Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Shinshintō katana signed and dated to the second month of Meiji 3 (1870), with an unaltered tang, a hitatsura hamon and a late-Edo mounting with matching shibuichi fittings.
Takagi Masayuki (b. 1805) married into the household of the stirrup smith Takagi Yasuharu at Kataniwa, in Ibaraki, and rose to swordsmith of the Kasama domain under Makino Sadaaki. He trained with Tegarayama Masashige and signed Minamoto Masayuki, the same name Kiyomaro used before changing his own. The blade measures 68.2 cm nagasa with 0.9 cm sori: a broad, solid shape with an extended kissaki, carved bōhi and soe-bi, a tight ko-itame hada and a gunome-midare hamon whose tobiyaki spreads into full hitatsura in the manner of Sōshū Hiromitsu. The photographs show an ubu tang with a single mekugi-ana, a long signature on the front and the date — second month of Meiji 3 (1870) — cut into the tang itself. It comes with a late-Edo isshin koshirae: black ito over pale same, gold menuki bearing a family crest, an engraved-rim tsuba and a kashira in relief with gold inlay, on a black saya with blue-and-gold sageo. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon certificate issued on 20 August 2018.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon issued on 20 August 2018, fully legible in the photographs
- Signed and dated on the tang: second month of Meiji 3 (1870)
- Ubu tang with a single mekugi-ana, confirmed in the photographs
- Hitatsura hamon with tobiyaki across the ji up to the shinogi, over clean bōhi and soe-bi
- Late-Edo isshin koshirae with matching shibuichi fittings and gold crested menuki
- The smith served the Kasama domain and came from the Tegarayama Masashige line
Points to bear in mind
- No shirasaya included
- The originating seller says nothing about condition or polish
- Nagasa of 68.2 cm: at the short end for a katana
Score
172.4 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
+20
Tang intact according to the photographs +20
-
Declared condition
−20
The original seller says nothing about the condition −20
-
Signature and date
+25
Signed and with an engraved date +25
-
Mounting
+63
Mounting from the same period as the blade +50 · signed fittings: 1 +10 · family crests (mon): 1 +3
-
Blade
+5
68.2 cm: close to the usable range +5
-
Shirasaya
0
No shirasaya: one will have to be made 0
-
Price
+29.4
Price: the more affordable, the more points +29.4
The score adds and subtracts points for each feature of the piece and has no ceiling: the highest in the catalogue today is 255. It is computed from the record, not from an opinion. The mounting starts from what is known of its period, adds what vouches for it (its own NBTHK paper, a signed fitting, a crest) and subtracts what has been restored (saya, ito, same, habaki or sageo).
Measurements
- Nagasa
- 68.2 cm
- Sori
- 0.9 cm
- Tang
- Intact according to the photographs
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- Period mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- No
- Smith
- Takagi Masayuki
- Period
- Shinshintō (1781-1876)
- Dating
- 2nd month of Meiji 3 (1870)
- Province
- Hitachi (han de Kasama)
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Paper date
- 20 August 2018
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- Yes
- Motohaba
- 3,30 cm
- Motokasane
- 0,79 cm
- Sakihaba
- 2,33 cm
- Sakikasane
- 0,59 cm
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