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inoue izume no kami kunisada

Submitted by newstile93 on Wed, 2015-04-08 00:51

Hi i am here just getting some opinions on a sword that i own, don't know to much about it, but do know that it's signed by inoue izume no kami kunisada. Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated

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‹ Translation needed Who made this sword, what type of sword is it? ›

#1Submitted by kazarena on Wed, 2015-04-08 22:33.

Hi Chris, I'll compile some

Hi Chris,

I'll compile some info about Kunisada on weekend and post it here.

Stan
#2Submitted by newstile93 on Thu, 2015-04-09 00:00.

Hi Stan, I am looking forward

Hi Stan,

I am looking forward to what you find.

Chris
#3Submitted by kazarena on Sun, 2015-04-12 14:33.

Kunisada

Chris,

I had a look at your sword pictures. It would be helpful to see the pictures of the whole blade, as well as some close-ups of the blade surface.

First of all, a bit of history: there were 3 smiths who signed 'Inoue Izumi to Kami Kunisada': Kunisada 1st gen, Kunisada 2nd gen - also known as Inoue Shinkai, Kunisada 3rd gen. Here's a very good article which provides a detailed comparison of signatures between the first 2 generations: http://www.nihontocraft.com/Izumi_no_Kami_Kunisada_mei.html.

It's not possible to say with any degree of confidence which Kunisada made your sword (or if it's a fake signature) based on pictures of the tang, but if you look at the article you may find that there are good leads towards the famous Shinkai and it's a good solid signature too. Inoue Shinkai is a top class smith (and his swords are pretty expensive too) and there were many forgeries, even in the old times. I would recommend contacting your local sword society and showing your sword to them. It's not impossible you got a gem of a sword!

Regards,
Stan
#4Submitted by newstile93 on Sun, 2015-04-12 17:21.

kunisada

Stan,

Hello Stan I will take some close ups of the blade but I have attachments of the entire blade under the pictures of the blades signature.
#5Submitted by kazarena on Sun, 2015-04-12 19:06.

Ah, I didn't notice that the

Ah, I didn't notice that the attachments are different.

It's a beautiful sword and its features look like Shinkai. Again, these are just speculations because it's impossible to be certain just from looking at pictures. I highly recommend to show it to somebody knowledgeable in person.

Regards,
Stan

P.S. I really envy you now :-)