Kantei

NH-0005 Rank 37

Hizen Iyo no Jō Minamoto Munetsugu

肥前國住人伊豫掾源宗次

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.

Shintō (1596-1780)Early Edo periodHizenNBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon

Silhouette of the blade to scale, aligned at the machi

Photographs by the seller at origin.

Description

The first Iyo no Jō Munetsugu, whose civil name was Sakai San'emon, 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 nioi-guchi 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 breakdown

65.6/100

The score shares out 100 points: Signature and date 18 · Tang 22 · Mounting 18 · Declared condition 20 · Blade 8 · Shirasaya 4 · Price 10. 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).

  1. Signature and date 10 of 18 Signed, with no engraved date
  2. Tang 12 of 22 Full-length tang, with the machi moved up (machi-okuri)
  3. Mounting 10 of 18 Period mounting · with a signed fitting
  4. Declared condition 17 of 20 Sound condition according to the seller at origin
  5. Blade 8 of 8 70.9 cm: within the usable range
  6. Shirasaya 4 of 4 With a storage shirasaya
  7. Price 4.6 of 10 Rank 76 of 139 by price, from the most affordable to the dearest