Japanese Sword WWII

[ghp95134]

The menuki appear to be dragonflies. ...

I agree. At first I thought they were wasps, but now I see they are tonbo [dragon flies]; wasps look more like evil ants:




Wasps and folding fans
source

--Guy

[matty60618]

Thanks for all the help from everyone on this forum! I am learning a lot and would not be able to do this without you all.

[matty60618]

Ok, so I pretty much have a ballpark number for insurance on most of my grandfathers WWII items ( Thanks to you all). All except for this. I have talked a lot with people about this item but no own as given me any indication of value I should claim on my homeowners policy. Not sure if 500-1000 would be appropriate until I have it appraised by a pro. I am looking into an appraisal with Bob Benson in Hawaii.

[matty60618]

Here are some updated pictures of the blade:

[matty60618]

Ok, so I pretty much have a ballpark number for insurance on most of my grandfathers WWII items ( Thanks to you all). All except for this. I have talked a lot with people about this item but no own as given me any indication of value I should claim on my homeowners policy. Not sure if 500-1000 would be appropriate until I have it appraised by a pro. I am looking into an appraisal with Bob Benson in Hawaii.

?

[hassiman]

Bob, How common were fake signatures.... does a fake signature always mean it is an inferior quality blade?

[ghp95134]

Bob, How common were fake signatures.... does a fake signature always mean it is an inferior quality blade?

I'm not Bob, but ... "it depends on the sword." Some are high-quality, others less so.

This is a story about Sadayoshi Amada, the smith who forged Yamamoto Isoroku's sword (1936):

We invited a local sword-smith, Sadayoshi Amada, to the meeting. Sadayoshi was helping the organizers at the meeting. I noticed he was called in by Kawaguchi and talked with him several times. After the meeting, Kawaguchi stayed at Takeyama's house, and Sadayoshi spent a night at my place. Drinking sake with me, Sadayoshi said "today, I met so-called 'connoisseurs' for the first time. I was truly surprised by Kawaguchi saying to me 'they are all your works, aren't they?' He pointed out all the swords that I made for some local dealers with fake inscriptions (gimei). I must be in trouble. What should I do?" Mr. Kawaguchi at Takeyama's house on the other hand told Takeyama "this man, Sadayoshi, must be really skillful. He shouldn't be exploited by such dealers," and even suggested to organize patrons for him.

source

--Guy

[BOB COLEMAN]

Bob, How common were fake signatures.... does a fake signature always mean it is an inferior quality blade?

The quality can vary from high end to low end. A lot had to do with the intended purchaser. There was a village that had a thriving business in making nothing but low end fake swords in the style of the Bizen School. They are known in the collecting field as Kuwano uchi. Many years ago I purchased a bare blade from a collector from Pittsburgh. The finish was totally oxidized and the suface was gray and black. I could tell it was a very old blade likely from the 1100's just from the steel color on the tang and the shape of the blade. It was almost intact having been slightly shortened but having very little taken off the cutting edge. I payed a great deal of money for this as I felt it was an important blade. It had a two character signature and was believed by the Japanese dealers to be the only known signature of the 3rd generation of his clan. I sent it to the sword museum for polish and judgement. It fell in to a deep hole for almost 18 months as a Japanese sword dealer had wanted to buy this sword and he held some position at the museum and was trying to put the kabosh on it. After finally pushing them in to the corner, I had them put a window in the blade showing the grain and the temper. After doing that, it was determined that the blade was not of the school and the signature was a very old fake. At some point, a polisher had altered the shape of the blade to fit the characteristics of the purported school. The blade was attributed to the Yoshioka Ichimonji School of Bizen province and Mid Kamakura Period which was the era I thought it was from. The blade was designated Juyo Token, which is an important rating. This has been a long answer to a short question but it was the only way I felt I could answer.