Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
A blade published in the Shōwa Tōken Meibutsuchō, with Tokubetsu Hozon papers, an ubu tang of a single mekugi-ana, a complete crested koshirae and a shirasaya bearing sayagaki.
Signed “Inaba no Kuni-jū Fujiwara Kanesaki”. The Kanesaki line came from Mino, and this generation worked for the Ikeda domain of Tottori, in Inaba province, around the Genroku era (c. 1701); the smith is ranked as wazamono. The blade measures 69.8 cm of nagasa with 1.7 cm of sori, 3.13 cm of motohaba and 0.7 cm of motokasane. The hada is a clear ko-itame and the hamon a suguha-chō with abundant ko-ashi and yō. The photographs show an ubu tang with a single mekugi-ana lined with brass sekigane, an angular nakago-jiri and a long, crisp signature. Besides the NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper, the piece is published in the Shōwa Tōken Meibutsuchō and comes with a second certificate, dated 1979, that ranks it as wazamono. The koshirae brings together shakudō nanako fuchi-kashira with a family crest, a pierced iron tsuba with the five-and-three paulownia, menuki in the form of horse tack, a shakudō nanako kozuka bearing the same crest, and a kawari-nuri saya. The shirasaya carries sayagaki.
Strong points
- Published in the Shōwa Tōken Meibutsuchō, a register of notable blades
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper plus a second certificate from 1979
- Ubu tang with a single mekugi-ana lined with brass sekigane, per the photographs
- Complete koshirae with the same crest on fuchi-kashira and kozuka
- Shirasaya with sayagaki
- Smith of the Ikeda domain of Tottori, ranked wazamono
Points to bear in mind
- The signature carries no date
- The fittings have no tōsōgu papers of their own
- No statement is made about the blade's state of preservation
Score
113.5 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
+11
Mounting described, undated +5 · family crests (mon): 2 +6
-
Blade
+10
69.8 cm: within the usable range +10
-
Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
-
Price
+22.5
Price: the more affordable, the more points +22.5
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
- 69.8 cm
- Sori
- 1.7 cm
- Tang
- Intact according to the photographs
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- Mounting described piece by piece by the seller at origin
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Inaba Kanesaki
- Period
- Shintō (1596-1780)
- Dating
- Genroku era (c. 1701)
- Province
- Inaba (han Ikeda de Tottori)
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
- Motohaba
- 3.13cm
- Motokasane
- 0.7cm
- Sakihaba
- 2.09cm
- Sakikasane
- 0.43cm
A new mounting or a polish for your blade? Custom koshirae · Polishing