Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Late Edo blade, signed and dated to the second month of Genji 2 (1865), with an untouched tang carrying a single mekugi-ana and Tokubetsu Hozon papers from August 2024.
The blade is signed 越州敦賀住金重 (Esshū Tsuruga-jū Kaneshige) and dated 元治乙丑年二月吉日 (Genji kinoto-ushi-doshi nigatsu kichijitsu), an auspicious day of the second month of Genji 2 (1865), with the shogunate already in its final years. The signature reads Esshū Tsuruga-jū Kaneshige: 越州 (Esshū) stands for the province of Echizen, where Tsuruga lies, in present-day Fukui prefecture. The original seller suggests a possible link to the Nanbokuchō-period Kaneshige (Kinju) of Mino, whom one tradition holds to be the founder of the Seki school: a monk named Michiami, said to have entered Masamune's workshop at the age of 61 to learn the Sōshū-den. The blade measures 74.6 cm nagasa with a low sori of 0.9 cm. The hamon is gentle and set in nie, and the surface looks sound in the photographs. The tang, photographed at full resolution, is untouched and retains a single mekugi-ana. It comes with NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon papers from August 2024, issued for the blade, and the gallery includes a photograph of the certificate itself. Shirasaya and koshirae are included.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon from August 2024, with a photograph of the certificate itself
- Ubu nakago with a single mekugi-ana, verifiable in the photographs
- Signed and dated to the second month of Genji 2 (1865)
- 74.6 cm nagasa with a low sori of 0.9 cm
- Supplied with shirasaya and koshirae
Points to bear in mind
- The link with the Kaneshige (Kinju) of Mino is put forward by the original seller as a supposition
- The seller does not vouch for the age of the mounting: the tsuba, menuki and fuchi-kashira are believed to be Edo work, but the wood of the tsuka and saya is taken to have been renewed
- Small pinholes (ishike or sumigomori) and the beginnings of kitae-kizu are declared, and described as of little consequence
- The photographic record is thinner than usual and includes no dedicated shot of the flaws
Score
121.1 pointscurrent max. 255
-
Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
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Tang
+20
Tang intact according to the photographs +20
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Declared condition
−25
The original seller declares flaws 0 · small kitae-ware, away from the edge −5 · ha-kobore (chip in the edge) −20
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Signature and date
+25
Signed and with an engraved date +25
-
Mounting
+5
Mounting described, undated +5
-
Blade
+15
74.6 cm: long blade, 74 cm or more +15
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Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
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Price
+26.1
Price: the more affordable, the more points +26.1
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
- 74.6 cm
- Sori
- 0.9 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
- Tsuruga Kaneshige
- Period
- Shinshintō (1781-1876)
- Dating
- 2nd month of Genji 2 (1865), auspicious day
- Province
- Echizen (Fukui)
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Localised flaw declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- Yes
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