Wakashashi Help Please

[VE45]

I have this nice Wakasashi on hold for $900. at a local shop until Monday. I don't know much about the older swords and would appreciate some help. Can someone read the Kanji and tell me a little about the sword. I'd like to know if this is a good deal. Thanks in advance. Any help would be much appreciated. Jay

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[Beater]

Osaka school - Inoue Shinkai sword, probably Enpo period (can't see kanji too well). Chrysanthemum centre is right and cursive dating is classic for him but this smith was faked very often, so you'll need an expert's opinion. Hamon looks appropriate. Good quality koshirae too, so you might just have got very lucky but for that price I think you're on to a winner even if it turns out gimei.

Have a look here for some comparison work...

http://www.sho-shin.com/osaka-kunisada.html

[Bob Coleman]

One characteristic typical of the Osaka Shinto is yakidashi, which means the temper line begins low and straight and then becomes more flamboyant. That is not found on this blade . As Beater said, there are many fakes of his work and this appears to be another. The blade appears to be well made from what is shown in your pictures. The late Dr. Walter Compton, a famous American co9llector had fourteen Shinkai and Kunisada(early signature)blades in his collection. When I would visit him, he always like to bring all of them out to study.

[GHP]

Fuchi

The fuchi is by

園部芳英(花押)
Sonobe Yoshihide (kaō)

Here's another example of his work:

kodzuka

The blade is too degraded to read.


--Guy

[GHP]

Yoshihide was 2nd generation of the Sunobe line (1775~1842). See here for a lineage chart.


--Guy

[Beater]

In order to check out Bob's assertion regarding the absence of yakidashi, you'll need to examine the hamon under the habaki. Any present is normally quite short and is a subtle feature, when present with this smith - as seen in this Shinkai blade.



Now if you want to know what a full-blown yakidashi looks like, look up any Bizen Yokoyama school sword. Here you go, just for comparison to the subtle feature above...

http://www.nihontoantiques.com/proje...fss-732katana/


If that is Enpo 2nd year, that is 1674.

[VE45]

Wakazashi

Thank you all for your help. Very good information. Much appreciated. When I get the Wakazashi I'll post better pics of the tang under the Habaki so you can see the temper line and also better pics of the kanji. Thanks again, Jay