Katana, 26-inch blade, Japanese (c 1943-45)

Title	Katana, 26-inch blade
Nationality	Japanese
Period	c 1943-45

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This is one of the nicest examples of a field-made katana I've ever had through my hands. Obviously made by a competent smith, who produced a fairly accurate copy of a Koto blade under less than idyllic conditions. There is the possibility that the blade is an original, but rather battered, Koto blade, because it is so well made.

The tsuba is nicely hand-worked, the hilt binding is leather and has the original rain cover, which I unlaced to get at the tang. There are no menuki. The blade has been rather coarsely cleaned over the years. There are some areas of surface pitting down towards the point on both sides of the blade. The top mount on the scabbard is loose, the fixing pins having fallen out, and the leather covering of the scabbard is somewhat shrunk and distressed. However, these field-made swords don't turn up that often and this one is certainly a very nice example.

If you want to comment on this item—re quality, age, etc—please email me.

[Edged Weapons : Swords : Japanese : 20th Century]

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