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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2009 10:18:15 GMT
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Post by k on Mar 1, 2009 12:43:29 GMT
Don´t listen to me because I am very unqualified so I should´nt say anything but I can tell you that if it is not a real nihonto I would have been fooled by it, because to me at least the blade and habaki looks like the real thing, koto or not.
But others here can tell, I think.
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Post by randomnobody on Mar 1, 2009 15:34:18 GMT
Yeah, I can't confirm koto or not, but allowing for the quality of photography here, I feel pretty safe saying this is a real antique. One that could use, but mayor may not be able to take (I can't tell from these pictures...) a new polish, but real.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2009 18:56:48 GMT
looks like nihonto to me. dont know about koto period, tang rust doesnt look that old but im no expert and hard to tell from the pics.
i wouldnt go for it unless it was cheap. No Hamon visable and from the look of the many openings in the steel it wouldnt take another polish anyway.
whats the asking price?
p.s - interesting habaki !
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Post by tajima on Mar 1, 2009 20:26:49 GMT
Mm, I can't really tell from the photos. Some levels of quality in the blade shown by these photos aren't the greatest. One I can see is the many openings, and another that there is no yokote (visible, anyway) and the Shinogi narrows unusually near the end, meaning the Kissaki is smaller.
This could well be a genuine Koto, and only good photographs would tell.
BUT - I give you this word of warning. Just because it is a Koto sword, doesn't mean it is of any real value. A crappy Masamune is just a crappy Masamune!
Thanks, -Tajima
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2009 21:38:51 GMT
thanks for the info. there asking $750 for it.despite the damage.im more interested in the history part of it.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2009 23:23:48 GMT
I have never seen a Habaki with a heart cut out of it.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2009 23:58:08 GMT
I have never seen a Habaki with a heart cut out of it. I think it is boar's eye (or mickey mouse ears)
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Post by k on Mar 2, 2009 21:32:50 GMT
Yes, Mickey Mouse became a popular theme on katanas under the koto era. That is one of the first and few things I´ve learned about it so far.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2009 2:48:08 GMT
the sword was sold a long time ago. oh well.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2009 18:43:16 GMT
No documentation? Have it professionally appraised if you find yourself in a similar situation- it may cost a bit but it'd be worth knowing what you have versus speculating about it.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2009 18:22:14 GMT
Yes, Mickey Mouse became a popular theme on katanas under the koto era. That is one of the first and few things I´ve learned about it so far. I have an antique wakizashi with a "heart" on it. It's a Japanese symbol but does not portray a heart. It's just a similar shape. The rust on the tang looks too "red"; it should be black. That doesn't mean that someone hadn't thought to clean it at one point. But a koto sword in that condition would fetch MUCH more than $750. Put your BS meter on full, mysticdx.
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Post by k on Mar 12, 2009 20:44:22 GMT
Yes, Mickey Mouse became a popular theme on katanas under the koto era. That is one of the first and few things I´ve learned about it so far. I have an antique wakizashi with a "heart" on it. It's a Japanese symbol but does not portray a heart. It's just a similar shape. Yes, and it´s not Mickey Mouse either,. there have been similar habakis on swords that have been said to be from koto period, but if they are I don´t know.
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Marc Ridgeway
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Post by Marc Ridgeway on Mar 12, 2009 20:54:24 GMT
I have an antique wakizashi with a "heart" on it. It's a Japanese symbol but does not portray a heart. It's just a similar shape. Yes, and it´s not Mickey Mouse either,. there have been similar habakis on swords that have been said to be from koto period, but if they are I don´t know. It would be my guess it is a partial representation of a hana blossom... a petal... as seen in this hana styled tsuba.
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Post by Matt993f.o.d on Mar 12, 2009 22:05:06 GMT
Profile looks to thick and heavyset to be anything koto. If it was koto then the koshirae are certainly not original. Fittings very rarely survive that long.
I think the question you should be asking is whether it is nihonto in the first place! The polish looks very poor, by Japanese standards. It is too bright and coarse, and the features of the steel (if they are even there), such as hada or a hamon, are invisible. I can't tell what those funny marks all over the steel are, form the photography. They look slightly like cold shuts! Probably just scratches.
Without seeing the blade in a traditional Japanese polish, it is impossible to see the structure of the steel. Japanese style polishing methods show off the granular structure of the steel to the extent where structural features such as hamon and hada are clearly visible. These features will help establish what the sword really is and when it dates from.
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Marc Ridgeway
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Post by Marc Ridgeway on Mar 12, 2009 22:41:32 GMT
Well the Koto period encompassed from 938 -1596 which is over 600 years... and plenty of blade shapes and profiles.... certainly more information is needed preferrably hands on expert opinions.. but it certainly could be Koto... like middle to late kamakura... though I would think it more likely to be shinto era, if it is legit...
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Post by k on Mar 13, 2009 0:36:02 GMT
It would be my guess it is a partial representation of a hana blossom... a petal... as seen in this hana styled tsuba. I think you are right, it looks like it.
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Post by Matt993f.o.d on Mar 15, 2009 22:40:47 GMT
If its even nihonto at all.
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