Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Shintō blade from Settsu of the Kanbun era, forged in nanban-tetsu by a pupil of Tsuda Echizen no Kami Sukehiro. With period koshirae and shirasaya. NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon.
Signed 常陸守宗重 以南蛮鉄作之 (Hitachi no Kami Muneshige, nanban-tetsu o motte kore o tsukuru), “Hitachi no Kami Muneshige, made with nanban-tetsu”, this shintō blade from Settsu belongs to the Kanbun era, around 1670. Muneshige was the father of the second Munehide of Himeji; he moved down to Osaka and joined the school of Tsuda Echizen no Kami Sukehiro, living between Himeji and Obama. The original seller holds that he worked as daisaku for Sukehiro and sees the proof in this blade: a clear, lively ko-mokume hada and a suguha whose edge he compares to torn hōsho paper, with kinsuji inside the temper. It is forged in nanban-tetsu, the imported iron also used by Echizen Yasutsugu and extremely costly at the time. The shape is the typical Kanbun-shintō outline with little sori: 69.2 cm nagasa, 1.1 cm sori, motohaba 3.07 cm and sakihaba 1.96 cm. The photographs show the whole tang from both sides, with a single mekugi-ana, a symmetrical kurijiri nakago-jiri and the signature set well clear of the hole, all features of an ubu tang. Koshirae, shirasaya and NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers are included.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon, with koshirae and shirasaya
- Pupil of Tsuda Echizen no Kami Sukehiro, a leading Osaka workshop
- Forged in nanban-tetsu, imported steel, as the signature itself states
- Coherent koshirae: cha-nuri saya, black ito over gold-flecked same, gold menuki, pierced iron tsuba and fuchi-kashira with floral gold inlay
- The photographs show the complete tang from both sides, with a single mekugi-ana and symmetrical kurijiri: features of an ubu tang
- The NBTHK origami, with the oshigata of the tang, is photographed
Points to bear in mind
- The signature carries no date
- The original seller does not state that the tang is ubu: the evidence comes from the photographs
- Nor does he describe the blade's state of preservation or the age of the polish
- The fittings are unsigned and have no papers: the Edo-period dating of the mounting rests on the original seller's word
Score
160 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
+15
Signed, with no engraved date +15
-
Mounting
+50
Mounting from the same period as the blade +50
-
Blade
+10
69.2 cm: within the usable range +10
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+30
Price: the more affordable, the more points +30
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
- 69.2 cm
- Sori
- 1.1 cm
- Tang
- Intact according to the photographs
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- Period mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Period
- Shintō (1596-1780)
- Dating
- Kanbun era (c. 1670)
- Province
- Settsu (Ōsaka)
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 3.07cm
- Motokasane
- 0.67cm
- Sakihaba
- 1.96cm
- Sakikasane
- 0.46cm
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