, any information would be gratefully received.

 

here are some shots of the wakizashi:

 

 

Thank you,

 

Mark

[Ken-Hawaii]

Mark, have you asked Don as your dealer what he knows about these blades? Most dealers have quite a bit of information about the Nihonto they're selling, if only to get buyers interested. And as they're both from a collection, there should be published information, as well.

 

On the blades themselves, what are you looking to find out? Do you have reference books in which you can research the shape of the sugata, type of the hada, & details of the hamon? Although knowledge of the school & smith are interesting historically, you really have the detailed history right in front of you! Dig in & study each blade closely so you understand what the smith constructed & why, how the era in which he worked influenced the shape & style, & how his techniques compared to others. Find out how to make an oshigata. Your wakizashi & katana will teach you more than any of us can possibly help you with!

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Ken

[John A Stuart]

Seems to me this is a sword by Sukesada 祐定 and not shinshinto in any case. John

[cabowen]

Since it is dated Eisho I think we can be fairly certain it isn't Shinshinto.....

[John A Stuart]

Yes sue-koto. Bishu Osafune Sukesada saku, but, which of the many at the first quarter of the 16th century? I see looking back you mention this name, sorry missed it. Can't see pics of the Munechika though. John

[sanjuro]

Mark.

 

I'm not sure what question or questions you are actually asking here. You have basic origin information on both swords, any more than this will be the result of study and use of reference books on your part. What exactly do you wish to know? Perhaps we can recommend books in which you will find additional information?????????

[markturner]

Hi guys and thanks for the replies - apologies for some confusion, the katana is described as shinshinto, not the wakizashi. As the katana has more information, I only posted some pictures of the wakizashi, but I think a couple of you are mixing the details. The description I used for the Katana was taken directly from the auction catalogue from 1979. I was hoping maybe to find out about this collection, how highly the smith was regarded, etc. I will post up some photos of the Munechika ( Presume that is the actual name of the smith?)

 

regarding the Wakizashi, which I feel being older there is more to find out about, I searched under the name of Bishu osafune sukesada on this board and although it came up fairly often, it seemed to refer to a general school and be a very common name of smiths. I was hoping perhaps that the pictures would be able to pin it down more. Do I need to try and post some better close ups of the Hamon etc?

 

I wanted your opinions as to the "Niceness" of both blades - I think they are beautiful, which is why I chose them, over mounted blades. They have an understated simplicity and beauty in the shirasaya and they were ones that "spoke" to me most when i held them. They also seemed to me to be in very good condition. I plan to gradually get some mounts for them and have a Tsuka made etc.

 

any books you can recommend as help to learn more about each blade, i would be glad to research! I will also contact Don, and see what else he may be able to tell me.

 

Thanks, Mark

[leo]

Hi, Mark

the signature of the Sukesada looks o.k., of what little of the blade can be seen, it looks o.k. too. As you already realized, this standard signature cannot be attributed to a individual among the many Sukesadas.

By the way, the correct translation is Bishu Osafune Sukesada saku, there is no ju in it!

 

There is 1 Sanjo Munechika (Shinshinto medium rated) dated 1804 which I could see at first glance. Apparently you do not have literature. So buy a set of Hawleys and work your way up to some good oshigata books which will help you to read the kanji correctly.

 

Regards,