Pete,
Here is another sword (Katana) that I acquired recently. It is attributed to Yamato no kami Motohira, from early 19th century. What do you think about this one?
Here are its specs:
Jidai date: around Bunka Era (1804-1818)
Sugata structure: Shinogi-zukuri
Mune: Iori-mune
Boshi head: O-maru, beautiful!
Kitae hada: Nashi-ji hada
Hamon temper line: Gunome irregular temper lines, awesome!
Nakago tang: Kuri-jiri
Yasuri-me: O-suji chigai
Mekugi hole: One
Habaki collar: Single piece copper
Cutting Edge Length: 62.8 cm (24 3/4")
Sheath Writing:
(front) 伝 大和守元平ト見タリ (means this sword appears to be a work of Yamato no kami Motohira)
(back) 身巾広ク重厚シ美品ナリ削リ無銘 (means: wide and thick and beautiful, Mumei no signature.)
Lou
Omaru
Hi,
I don't see o-maru in the boshi, but it's always hard to see things in photos. Looks more like yakitsume to me.
The polisher's marks are interesting (the wavy lines).
Pete
Boshi
Pete,
When looking at the boshi with a good light and with a loop, it does look like the seller was correct in defining the form of the boshi as umaru.
Lou
PS: I am trying to keep up with all this new terminology. When you talk or describe the different components of a sword, all these terms sound like Greek (actually Japanese) to me. Its a good thing that there are websites such as meiboku.info where I can look up the their meaning and corresponding pictures.
PS2: Are there any more folks who visit this forum? It does seem like you and I are the only ones having a conversation here.
readers
I should mention that I'm just a "visitor" on this site - Stan is the owner, and he's done a lot of great work in setting up things (such as the smith database, which is very useful).
There are several folks like me who are regulars, and I'm guessing a bunch of lurkers.
After almost 35 years, I'm gradually moving away from the Nihonto world, so my participation will drop off. My two "best" blades are for sale on consignment on Ed Marshall's site:
http://yakiba.com/Daisho_Tango_no_Kami_Kanemichi.htm
(Feel free to buy them! :-) )
Pete
Plenty of Swords
Thanks for the offer, Pete. I have purchased enough Japanese swords lately to last me for a while. Now I have a total of 20; 10 military - WWI and WWII - ( I added two in the past month), and 10 older ones (Nihonto). I purposely purchased three of these in fair condition, so, as to practice restoration and polishing.
Lou