Star Stamped Gendaito by Baba Tsugukiyo

Signature: Baba Tsugukiyo Saku Kore.
Year Made:  Showa 18, 2nd moon, lucky day (February, 1943)
Forging Pattern: Hard to say but looks like a tight masame
Tempering Pattern: Gunome midare
Dimensions:  Blade Length:  25.875 inchesNakago: 7 inches 7 mm thick and 32 mm wide at Hamachi
Mountings:  High quality1944 pattern, shin gunto mounts in poor condition but complete, Has the hard to find mekugi screws, not shown in photos. Tsuka is intact, shows wear and there is some samé missing around mekugi ana (that the tsuka used expensive and difficut to get samé instead of the more common canvas is an indication of the quaity of the mounts), saya is in poor condition with much paint loss. Has silver washed habaki.
Overall Condition:  Good. The sword needs to be polished and a shirasaya made but it is well worth the expense. It was very difficult to photograph the hamon but the sword was polished by a professional polisher before the war, who did an excellent job. There are no ripples in this polish and the geometry is crisp and well done. It is a hefty sword coming in just under 2 pounds for the bare blade. The sword is covered with light scratches, some a little heavier where it looks like some cutting was done with it. There are large stains on each side some shallow pitting and tiny nicks. A finish polish would take care of most of this swords problems and bring out the activities that are hidden by the scratches and stains. The hamon is nicely done in nioi with nie in the valleys and there appears to be signs of ji-nie here and there but very hard to see through the scratches. This smith is known for medium to high grade gendaito and from what can be seen this is a high grade gendaito waiting for some TLC to stand out in someone's gendaito collection.

SwordsElliott Tan