Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Work of the first Iyo no Jō Munetsugu of Hizen, with an untouched tanago-bara tang, a suguha hamon with utsuri, and a han-tachi koshirae whose tsuba is signed Umetada.
The first Iyo no Jō Munetsugu came from a family of priests at the Tenmangū of Nagase, the birthplace of the first Tadayoshi; he later moved to Nagase-machi beside Saga castle and then to Isahaya. A document kept by his descendants dates the grant of the Iyo no Jō title to 1606. Within the Hizen school he is an exception: he almost always finishes the bōshi in midare-komi, works in a Sōshū idiom after Shizu, and gives the tang the tanago-belly shape. This blade, by contrast, is in suguha, which is rare for him: a bluish ko-itame hada with mokume and ji-nie, running masame along the edge and utsuri across the whole surface, at its liveliest in the lower part, with a clear nioiguchi of ko-nie, fine ashi and pronounced sunagashi. It measures 70.9 cm nagasa with 2.1 cm sori; motohaba 31.0 mm and motokasane 7.35 mm; it weighs 829 g bare and 1,126 g mounted. The koshirae is han-tachi in black lacquer, with fuchi-kashira and tsuba engraved in katakiri-bori with geese flying through a storm, a shakudō fukurin, and the signature 埋忠 (Umetada) on the tsuba. Shirasaya and tsunagi are included.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon, with koshirae, shirasaya and tsunagi
- Ubu nakago of tanago-bara form
- Tsuba signed 埋忠 (Umetada), with a shakudō fukurin
- Han-tachi koshirae in black lacquer with geese in katakiri-bori on fuchi-kashira and tsuba
- 2.1 cm sori over 70.9 cm nagasa: a pronounced curve
- From a private collection and not previously offered on the market
Points to bear in mind
- The signature bears no date; the early Edo dating is an estimate
- Two mekugi-ana in the tang
- The Umetada tsuba has no tōsōgu paper of its own
Score
165.8 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
−10
Full-length tang, with the machi moved up (machi-okuri) −10
-
Declared condition
+30
Healthy according to the original seller +30
-
Signature and date
+15
Signed, with no engraved date +15
-
Mounting
+45
Antique mounting, from another period than the blade +35 · signed fittings: 1 +10
-
Blade
+10
70.9 cm: within the usable range +10
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+20.8
Price: the more affordable, the more points +20.8
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
- 70.9 cm
- Sori
- 2.1 cm
- Tang
- Full-length tang, with the machi moved up (machi-okuri)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- Period mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Hizen Munetsugu
- Period
- Shintō (1596-1780)
- Dating
- Early Edo period
- Province
- Hizen
- Mekugi-ana
- 2
- Condition
- Sound condition according to the seller at origin
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 31.0 mm
- Motokasane
- 7.35 mm
- Sakihaba
- monouchi 25.2 mm · yokote 22.7 mm
- Sakikasane
- monouchi 6.0 mm · matsuba 4.3 mm
- Blade weight
- 829 g desnuda · 1,126 g montada
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