Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Shinshintō katana of 81.6 cm, signed and dated to the eighth month of Ansei 4 (1857), with an ubu tang bearing a single mekugi-ana and a complete 110 cm mounting.
A long blade forged in Ansei 4 (1857), in the closing years of the Edo period, by Shigetsugu, a smith of Echigo province. The signature reads “Muramatsu no Omi Shigetsugu respectfully made this” and the reverse is dated “Ansei 4, eighth month, an auspicious day”; both faces can be read in the photographs. It measures 81.6 cm nagasa, of shinogi-zukuri construction, and retains its original unshortened tang with a single mekugi-ana, stated by the originating seller and visible in the images. An NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon certificate accompanies it. The mounting is a complete koshirae of 110 cm which the originating seller believes to be of roughly the same date as the blade: a reddish lacquered saya with kurigata and black sageo, a tsuka wrapped in black ito with gilt menuki, and an iron tsuba. The ensemble is photographed on a stand beside the NBTHK paper and its oshigata.
Strong points
- Signed and dated on the tang: eighth month of Ansei 4 (1857)
- Ubu tang with a single mekugi-ana, stated and visible in the photographs
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Complete 110 cm koshirae that the originating seller dates to the blade's own period
- 81.6 cm nagasa: an exceptionally long blade
- Forged in the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate
Points to bear in mind
- The originating seller publishes no sori, motohaba, kasane, weight, hamon or hada
- The koshirae is unsigned and unpapered: its dating rests on the originating seller's judgement
- Nothing is stated about the condition of the blade or its polish
- 81.6 cm is an unusual length and heavy to handle
Score
161.8 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
-
Tang
+25
Tang intact according to the seller at origin +25
-
Declared condition
−20
The original seller says nothing about the condition −20
-
Signature and date
+25
Signed and with an engraved date +25
-
Mounting
+50
Mounting from the same period as the blade +50
-
Blade
+15
81.6 cm: long blade, 74 cm or more +15
-
Shirasaya
0
No shirasaya: one will have to be made 0
-
Price
+16.8
Price: the more affordable, the more points +16.8
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
- 81.6 cm
- Sori
- 1.8 cm
- Tang
- Intact (ubu)
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- Period mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- No
- Smith
- Muramatsu Shigetsugu
- Period
- Shinshintō (1781-1876)
- Dating
- 8th month of Ansei 4 (1857), auspicious day
- Province
- Echigo
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Condition not declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- Yes
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