Just purchased. A spear head.

[Richard G]

If "African" hadn't been mentioned I would have been thinking East Asian. Japan, China, Siam, somewhere like that.
Regards
Richard

[David R]

Actually there is no doubt that it is a Japanese style Yari, or lance head. The vendor had no idea what it was, and guessed at African. The only questions really are is it old and Japanese made or is it a reproduction from elsewhere.

[Lew]

Is there a n inscription on the tang? The other way to tell if it is a repro is have the it polished there should be a hamon running along the edge if it does than you have the real deal.

[David R]

Hi, it does have an inscription on the tang, but not clear enough for me to copy it out. I am reluctant to do any work on it till I have had it looked at by a knowledgable person in the field . In this area of collecting it is all to easy to get it wrong when cleaning or polishing a piece. I do know that they are very fussy indeed about the tangs of original Japanese blades, and 5 minutes with a wire brush or wire wool can knock a lot of the value off. It is I believe a modest piece, but as possibly a genuine Nihonto, one I am going to be carefull with.

[G. McCormack]

Nice genuine piece David, good find

[David R]

Took it into the Armouries, and had it looked at by Mr. Bottomly.....genuine, horseman's yari, signed by a swordsmith called Kanahissi, who was working in the 1680s. Probably had the tang cut down to make it into a yari tanto. Wahoo.....!