Photographs
Photographs by the seller at origin.
The piece
Shintō katana of 75.6 cm from the Echizen Shimosaka school, Kanbun era, with an ubu tang and one mekugi-ana, NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon, shirasaya and a koshirae whose tsuba is engraved with a sutra.
Ōmi no Kami Fujiwara Tsuguhiro belonged to the Echizen Shimosaka school and was active mainly in the Kanbun era (1661-1673). He worked in Echizen but also in Edo and in Ōmi, a sign of a wide clientele. He trained under the third Echizen Yasutsugu, head of the school: the first Yasutsugu, born at Shimosaka in what is now Shiga, followed his lord to Echizen, where he was taken under the patronage of Matsudaira Hideyasu, third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu — the source of the line's standing. The blade measures 75.6 cm nagasa with 1.21 cm sori. The photographs show a clean tang with a single mekugi-ana and a signature on both faces, with no sign of shortening. It comes with an NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon certificate, a shirasaya and a koshirae whose tsuba bears an engraved sutra inscription.
Strong points
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- 75.6 cm nagasa: a blade of real presence
- Ubu tang with one mekugi-ana and a signature on both faces, confirmed in the photographs
- Pupil of the third Echizen Yasutsugu, within the Echizen Shimosaka school
- Tsuba with an engraved sutra inscription
- Shirasaya included alongside the koshirae
Points to bear in mind
- The signature bears no date: the dating rests on style and on the certificate's judgement
- The mounting is described but not dated
- The originating seller gives no detail on the polish; the photographs show no notable flaws
Score
89 pointscurrent max. 255
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Certificate
+50
NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon paper +50
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Tang
+20
Tang intact according to the photographs +20
-
Declared condition
−55
The original seller declares flaws 0 · small kitae-ware, away from the edge −5 · light red rust −50
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Signature and date
+15
Signed, with no engraved date +15
-
Mounting
+15
Modern or replacement mounting +15
-
Blade
+15
75.6 cm: long blade, 74 cm or more +15
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Shirasaya
+5
With a storage shirasaya +5
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Price
+24
Price: the more affordable, the more points +24
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
- 75.6 cm
- Sori
- 1.2 cm
- Tang
- Intact according to the photographs
- Certificate
- NBTHK Tokubetsu Hozon
- Mounting
- Modern mounting
- Storage shirasaya
- Yes
- Smith
- Shimosaka Tsuguhiro
- Period
- Shintō (1596-1780)
- Dating
- Kanbun era (1661–73)
- Province
- prov. de Echizen
- Mekugi-ana
- 1
- Condition
- Minor flaws declared
- Signed
- Yes
- With an engraved date
- No
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