by Moses Becerra | Apr 14, 2022
Fujishima Tomoshige Den (fss-902) New Item Available Sold On Hold Special Sale This sword was awarded the kanteisho prior to polish. It received an attribution to TOMOSHIGE. There is a red Shumei at the bottom of the tang attributing it to YOSHINOBU. This blade if resubmitted may be attributed to an even higher ranked smith now that its in pristine polish but it’s not a necessity. The hada is a beautiful swirling mix of itame and mokume loaded and covered in ji-nie. Chikei abounds! The hamon is nie laden with brilliant streaks of sunagashi and kinsuji. The boshi is Kaen with hakikake. The koshirae is equally impressive. The saya is in a Ishime finish. The fittings are all adorned in a motif of samurai and horses. The Nanako is very nice on the tsuba. The tsuka ito is a bright orchid color over a black lacquered same (rayskin). The sageo is a purplish red hue. The seppa are gold washed. The kodzuka is of a man with horse in fields. The Habaki is gold foiled and is of high quality also. This Koto era sword comes with NTHK KANTEI-SHO papers. A koto period wakazashi by the Fujishima Tomoshige line of smiths who had ten generations of the name during the Koto period and six generations up until the Shintoshinto period. A splendid wavy gunome togariba majiri hamon (temper line) typical of the Fujishima School captures the eye and imagination. Hailing from the artistic province of Kaga (now Kanazawa), the Fujishima School is considered one that combines characteristics of the five major traditions. Fujishima school is a descendant of Rai school that moved to Gaga province. They...
by Moses Becerra | Jan 14, 2022
BIZEN WAKAZASHI (fss-896) New Item Available Sold On Hold Special Sale A beautifully preserved un-signed koto wakazashi that has incredible workmanship and a beautiful gunome/midare hamon with utsuri. This blade is ubu and in the Bizen style. A fine example and blend of Bizen work the activity can be seen and appreciated within this blade in the old Bizen tradition. The condition of this koto piece is very good as can be seen in the pictures. A very robust Hamachi and Munemachi can be found. It is in a new polish with a very nice set of koshirae. The pictures not do justice to this sword. The hamon is very nicely done with a thick nioi-guchi that flares up here and there. It has many hataraki and ko-nie appear. The hada is well forged with a very slick looking nagare-ish itame with mokume. The boshi is ko-maru with kaen like finish and longish for this size sword. This koto wakazashi has an elegant shape and is very well balanced. The curvature is very noticible and text book Bizen. The mounts are very unique and add to the overall value of this sword. The lacquered saya is new and a great expense has gone into the restoration of this sword. The sword comes with a shirasaya to protect the sword and polish and a wooden tsunagi has been made to display the mounts. The fittings are sound and have a traditional Samurai appeal and are in iron. They look and display very well. Overall this is a fine Japanese Koto wakazashi fully restored. The menuki are a combination of a floral design. The same is black and has a very nice look to...