JAPANESE PHOENIX HEAD TACHI SAMURAI SWORD 祐芳SUKEYOSHI & ENGRAVED DRAGON & BONJI

Description

阿州吉川源
祐芳  TACHI-MEI  " ASHU YOSHIKAWA MINAMOTO SUKEYOSHI ".  WORKED CIRCA 1865 AND STUDIED IN THE FORGE OF SHINSHINTO SMITH  "SUKENAGA"
祐
長.  ASHU or AWA WAS A PROVINCE LOCATED ON THE ISLAND OF "SHIKOKU"  NOW INCORPORATED INTO THE PREFECTURE OF TOKUSHIMA.
THIS RARE PHOENIX HEAD TACHI WAS PROBABLY MADE LATE MEIJI 1900 GIVE OR TAKE A FEW YEARS.
THE BLADE HAS THE BEAUTIFULLY ENGRAVED 3 TOED DRAGON CHASING THE FLAMING PEARL.  OPP SIDE HAS THE 3 BONJI OR SANSKRIT CHARACTERS.
TOP BONJI; WILLOW BUDDHA (YORU KWANNON)
MIDDLE BONJI;  VICTORY STAR (HAGUNSEI)
BOTTOM BONJI;  ? NOT SURE - POSSIBLY  TSUME or CLAW ?
(compared these bonji to the sanskrit listed in Hawley's Vol.2 Japanese Sword Smiths.
HAMON IS TIGHT NIOI-DEKI IN A GUNOME/TOGARI .
NICE SORI AND MEDIUM KISSAKI.
BOSHI IS SMALL ROUND WITH TURNBACK AND LITTLE KAEN/FLAME LIKE
NO FATAL FLAWS NO NICKS NO CRACKS
THE BRASS HABAKI ENGRAVED WITH 3 "AOI" MON - (ACCORDING TO HAWLEY'S CHART THIS MON USED BY  KUGE or PRINCELY FAMILY  and/or  by DAIMYO FAMILY.
THE 4 SEPPA ARE ALL "CONVEX" ALONG WITH THE HABAKI TO FIT AGAINST THE TSUBA AND EACH OTHER.
THE SHITOGI or CEREMONIAL TYPE TSUBA  AND ALL THE KANE/METAL ON SAYA ARE FULLY ENGRAVED WITH VINES AND LEAVES  ALL DONE IN SUITE.
NOTE;  THE SAYA DUE TO AGE HAS CONTRACTED AND THE "ASHI" ARE LOOSE BUT ONE CAN FIX THIS.  THERE WAS NEVER A BOW TYING THE ASHI TOGETHER BUT THAT TOO CAN BE ADDED.
AND LASTLY THE WONDERFUL HEAVY CAST BRASS PHOENIX HEAD.  VERY FINELY DETAILED.
THIS IS THE WAY I ACQUIRED THE SWORD DIRECTLY FROM A WW2 ARMY VETERAN BACK AROUND 1984-85 AND HAS NEVER BEEN OFFERED TO THE COLLECTING COMMUNITY.
BACK IN THE 70-80'S ONE WOULD SEE A PHOENIX HEAD SWORD EVERY FEW YEARS BUT I HAVE NEVER SEEN ONE WITH HORIMONO AND NOWADAYS ONE RARELY IF EVER FINDS THIS TYPE SWORD UNLESS COMING FROM A OLD COLLECTION SUCH AS THIS.
THE "SMITH"  SUKEYOSHI IS THE ONLY ONE USING THESE 2 KANJI AND IS NOTED IN THE "NIHONTO MEIKAN" P499  AND HAWLEY'S 1ST VOLUME P361.  I PURCHASED THE 2 VOLUME SET FROM OL WILLIS HAWLEY HIMSELF IN 1974 AS I WAS IN LA AND MADE IT A POINT TO MEET HIM.  NICE GUY VERY HOSPITABLE AND SHOWED ME A FEW OF HIS BLADES AND A ROOM FULL OF ARMOR. I KNEW NOTHING ABOUT SAMURAI SWORDS THEN AND KNOW NOT MUCH MORE TODAY BUT LEARNING.  THINK A "GAIJIN" NEEDS TO LIVE AT LEAST 2 OR 3 LIFETIMES TO BECOME A SWORD GURU !!
BLADE LENGTH ;      27 1/2"  or just short of   70cm.
HAMACHI;      1 1/8"   or   28mm
KASANE;         5/16"    or   8mm+
YOKOTE;        3/4"+    or   20mm
POSTAGE INCLUDES INSURANCE AND SIGNATURE CONFIRMATION - TRACKING DOES NOT MEAN SHIT !!!
FOREIGN SHIPPING BY FEDX WITH SIGNATURE CONFIRMATION !  IF YOUR COUNTRY DOES NOT USE FEDX THEN WE CANNOT DO BUSINESS. AS THE USPS HAS BECOME VERY UNDEPENDABLE IN THE US LET ALONE A FOREIGN COUNTRY !!!