Nobuhide & Horimono

[Clive Sinclaire]

Gentlemen

I have just appraised and drawn an oshigata of an interesting tanto by Nobuhide. This sword was exhibited at Niigata Museum in 1984 and was also featured (and illustrated by oshigata) in the book entitled NOBUHIDE KENKYU which was published in 1976 by the NBTHK, Niigata chapter. Of particular ionterest was the rare and unusual horimono. I would be grateful if you visited http://www.To-ken.com and went to Sword Register, no. 121 which refers to this blade.

The subject of Bakamatsu period horimono in general is touched upon and I would be grateful for any comments or criticisms you may care to make.

Regards

Clive Sinclaire

[cabowen]

Nobuhide is one of my favorite smiths and I have made efforts to see a good many blades of his in hand....I agree that this tanto is a bit of a departure from his usual work style and in comparison to most of his other work, does not provide the same level of excitement....

[Bugyotsuji]

Many thanks for an interesting read.

[Clive Sinclaire]

Gentlemen

There are a few literal errors in the piece and for some reason the formatting seems to have gon awry. I hope it has not detracted too much and I am trying to correct it asap.

Clive Sinclaire

[Eric H]

I agree that this tanto is a bit of a departure from his usual work style and in comparison to most of his other work, does not provide the same level of excitement....

 

I agree...btw...one theory holds that he commited suicide in a similar situation of his master Kiyomaro.

 

Eric

[Curran]

Clive,

I do not know much about Bakumatsu horimono, as my horimono interest has always been in much earlier blades.

 

In 2000 or so, I purchased the Horimono Taikan book from CHris Bowen. It is an excellent book that I do not have here at this office apartment- too large, so it is back at the house in Florida. The book is extensive and can be incredibly detailed on some subjects. If you have access to this book, it might have some rewarding information regarding Bakumatsu horimono.

I purchased a sword a few years later and looked up the horimono in the book. It turned out to be one of the 4 examples in the book of that particular dedication. Excellent resource.