A short Katana

[fernando]

Hi t c
I am still trying to assimilate all the opennings you and Rich have given me in the last posts ... and all the web research in between, including your and his lwebinks.
The copper habaki is folded, with an imperceptible brass welding seam below ... the front half craked ... or made that way, to aproach the blade, what would you say?
The wedge is not there, though is clearly missing one, in this specific case.
I will be back with the tsuba comenting.
fernando

[fernando]

Hi, sorry i am late.
I assume this isn't obviously a fine collector's specimen.
However I took this opportunity to start learning about japanese swords, which i find to be a vaste universe, indeed.
So i tryed to reconstitute this piece, compensating the parts that are missing ( fuchi and seppas and nakago ana ? ), with detachable wedging.
I saw in the appointed webpages that tsubas were often forged with a fair large opening, and its adjustment to the blades was done with
bits of soft metal ... kubicheni. Maybe this very one had that condition ... as in fact its total width is rather reduced ( 63 m/m ).
I hadn't noticed before that the grip pommel ( kashira ? ) is still there, as quite rusted and placed underneath the wraping cross.
I've had some polishing done to the blade, to atenuate a part of the ugly scratches. I wonder if the texture appearing in some parts of
this blade can be considered a grain from the forging ( hada ? ).
The shape of the dents pictured shows either misuse or, in my fantasy, real action had by this blade.
I have being searching the web on the tsuka style, in the Satsuma Rebellion period swords, after your observation. I gladily found a note saying
that period tsukas had little or no ornamentaion, and the menuki were often " sun discs", which i conclude to be those of my sample.
As for the blade signature, i have noticed that te famous Hisamichi smiths signed a more complete name, not just Hisamichi 久道. So this could be
a later punction used by other late smiths, to add value to the piece, or just a later one with the same last Name.
I hope that all this i am guessing is not a lot of nonsense.
fernando