NH-0013 Rank 23
Hachimanyama Fujiwara Kiyohira
於武州江戸藤原清平造之
Shintō katana of 72.1 cm, signed on the front and dated on the back to the second month of Jōkyō 5 (1688), with an unaltered tang and a period mounting in black lacquer.
Silhouette of the blade to scale, aligned at the machi
Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
Description
Kiyohira, civil name Tsujimura Gorōemon, was the fourth son of the first Kanewaka of Kaga. Born in Kaga in 1621, he moved down to Edo around 1652 and entered the service of the Inaba house when Inaba Masakatsu received the Odawara fief, signing there as “Sōshū Hachimanyama Kiyohira”. When the Inaba moved to Takada in 1685 he returned to Edo, and this blade was forged there in 1688, in his sixty-seventh year. It measures 72.1 cm nagasa with 1.8 cm sori, showing a well-forged itame hada and a gunome-midare hamon in nioi with nie; the originating seller places it very close to his father's work. The photographs show a sound tang with even patina and no visible retouching, a kurijiri end, one mekugi-ana per face, the long signature on the front and the date 貞享五年二月日 cut on the back. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon certificate. It comes with a restrained Edo-period koshirae whose saya is finished in black rō-iro lacquer.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon with the mounting included
- Signed and dated on the tang itself: second month of Jōkyō 5 (1688)
- Ubu tang, sound and with a single mekugi-ana, confirmed in the photographs
- 72.1 cm nagasa, a generous length for a shintō blade
- Fourth son of the first Kanewaka of Kaga, trained in that tradition
- Edo-period koshirae with a saya in black rō-iro lacquer
Points to bear in mind
- No shirasaya included
- The originating seller does not describe the koshirae fittings one by one
- Neither the condition of the blade nor the state of the polish is stated
Score breakdown
67.8/100
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).
- Signature and date 18 of 18 Signed and with an engraved date
- Tang 20 of 22 Tang intact according to the photographs
- Mounting 2 of 18 Period mounting · restored: rewrapped ito and replaced same
- Declared condition 11 of 20 Condition not declared
- Blade 8 of 8 72.1 cm: within the usable range
- Shirasaya 0 of 4 No shirasaya: one will have to be made
- Price 8.8 of 10 Rank 16 of 122 by price, from the most affordable to the dearest