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Originally Posted by kronckew
yes, for sure the owner should NOT polish the blade, or remove the patina, there will be no hamon on a european VOC blade as they do/did not differentially temper these mono steel blades and it would lose not only value but it's soul. oil it and treat it with the respect due it's age.
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Absolutely perfectly said Kronckew!!!! Someone who truly appreciates what these old weapons are...they are the sentinels of history, and their patination and age are well earned and deserve proper respect. The ONLY exception is when the weapon is compromised by active rust or corrosion and utmost restraint must be employed to remedy that situation.
There are any number of possibilities for this VOC blade being in these interesting mounts, but it is certain this is a proper VOC blade, typically from the hangers they were in originally in the 18th century. As we have noted, these mounts were clearly not executed in proper nihonto standards so probably the work of an artisan in the Dutch East Indies or environs where these VOC blades were available . The provenance from a Japanese officer as a heirloom blade suggests early combining of these components and in Japanese context of course, so the scenario for VOC occupied Japan seems likely.
I cannot see why the scabbard would have Dutch East India company inscription otherwise, and it would be interesting to know exactly how this inscription reads.
I had minimized some of the entries on the linked forum in my first post because I had failed to read the following pages, and the subsequent entries were actually quite informative and well placed.
I am glad that Rich came in on this as he is undoubtedly the best informed authority on Japanese swords I have known of, and in my opinion the 'go to' guy for anything related to them.
Medar, actually we have a thread running on this forum presently which specifically addresses VOC blades (in fact that is the title of the thread). You may find it interesting to read through that to discover more of the history surrounding your blade.